MCP Ecommerce

Installation guide

How to install Shopify Customer Account MCP

In Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, Cursor and Claude Code, with what to check before you start and the first prompts to run.

Shopify's Customer Accounts MCP server is hosted by Shopify and acts on behalf of one signed-in customer. There is no single shared URL and no one-click connector. The endpoint is discovered per store from `https://<shopDomain>/.well-known/customer-account-api` (the `mcp_api` field), and every request needs an OAuth 2.0 access token obtained through the authorization code flow with PKCE. The vendor documentation describes this as something your app implements, not something you paste into a chat client.

This is a job for an agency developer or the app developer, working with a store owner or staff member who can manage the store domain and Shopify Partners access. Start on a dev store with test customers only. The server handles personal data (name, email, phone, address, orders), so review the authorization flow and the tools returned by `tools/list` before any real customer uses it.

Shopify Customer Account MCP setup guide: Shopify's MCP documentation page on shopify.dev, shown in a browser frame (store platform MCP server for e-commerce)
Shopify Customer Account MCP setup guide preview: Shopify’s documentation on shopify.dev, captured Oct 13, 2026. The page may have changed since; the link opens the live version.

Before you start

  • A Shopify store with a custom domain configured (a documented requirement), plus a dev store with sample products and a test customer for first runs.
  • A Shopify app that meets Shopify's protected customer data requirements and is set up for customer accounts authentication.
  • Shopify CLI installed, and access to the Shopify Partners dashboard (Dev Dashboard apps) to request protected customer data access.
  • A registered redirect URI for your app, listed under [customer_authentication] in shopify.app.toml.
  • An MCP client or your own agent code that can send an Authorization header and handle a 401 response by starting the OAuth flow.
How it runs
Remote, added by URL
Access
Varies by tool
Server address
Copy it from the vendor documentation

Shopify Customer Account MCP in Claude

  1. The Shopify documentation does not cover Claude.ai or Claude Desktop. Treat the steps below as the generic custom connector route and confirm it works with this server before relying on it.
  2. Complete the app setup first: scaffold the app with Shopify CLI (or run shopify app config link), request Protected customer data access under API access requests, and add scopes and redirect_uris to shopify.app.toml.
  3. Discover the MCP URL for your store from https://<shopDomain>/.well-known/customer-account-api and read the mcp_api value.
  4. In Settings > Connectors, add a custom connector and enter that discovered URL.
  5. The server requires a per-customer OAuth token from the PKCE flow with the customer-account-mcp-api:full scope. If the client cannot complete that flow against your app, use it only through your own agent code.
  6. Test with a dev store customer, not a real one.

Shopify Customer Account MCP in ChatGPT

  1. The Shopify documentation does not cover ChatGPT. The generic route is to enable Developer mode for connectors and add a custom MCP server by URL.
  2. Finish the Shopify app setup first: protected customer data access, scopes and redirect_uris in shopify.app.toml, and the app installed on a dev store.
  3. Read the mcp_api value from https://<shopDomain>/.well-known/customer-account-api to get the exact MCP URL for the store.
  4. Add that URL as a custom connector. Whether ChatGPT can complete the required PKCE token exchange for this server is not documented by Shopify, so verify before use.
  5. If sign-in does not work, call the server from your own agent code that implements the OAuth flow instead.
  6. Use a dev store and a test customer only.

Shopify Customer Account MCP in Gemini

  1. The Shopify documentation does not cover Gemini CLI or Gemini app extensions. The standard route in Gemini CLI is an entry under mcpServers in the settings file.
  2. Complete the Shopify app setup first, including protected customer data access and shopify.app.toml changes.
  3. Get the store's MCP URL from the mcp_api field at https://<shopDomain>/.well-known/customer-account-api.
  4. Obtain an access token by running the PKCE authorization code flow described in the Shopify docs, using the endpoints from https://<shopDomain>/.well-known/openid-configuration.
  5. Add a remote server entry in mcpServers with the discovered URL and an Authorization header holding the token. Check the Gemini CLI docs for the exact key names.
  6. Restart Gemini CLI and test with a dev store customer.

Shopify Customer Account MCP in Microsoft Copilot

  1. The Shopify documentation does not cover Copilot Studio or GitHub Copilot in VS Code. Use each product's standard way of adding a remote MCP server.
  2. Complete the Shopify app setup first: protected customer data approval, scopes and redirect_uris in shopify.app.toml, and the app installed on a dev store.
  3. Read the store's MCP URL from the mcp_api field at https://<shopDomain>/.well-known/customer-account-api.
  4. In VS Code, add a remote server by URL in .vscode/mcp.json. In Copilot Studio, add an MCP tool or custom connector with the same URL.
  5. Supply the OAuth 2.0 access token from the PKCE flow as the Authorization header or through the product's OAuth settings. Shopify does not document either approach, so confirm it works.
  6. Run only read-only prompts against a test customer at first.

Shopify Customer Account MCP in Perplexity

  1. The Shopify documentation does not cover Perplexity. The generic route is to add a custom connector by URL in the desktop app's connector settings, if your plan offers it.
  2. Complete the Shopify app setup first, including protected customer data access and the shopify.app.toml scopes and redirect URIs.
  3. Read the mcp_api value from https://<shopDomain>/.well-known/customer-account-api for the store's MCP URL.
  4. Add that URL as a custom connector in the Perplexity desktop app.
  5. Shopify requires a per-customer OAuth token from the PKCE flow. Whether Perplexity can complete it is not documented, so test with a dev store customer before any wider use.
  6. If it cannot authenticate, call the server from your own agent code instead.

Shopify Customer Account MCP in Cursor

  1. The Shopify documentation does not cover Cursor. The standard route is a remote entry with a url in Cursor's MCP settings or mcp.json.
  2. Complete the Shopify app setup first: protected customer data access, scopes and redirect_uris in shopify.app.toml, and the app installed on a dev store.
  3. Get the store's MCP URL from the mcp_api field at https://<shopDomain>/.well-known/customer-account-api.
  4. Run the authorization code flow with PKCE (scope customer-account-mcp-api:full) to get an access token for a test customer.
  5. Open Cursor's MCP settings, add a server with the discovered url, and pass the token in an Authorization header. Check Cursor's docs for the header key format.
  6. Reload Cursor and confirm the server lists its tools.

Shopify Customer Account MCP in Claude Code

  1. The Shopify documentation does not cover Claude Code. The standard route is claude mcp add --transport http <name> <url>, with header options as described in the Claude Code docs.
  2. Complete the Shopify app setup first, including protected customer data access and the shopify.app.toml scopes and redirect URIs.
  3. Read the mcp_api value from https://<shopDomain>/.well-known/customer-account-api to get the store's MCP URL.
  4. Get an access token for a test customer through the PKCE flow, using the endpoints from https://<shopDomain>/.well-known/openid-configuration.
  5. Add the server with the discovered URL and the Authorization header set to the token. Take the exact header flag from the Claude Code documentation.
  6. Run claude mcp list to confirm the server is registered, then ask it to list its tools.

Check that it works

Start with questions that only read data. If these answer from your real account, the connection is good.

  • List the tools this Customer Accounts MCP server exposes and summarize what each one can read or change.
  • For the signed-in test customer, show the status of their most recent order.
  • For the signed-in test customer, show the account details on file, without changing anything.

Troubleshooting

+The server returns 401 Unauthorized. What now?

A 401 means the request has no valid access token. Your app must start the OAuth flow: read `authorization_endpoint` and `token_endpoint` from `/.well-known/openid-configuration`, run the authorization code flow with PKCE, then retry with the token. Check that `redirect_uri` matches the one in `shopify.app.toml`.

+The discovery endpoint fails or I cannot find the MCP URL.

The MCP URL is not fixed. It comes from the `mcp_api` field at `https://<shopDomain>/.well-known/customer-account-api` on the store's storefront domain. Shopify lists a custom domain as a requirement, so confirm the store has one configured and that you are using that domain, not a placeholder.

+Tools are missing or customer data requests are refused. Why?

Check that Protected customer data access was requested and approved for name, email, phone and address. Also check that the `scopes` in `shopify.app.toml` include the customer scopes you need and that the app was deployed and installed on the store. Use `tools/list` to see which tools your token can use.

Written Oct 13, 2026 from the vendor documentation. Exact menus, addresses and commands change; the official documentation is the source of truth.