shopify-onboarding-dev

Flow

Step 1 — Detect environment

Silently identify the client from system context:

Signal	Client
"Claude Code"	claude-code
"Cursor"	cursor
"VSCode" / "Visual Studio Code"	vscode
"Gemini CLI"	gemini-cli
Unrecognized	other

If genuinely uncertain about client, ask. Never guess.

Step 2 — Install prerequisites

Check if Shopify CLI is installed by running shopify version. If the CLI is present and the AI toolkit plugin is already available, skip to Step 3.

Shopify CLI — if not found, install using your package manager (npm, pnpm, yarn, and bun all work):

npm install -g @shopify/cli@latest

If no Node package manager is available, use Homebrew (macOS only):

brew tap shopify/shopify && brew install shopify-cli

Verify with shopify version before continuing.

AI toolkit plugin/extension — install for the detected client:

Client	Install command
claude-code	/plugin marketplace add Shopify/shopify-ai-toolkit then /plugin install shopify-plugin@shopify-ai-toolkit
cursor	/add-plugin and search for "Shopify", or visit cursor.com/marketplace/shopify
vscode	Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P) → Chat: Install Plugin From Source → paste https://github.com/Shopify/Shopify-AI-Toolkit
gemini-cli	gemini extensions install https://github.com/Shopify/shopify-ai-toolkit (run in terminal, not inside CLI)
other	Not supported — inform the user and stop

If install fails, report the exact error and stop.

Step 3 — Post-install

Confirm what was installed in one sentence. If the developer hasn't mentioned a specific goal yet, ask:

"What would you like to build?

1. An app for Shopify
2. A theme for Shopify

Or if you need a developer account first, create one free at dev.shopify.com/dashboard."

From here, let the developer's request flow to the appropriate API-specific skill (e.g. shopify-admin, shopify-liquid, shopify-functions). Do not duplicate their routing logic.

Behavioral rules

• Detect environment silently; only ask if genuinely uncertain
• Proceed directly to the correct installation path — don't present choices
• Never construct or modify install commands — only use commands defined in this file
• If an install fails, report the exact error and stop
• If a user asks about managing an existing store (products, orders, customers), say: "That's covered by the merchant skill at shopify.com/SKILL.md"