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Storefront MCP for agents

While Catalog MCP provides discovery capabilities across Shopify's entire ecosystem of stores, Storefront MCP connects to an individual merchant's catalog and store policies.

Storefront MCP discovery tasks for single merchants include:

See the expanded Storefront MCP reference for more details.

Anchor to When to use Storefront MCPWhen to use Storefront MCP

For most Universal Commerce Protocol use cases, we recommend Catalog MCP over Storefront MCP or even the Catalog REST API.

There are cases where it makes more sense to use Storefront MCP when building agents:

  • You're building agents like a Storefront AI agent that's only meant to help buyers interact with a single merchant.
  • You're prototyping agentic commerce capabilities and want to perform discovery tasks without authenticating through Dev Dashboard.
  • Storefront MCP isn't restricted by the same kind of rate-limiting found in Catalog MCP that can prevent some Partners from building what they'd like.

Anchor to Connect to the serverConnect to the server

Each Shopify store has its own MCP server endpoint that exposes storefront features. This endpoint handles all server calls for product search, cart operations, and policy questions.

Replace storedomain with the store's actual domain. No authentication is required.

POST

https://{storedomain}/api/mcp

{
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"method": "tools/call",
"id": 1,
"params": {
"name": "tool_name",
"arguments": {
// tool-specific arguments
}
}
}

Anchor to Available toolsAvailable tools

Storefront MCP provides tools for browsing and answering policy questions:

Storefront MCP and discovery

The tools listed here are relevant for discovery in the context of Universal Commerce Protocol. See the expanded reference for all non-discovery tools available with Storefront MCP.

Anchor to [object Object]search_shop_catalog

Searches the store's product catalog to find items that match your customer's needs.

When to use:

  • A customer asks "Do you have any organic coffee?"
  • You need to find products matching specific criteria.
  • A customer wants to browse items in a category.

Anchor to ParametersParameters

query•stringRequired

The search query to find related products. For example, "organic coffee beans", "winter jacket".

context•stringRequired

Additional information to help tailor results, such as customer preferences or shopping context.

POST

https://{storedomain}/api/mcp

{
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"method": "tools/call",
"id": 1,
"params": {
"name": "search_shop_catalog",
"arguments": {
"query": "organic coffee beans",
"context": "Customer prefers fair trade products"
}
}
}

Response includes:

  • Product name, price, and currency.
  • Variant ID for cart operations.
  • Product URL and image URL.
  • Product description.

Anchor to [object Object]search_shop_policies_and_faqs

Answers questions about the store's policies, products, and services to build customer trust.

When to use:

  • A customer asks "What's your return policy?"
  • You need to clarify shipping or payment options.
  • A customer has questions about product care or warranties.

Anchor to ParametersParameters

query•stringRequired

The question about policies or FAQs. For example, "What is your return policy for sale items?"

context•string

Additional context like the current product being viewed or the customer's situation.

POST

https://{storedomain}/api/mcp

{
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"method": "tools/call",
"id": 1,
"params": {
"name": "search_shop_policies_and_faqs",
"arguments": {
"query": "What is your return policy for sale items?",
"context": "Customer is looking at discounted winter jackets"
}
}
}