shopify-onboarding-dev

SKILL.md

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?

An app for Shopify

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"