How to Use Claude AI with Shopify to Analyze Orders, Products & More (MCP Tutorial)

In this guide, I’ll show you how to connect Claude AI directly to your Shopify store data for free. This powerful integration allows you to chat with your products, orders, and customers, turning Claude into your personal data analyst.

What You’ll Be Able to Do

Once connected, you can use simple prompts like:

• “Create a graph comparing my orders from the last three months.”
• “List my top 5 best-selling products by revenue.”
• “What was the average order value last week?”
• “Pull the last 10 orders and summarize the customer details.”

The possibilities for brainstorming and data analysis are virtually unlimited.

What You’ll Need

1. A Shopify Store (Development or live store works).
2. The free Claude AI Desktop application.
3. A free Shopify MCP Server created by JD2001.

---

Step 1: Download and Install Claude AI Desktop

First, you need the desktop version of Claude AI, as the web version doesn’t support this integration.

1. Go to https://claude.ai/download.
2. Download the version for your operating system (Mac or Windows).
3. Install the application and log in to your Claude AI account.

Step 2: Create a Development App in Shopify

To allow Claude to access your store data, you need to create a custom app that generates API credentials.

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Apps and sales channels.
2. Click on Develop apps in the top-right corner.
3. Click Create an app.
4. Give your app a name (e.g., “Claude AI Connection”) and click Create app.
5. In the app configuration, click Configure Admin API scopes.

Step 3: Configure API Scopes

This step grants the app (and therefore Claude) permission to read your data. You need to add the following scopes:

• read_products
• write_products
• read_customers
• write_customers
• read_orders
• write_orders

1. Search for each scope and check the box next to it.
2. Click Save at the bottom of the scopes section.

Step 4: Install the App and Get Your Credentials

Now, you’ll generate the crucial access token and store URL.

1. Go back to the app’s overview and click on API credentials.
2. Click Install app and confirm. This generates the access token.
3. Copy the Admin API access token. Store it somewhere secure, like a password manager. You won’t be able to see it again later!
4. Also, note your Store URL. It should look like your-store-name.myshopify.com.

Step 5: Configure Claude AI with the MCP Server

This is the key integration step. We’ll use a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server to give Claude the “tools” to talk to Shopify.

1. Open your Claude AI Desktop app.
2. Click the small arrow next to your name in the bottom-left corner and select Settings.
3. Go to the Developer tab.
4. Here, you will see a config.json file. Click Edit Config to open it in a text editor (like VS Code or Notepad++).
5. You need to add the configuration for the Shopify MCP server. The code is available on the GitHub repository created by JD2001.
   • Find the Server: Search for “JD2001 Shopify MCP Server” on GitHub or find the link in the description of the original video tutorial.
6. Copy the provided configuration code from the GitHub README.md file. It will look something like this:

{
  "mcp-servers": {
    "shopify-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/path/to/shopify-mcp-server/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SHOPIFY_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your_access_token_here",
        "SHOPIFY_STORE": "your-store-name.myshopify.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

7. Paste this code into your Claude config.json file.
8. Crucial: Replace your_access_token_here with the token you copied from Shopify in Step 4.
9. Replace your-store-name.myshopify.com with your actual store’s URL.
10. Save the config.json file and quit the Claude AI Desktop application completely.

Step 6: Restart and Test the Connection

1. Reopen Claude AI Desktop.
2. Start a New Chat.
3. Click on the search and tools icon (it looks like a puzzle piece).
4. You should now see a Shopify MCP server listed with tools like get_orders, get_products, etc. This means the connection was successful!

Step 7: Start Chatting with Your Data!

The magic begins. Try a simple prompt to test everything:

“Please pull the last 5 orders from my Shopify store.”

Claude will ask for permission to use the tool. Click Allow once or Allow always. Within seconds, it will pull real data from your store and present it in a clean, readable format.

Ask it to create graphs, analyze trends, or suggest improvements. You’ve just added a powerful AI brain to your e-commerce business!

Troubleshooting Tips

• No Tools Appearing? Double-check your config.json file for typos in the token or store URL. Ensure you saved the file and completely quit Claude before reopening.
• Permission Errors? Ensure you added all the required API scopes in your Shopify app configuration.
• Use a Development Store: It’s always safest to test this on a development store first before connecting to your live store.