# Recipes

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

Source: https://littleworks.app/docs/recipes

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

| Build | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| [Product reviews](https://littleworks.app/docs/recipe-reviews) | Collect verified reviews, approve them, and display them in your theme. |
| [Customer wishlists](https://littleworks.app/docs/recipe-wishlist) | Let signed-in customers save products and return to them on another device. |
| [Customer quote requests](https://littleworks.app/docs/recipe-quote-requests) | Collect 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 provides | Your build provides |
| --- | --- |
| Hosted JavaScript works and JSON endpoints | The rules for accepting, reading, and changing records |
| Persistent, scoped collections | The document shape and which customers may access each record |
| Shopify clients, customer verification, and secret storage | Minimum permissions, purchase eligibility, and any external integration |
| Run logs, usage visibility, and traffic safeguards | Testing, customer-facing messages, and a frontend that handles limits |

Capacity is bounded, not unlimited. Use [Usage and allowances](https://littleworks.app/docs/usage) 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](https://littleworks.app/docs/connect) to deploy works, manage backend behavior, and inspect runs and data.
- **ChatGPT + Shopify:** the [Shopify plugin](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/ai-powered-tools/connecting-ai-tools/shopify-plugin-for-chatgpt) 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](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/cli) provides local theme files, checks, previews, and uploads. It is useful when the build needs a fuller development workflow.

> **Two connections, one intended store**
> Shopify and Littleworks authorize separately. An agent must verify both connections point to the same intended store. Littleworks does not edit or host the theme, and a connection alone is not permission to build.

## 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.