Shopify Retires Standalone Knowledge Base App
Shopify is discontinuing its Knowledge Base app, moving its features to the Merchant Admin, affecting AI shopping agents. This change impacts how merchants manage store information.
Original reporting · searchenginejournal.com
Original: “Shopify Retires Knowledge Base App, Moves AI Agent Facts To Admin via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern”
Read “Shopify Retires Knowledge Base App, Moves AI Agent Facts To Admin via @sejournal,…” at Search Engine Journal →
How this was written. Content Delta wrote this article with a language model from Search Engine Journal’s reporting (model: @cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast); it describes that reporting rather than adding to it. The original, linked above, is the full story.
Key points from Search Engine Journal’s report
- Shopify is retiring its standalone Knowledge Base app and integrating its features into the Merchant Admin.
- The Merchant Admin knowledge base stores information that AI agents can use to answer customer inquiries.
- Merchants must take action before January 15, 2027, to ensure a smooth transition to the new knowledge base.
Shopify has made a significant change to its platform by retiring the standalone Knowledge Base app. According to Search Engine Journal, this decision was announced in Shopify's October 26 Changelog. The app will no longer be available after January 15, 2027.
The Knowledge Base app's functionality has been integrated into the Merchant Admin, which now includes a knowledge base for AI shopping agents. This knowledge base stores information about a store, such as return policies and shipping times, that AI agents can use to answer customer inquiries.
Merchants can manage various categories of information in the Admin, including returns, payment options, and delivery details. The knowledge base also includes an 'Additional Facts' category for merchants to add custom information.
Shopify regularly scans storefronts to gather information and update the knowledge base. However, if changes are missed during the scan, merchants can request a rescan, which may take up to 48 hours.
The published knowledge base is accessible to AI apps and third-party platforms through the Storefront MCP. This means that AI agents can retrieve information from the knowledge base to answer customer questions.
Merchants with custom storefronts or those using the Agentic plan can add additional facts to their knowledge base. However, password-protected storefronts cannot be scanned, and their knowledge base will only display admin data.
Shopify has provided guidance on what actions merchants need to take before January 15, 2027. Merchants with over 1,000 facts in the old Knowledge Base app must manually enter the facts they want to retain in the new database.
Questions and answers
What happens to merchants with over 1,000 facts in the old Knowledge Base app?
These merchants must manually enter the facts they want to retain in the new database before January 15, 2027.
Can AI agents access the published knowledge base?
Yes, AI agents can access the published knowledge base through the Storefront MCP.
What is the maximum number of facts that can be held in the new knowledge base?
The maximum number of facts is 1,000, including both generated facts and facts written by merchants.
