Shopify Lets Browser-Based AI Agents Complete Checkout With Buyer Approval

A shopping agent working in a buyer’s browser can now go beyond filling a cart on eligible Shopify stores: it can update checkout details and submit an order after the buyer authorizes it. Shopify is rolling out WebMCP support for checkout, including Shop Pay, giving agents a direct way to handle that final step.

From a filled cart to an order

Shopify already supported WebMCP on storefronts and carts. An agent could search a merchant’s products and add them to a cart, but those tools did not carry the agent through checkout. The new release adds three checkout actions:

• get_checkout lets the agent inspect checkout details.
• update_checkout lets it change information such as the address or delivery option.
• complete_checkout lets it place the order after buyer authorization.

The tools are rolling out to all eligible Shopify merchants, according to Shopify product manager Gil Greenberg. “Eligible” matters here: the announcement describes the rollout for that group, not every merchant site a shopping agent might visit.

Two routes into Shopify

01Buyer’s browser

WebMCP

WebMCP is designed for agents operating inside the buyer’s browser.

02Server to server

Hosted MCP server

Shopify’s existing hosted Model Context Protocol server supports server-to-server agent interactions.

Why the browser route is different

WebMCP gives an agent working in the shopper’s browser named tools to call instead of making it interpret a checkout page built for people. Shopify says this means the agent can read and change checkout information without relying on screenshots or scraping the page. That is the technical change behind the new purchase capability, not a new shopping app.

Shopify says both its browser tools and hosted server use its Universal Commerce Protocol, a common structure for product discovery, carts and checkout. Greenberg says the structured tools are designed to preserve accurate commerce information, required disclosures and handoffs as an agent moves toward a purchase. That is Shopify’s design claim, not a measured result from the rollout.

The buyer’s last look

The useful question for shoppers is how clearly they can review an order before authorizing it, particularly when an agent has changed an address or delivery option. The new tools make those changes possible; the buyer’s opportunity to check them is where the experience will have to earn trust.