Skip to content
littleworksdocs

Explore the documentation

Meet LittleworksA little backend for what you’re building on Shopify.Connect to LittleworksChoose the CLI, a plugin, or a remote MCP connection.CLIConnect from your terminal with Shopify approval and no manual tokens.Claude pluginThe Littleworks MCP connection and agent guidance in one package.OpenAI pluginThe Littleworks MCP connection and agent guidance in one package.MCP with OAuthConnect a compatible client directly, without a marketplace plugin.Build with an agentThe operating guide for agents building on Shopify with Littleworks.Write a workA JavaScript handler, a small manifest, and an immutable version each time you deploy.Keep secretsEncrypted credentials, shared across your store’s works.Call external servicesMake public HTTPS API requests from a work using http.fetch().Store dataDocument collections with a small API, scoped automatically to the work that uses them.Call ShopifyCall Shopify’s Admin and Storefront GraphQL APIs with credentials held by Littleworks.Expose an endpointConnect an existing frontend to a work through a small JSON API.Customer access and invitationsRequire a signed-in shopper or a narrow, expiring invitation before a work runs.RecipesUseful things to build for your store, with the backend already taken care of.Product reviewsCollect customer reviews, verify purchases, and publish approved content directly into your Shopify theme.Customer wishlistsGive signed-in customers a persistent list of products they can revisit across devices.Customer quote requestsCollect a customer’s products, quantities, and requirements without turning a request into an order.MCP tool referenceTen tools to inspect, deploy, run, and manage the backend for a connected store.Usage and allowancesSee what your works use, how much capacity remains, and when allowances reset.Inspect and troubleshootFind the relevant run, understand the failure, and make the next change deliberately.Limits and securityThe current runtime boundaries, data isolation model, and execution allowances.
Shopify admin
Browse documentation
Recipes
Markdown

Recipes

Useful things to build for your store, with the backend already taken care of.

Bring an idea to your agent. These recipes explain how to build it with Littleworks: what the customer sees, where the data lives, and which small pieces need to run on a server. Adapt them to your store rather than installing a fixed feature set.

Choose a recipe

BuildWhat it does
Product reviewsCollect verified reviews, approve them, and display them in your theme.
Customer wishlistsLet signed-in customers save products and return to them on another device.
Customer quote requestsCollect quantities and requirements, then give customers a place to check progress.

The infrastructure behind the idea

A save button or a review form is only the visible part. Running a custom backend independently also means arranging hosting, deployments, a database, credential storage, authenticated Shopify access, and execution monitoring. Littleworks supplies those pieces so your agent can concentrate on the behavior your store needs.

Littleworks providesYour build provides
Hosted JavaScript works and JSON endpointsThe rules for accepting, reading, and changing records
Persistent, scoped collectionsThe document shape and which customers may access each record
Shopify clients, customer verification, and secret storageMinimum permissions, purchase eligibility, and any external integration
Run logs, usage visibility, and traffic safeguardsTesting, customer-facing messages, and a frontend that handles limits

Capacity is bounded, not unlimited. Use Usage and allowances to estimate customer interactions, retained documents, and external requests. Avoid one backend call per product card or constant polling. Shopify requests have their own limits, and a busy build still needs pagination and deliberate request sizes.

Choose storage for the feature

Littleworks collections are a first-class choice for custom application data. Shopify metafields and metaobjects are useful when content should render directly in Liquid, be edited in Shopify, or be shared with other Shopify integrations. Neither is the universal default. Each recipe explains its choice and identifies the authoritative record; only duplicate data when the second copy serves a clear purpose.

The reviews recipe uses Shopify for the published storefront content. Wishlists and quote requests use Littleworks collections for customer-specific records. A Shopify-backed design still needs works to validate and process new submissions.

Connect the pieces

  • Littleworks: connect your agent to deploy works, manage backend behavior, and inspect runs and data.
  • ChatGPT + Shopify: the Shopify plugin can configure store data and edit an unpublished theme with approved access. Duplicate the theme in Shopify admin, let the agent edit the copy, then review and publish it yourself. The connector blocks edits to the live theme and theme publishing.
  • Coding agents: Shopify CLI provides local theme files, checks, previews, and uploads. It is useful when the build needs a fuller development workflow.

Use a recipe

  1. Copy the starting prompt from a recipe and add your store-specific requirements.
  2. Have the agent inspect the store, existing works, and available permissions, then adapt the implementation outline.
  3. Build and test the backend and an unpublished theme together. Preview separates Littleworks records; it does not isolate Shopify writes.
  4. Review the complete experience before publishing. Keep the supported scope clear: these are custom builds, not preinstalled apps or promises of every feature in a specialist product.