Connection availability, 24 October 2026: new Shopify connections are coming soon. Shopify setup instructions apply to existing connected stores. For new onboarding, choose WooCommerce or Custom API on Pro or above.

Connect your first store

Connecting a store is what unlocks Zubby. Until it’s wired, the AI has no catalog to talk about, no inventory to check, and no orders to reason over. This page walks through Shopify, WooCommerce, and Custom / API paths from an empty workspace to verified product search.

Pick your platform

The onboarding wizard asks for your platform right after signup: you’ll see tiles for Shopify, WooCommerce, and Custom / API. Shopify and WooCommerce are managed connector paths; Custom / API is the developer-managed path for any storefront that can push JSON and embed a web component. Adding another store later happens from Stores → Add store.

Existing Shopify connections

New Shopify connections are coming soon. The historical authorization steps below describe the supported connection mechanism for existing stores; they are not an install-now invitation. Existing stores should verify scopes and their current embed before changing configuration.

1. 1

   Choose Shopify

   Click Install Zubby AI to open Shopify’s installation flow. Select your store and sign in to Shopify if prompted. Shopify confirms the store identity; you do not need to type its domain into Zubby.
2. 2

   Approve scopes

   The approval screen lists catalog, order, customer, content, policy, shipping, product write-back, and order-action scopes used by the connected features. Review the list and click Install app.
3. 3

   Wait for the sync

   Zubby requests Shopify catalog data via a bulk operation, then we generate embeddings. The wizard shows a progress bar; after onboarding, sync status and a Sync now button live under Catalog → Products.
4. 4

   Enable the App Embed

   From your Shopify theme editor, toggle on the Zubby AI Chat app embed block. Detailed walkthrough at Embed the widget on Shopify.

WooCommerce path

WooCommerce takes a little more setup because we install a WordPress plugin that talks to Zubby’s SaaS. Installation time depends on WordPress access, security settings, catalog size and sync progress.

1. 1

   Create the workspace

   In the Zubby wizard, choose WooCommerce and enter your full WordPress site URL. The wizard runs a plugin preflight check against that URL and then creates your workspace, along with a Download plugin (.zip) link.
2. 2

   Install the plugin

   In your WordPress admin go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin. Pick the zip you downloaded from the dashboard, activate it (WordPress 6.4+ and PHP 8.2+ required), and open WooCommerce → Settings → Zubby AI.
3. 3

   Pair the store

   Click Log in & Connect in the plugin settings. WordPress completes a secure handshake with your workspace and redirects you back to the dashboard. The resulting store token is scoped to your store and persisted encrypted at rest.
4. 4

   Let the first sync run

   The first catalog sync starts automatically once pairing succeeds - products, variants, and taxonomies stream to Zubby in the background; no need to keep a tab open. Watch progress in the wizard or later under Catalog → Products.

Custom / API path

Custom and headless stores do not run an OAuth or plugin sync. Your server remains the source of truth and pushes changes to Zubby through store-scoped API keys.

1. 1

   Create the custom workspace

   Choose Custom / API, enter the public storefront URL, and create the store. The workspace becomes active immediately because there is no external platform handshake.
2. 2

   Create a write-scoped key

   On Pro or higher, open Settings → API Keys, create a key with the write scope, and save the one-time secret in a server-side secret manager. Never put this key in browser code.
3. 3

   Push catalog and order data

   Send batches of up to 200 products to POST /api/public/v1/catalog. Optionally send orders to POST /api/public/v1/orders for order-aware tools. Writes are idempotent on your externalId, so re-send records whenever price, inventory, copy, or status changes. Follow the custom integration guide for payloads and error handling.
4. 4

   Embed and verify the widget

   Add the <zubby-widget> element with the store ID and browser-safe widget key. Ask a product-specific question, inspect the returned product URL and availability, then test the same flow on desktop and mobile.

Confirm everything works

Three checks tell you the wiring is correct:

• Catalog status is green - open Dashboard → Catalog. You should see a count of synced products that matches the active/published records selected by your connector or the payload your custom integration sent.
• Products are searchable - after indexing completes, the AI can retrieve by meaning, not just keyword. A bulk Re-index action on Catalog → Products re-embeds selected products when needed.
• The AI answers a real question - use the sandbox chat at the end of onboarding, or the live preview in Growth → Widget Designer, and ask something concrete like “What’s your return window?”.

cURL sanity check (advanced)

Want to verify your tenant is reachable from outside the dashboard? Mint a public API key under Settings → API keys (public API access is a Pro-plan feature; the key resolves your store, so no store header is needed), then run:

curl https://app.zubbyai.com/api/public/v1/conversations \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sp_live_..."

# Expected: { "data": [...], "next_cursor": "..." } with HTTP 200.

What’s next

With your first store paired, the natural next steps are:

• Configure the widget - pick a mode, set a theme, add audience rules.
• Upload your policies so the AI can quote them verbatim.
• Configure cart and browse recovery - verify identity, consent, suppression, timing, and delivery before expanding traffic.