Shopify app · Setup guide
Shopify helpdesk integration setup
Connect your store from Hushdesk, approve the app in Shopify, and switch on live chat in your theme. This guide covers exactly what the app can see and do, how store data reaches your inbox, and what happens when you remove it.
Looking for what agents can do with orders once connected? Read about the Shopify integration features and order management.
One-click install
Install the Hushdesk Shopify app in four steps
It takes a few minutes. You need to be an owner or admin in your Hushdesk workspace, and allowed to install apps in Shopify.
- 1
Start in Hushdesk
Open Settings, Apps, Shopify and type your store’s myshopify.com address (for example linen-and-co.myshopify.com), then click Connect.
Behind the scenes: Only owners and admins can start an install. Hushdesk remembers which workspace asked, for 30 minutes.
- 2
Approve in Shopify
Shopify opens its own install screen for your store, listing every permission below. Review them and click Install.
Behind the scenes: This is Shopify’s managed installation: there is no API key to create and nothing to paste.
- 3
Hushdesk confirms the store
You land back on a Hushdesk page inside your Shopify admin that says your store is connected to your workspace.
Behind the scenes: Hushdesk verifies Shopify’s session token, exchanges it for an access token and encrypts that token before saving it.
- 4
Turn on live chat
Click “Turn on chat in your theme”. The theme editor opens with the Hushdesk live chat app embed ready: click Save.
Behind the scenes: The embed reads your workspace and brand from app-owned metafields written during install, so you paste no code.
Permissions
What permissions does the Hushdesk Shopify app request?
Shopify lists these on its install screen. Here is each one in plain words, and the feature that needs it.
| Scope | What it allows | What Hushdesk uses it for |
|---|---|---|
| Customers | ||
| read_customers | Read customer profiles | Shows who is writing in, with their contact details, beside every ticket. |
| write_customers | Update customer profiles | Adds a note to the customer in Shopify from the ticket. |
| Orders | ||
| read_orders | Read orders from the last 60 days | The order card: items, totals, payment and fulfilment status. |
| read_all_orders | Read orders older than 60 days | Full order history for long-standing customers. |
| write_orders | Change orders | Cancel, refund in full or in part, change the shipping address, add notes and tags. |
| write_order_edits | Edit an order’s items | Edit an order from the ticket. |
| read_draft_orders, write_draft_orders | Read and create draft orders | Duplicate an order, for example to resend a lost parcel. |
| Shipping and returns | ||
| read_fulfillments | Read fulfilments | Carrier, tracking number and shipment status on the order card. |
| read_merchant_managed_fulfillment_orders | Read fulfilment orders your store ships itself | Knowing which items are still waiting to ship. |
| read_returns | Read returns | Context for return and exchange questions. |
| Catalogue, discounts and theme | ||
| read_products | Read products | Product details the AI agent can answer from. |
| read_discounts, write_discounts | Read and create discount codes | Check a code a customer mentions, or create a one-off code as a goodwill gesture. |
| read_themes | Read themes (read only) | Hushdesk does not ask to edit themes: chat is an app embed you switch on yourself. |
Order actions follow the roles in your workspace: viewers can look but cannot change an order, and every change is written on the ticket with who made it. Card numbers never pass through Hushdesk.
Data flow
How Shopify data reaches your helpdesk
Three connections, each with one job. Nothing runs on a polling timer and nothing needs a developer.
Shopify tells Hushdesk when orders, shipments, refunds and customers change. Each request carries an HMAC signature made with the app secret and is refused if it does not match.
When an agent refunds, cancels, edits or duplicates an order from a ticket, Hushdesk sends that one change through Shopify’s Admin GraphQL API, and the action is recorded on the ticket.
The theme app embed loads the chat widget. For signed-in shoppers, the widget asks /apps/helpdesk/me on your own domain; Shopify signs that request so Hushdesk knows who is chatting.
The webhooks Hushdesk subscribes to
They are declared in the app’s configuration (Shopify Admin API version 2025-10), so they are set up by the install itself. You never add webhooks by hand.
orders/createA new order was placedorders/updatedAn order changed (address, items, tags, status)orders/cancelledAn order was cancelledfulfillments/createAn order shippedfulfillments/updateA shipment changed, for example its trackingrefunds/createA refund was issuedcustomers/createA customer account was createdcustomers/updateA customer’s details changedapp/uninstalledThe app was removed from the storecustomers/data_requestPrivacy: a customer asked for their datacustomers/redactPrivacy: a customer’s data must be erasedshop/redactPrivacy: the store’s data must be erased after uninstall
Live chat on your store
Add live chat to Shopify with a theme app embed
The chat ships as a theme app embed, Shopify’s own way for apps to add something to every page. It does not edit your theme files, and it can be switched off again in one click.
The embed has one setting, the launcher position: keep what you chose in Hushdesk, or pin it to the bottom right or bottom left of the page. Colours, the welcome message and the out-of-hours message are set in Hushdesk. See live chat for everything the widget does.
Signed-in shoppers are recognised. When a customer is logged in to your store, the widget asks your store’s app proxy who they are. Shopify signs that request, Hushdesk checks the signature, and the chat is tied to the right customer and their orders.
Theme editor · App embeds
Launcher position
Leaving cleanly
Uninstalling the app and Shopify data deletion
Uninstall
Remove the app from your Shopify admin’s app settings. Shopify sends the app/uninstalled webhook, Hushdesk marks the store as disconnected at once, and the event is written to your audit log.
Chat switches off
Because the chat is a theme app embed, Shopify disables it when the app is removed. No leftover script stays in your theme.
Privacy requests
Customer data requests, customer redaction and shop redaction arrive through Shopify’s mandatory privacy webhooks. Each is verified and recorded in the audit log for Shopify’s 30-day deadline.
Your tickets stay in Hushdesk after an uninstall, so the history is not lost. How long data is kept and how to delete it are in the privacy policy, the data processing agreement and on the security page.
Troubleshooting
Fix common Shopify connection problems
The messages below are the exact ones Hushdesk and the install page show, with what to do about each.
- “Enter your store’s myshopify.com address”
- Use the address Shopify gave your store when it was created (something.myshopify.com), not your custom domain. You will find it in your Shopify admin under Settings, Domains.
- “This store is connected to another Hushdesk workspace”
- A store belongs to one workspace at a time and cannot be taken over. The owner of that workspace has to disconnect it first, or contact support if nobody can.
- “Another workspace started connecting this store in the last 30 minutes”
- Someone else began an install for the same store. Wait for their link to expire, or contact support if that was not your team: the attempt is in your audit log.
- Shopify shows “Connect this store to your Hushdesk workspace”
- The app was opened without an install started from Hushdesk. Sign in to Hushdesk, go to Settings, Apps, Shopify, click Connect, and you will come straight back.
- “Shopify could not confirm this session” or “Shopify did not hand over access”
- Reload the app from your Shopify admin (Apps, Hushdesk). If it repeats, start the install again from Settings, Apps in Hushdesk.
- The chat launcher does not appear on the store
- Open Online Store, Themes, Customize, then App embeds, switch on “Hushdesk live chat” and click Save. Check the launcher position setting if it sits behind another app’s button.
Ready to connect your store?
Shopify orders and actions are included on every plan, Free included. Seats are unlimited.
FAQ
Shopify integration: questions and answers
How do I connect Shopify to Hushdesk?
Open Settings, Apps, Shopify in Hushdesk, type your store’s myshopify.com address and click Connect. Shopify then shows its install screen with the permissions listed; click Install. Hushdesk confirms the connection and offers a button that opens your theme editor, so you can switch on live chat with one save.
What permissions does the Hushdesk Shopify app request?
Hushdesk asks to read customers, orders (including orders older than 60 days), products, fulfilments, returns, discounts and themes, and to write customers, orders, order edits, draft orders and discounts. The write permissions power the order actions agents click in a ticket: refunds, cancellations, edits, duplicates, notes and discount codes.
Can Hushdesk change my Shopify theme or products?
No. Hushdesk has read-only access to themes and products, so it cannot edit theme code, prices or product listings. Live chat is added as a theme app embed that you switch on yourself in the theme editor, and you can switch it off there at any time without touching code.
Does the Hushdesk Shopify integration cost extra?
No. Shopify orders and order actions are included on every Hushdesk plan, including the Free plan. Your Shopify plan only needs to allow installing apps. You can compare what each Hushdesk plan includes, such as conversation and AI limits, on the pricing page.
How often does Hushdesk sync Shopify orders?
Hushdesk does not poll Shopify on a timer. Shopify sends a webhook when an order is created, updated or cancelled, when a shipment is created or updated, when a refund is issued and when a customer changes. Every webhook is checked against the app’s secret before Hushdesk reads it.
How do I add Hushdesk live chat to my Shopify store?
Click “Turn on chat in your theme” after connecting. Shopify’s theme editor opens with the Hushdesk live chat app embed ready; click Save and the chat launcher appears on your store. In the embed settings you can keep the position chosen in Hushdesk or pin it bottom right or bottom left.
Does Hushdesk recognise logged-in Shopify customers in chat?
Yes. When a shopper is signed in to your store, the chat asks your store’s app proxy who they are. Shopify signs that request, Hushdesk checks the signature and replies with a signed identity, so the chat is linked to the right customer and their orders without them typing an email address.
What happens when I uninstall the Hushdesk Shopify app?
Shopify notifies Hushdesk straight away, the store connection is marked as uninstalled, and the event is written to your audit log. Shopify also switches off the theme app embed, so the chat launcher disappears from your storefront. Tickets already in Hushdesk stay there until you delete them or close your workspace.
How does Hushdesk handle Shopify GDPR requests?
Hushdesk subscribes to Shopify’s three mandatory privacy webhooks: customer data request, customer redact and shop redact. Each one is verified with the app secret and recorded in the workspace audit log, so the request is on file for Shopify’s 30-day deadline. Our data processing agreement sets out the rest.
Where does Hushdesk store my Shopify access token?
The access token Shopify hands over during install is encrypted at rest with a separate key before it is saved, and it is never shown in the app again. Only workspace owners and admins can start a Shopify install, and every connection change is written to the workspace audit log.
Can one Shopify store connect to two Hushdesk workspaces?
No. A Shopify store belongs to one Hushdesk workspace at a time, and a new install link can never move a connected store to another workspace. To move a store, the owner of the current workspace disconnects it first in Settings, Apps. If nobody with access to that workspace can do it, contact Hushdesk support.
