| name | shopify-admin-agentic-image-alt-text |
| role | agentic |
| description | Generate and set descriptive alt text on product images so AI agents (which can't 'see' pixels) can understand and recommend what each product looks like. |
| toolkit | shopify-admin, shopify-admin-execution |
| api_version | 2025-01 |
| graphql_operations | ["products:query","fileUpdate:mutation"] |
| status | stable |
| compatibility | Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI |
| audit_signals | ["listing-image-alt-text"] |
Purpose
An AI shopping agent reads image alt text to understand a product's appearance — color, material, style, use. Blank or filename-style alt text ("IMG_2931.jpg") tells the agent nothing, so it can't match the product to a visual query ("red linen midi dress") or describe it to a shopper. This skill finds product images with missing or low-value alt text and writes concise, descriptive alt text derived from the product's title, options, type, and tags. Fixes the agentiq.report finding listing-image-alt-text.
Prerequisites
- Authenticated Shopify CLI session (
shopify auth login --store <domain>)
- Required API scopes:
read_products, write_products, write_files
Parameters
All skills accept these universal parameters:
| Parameter | Type | Required | Default | Description |
|---|
| store | string | yes | — | Store domain (e.g., mystore.myshopify.com) |
| format | string | no | human | Output format: human (default) or json |
| dry_run | bool | no | false | Preview mutations without executing |
Skill-specific parameters:
| Parameter | Type | Required | Default | Description |
|---|
| collection_id | string | no | — | Limit to a collection GID |
| tag | string | no | — | Limit to a product tag |
| overwrite | bool | no | false | If true, also rewrite filename-style / placeholder alt text; if false, only fill blanks |
| max_chars | int | no | 125 | Alt-text length cap (accessibility + agent-readability) |
Safety
⚠️ Step 3 (fileUpdate) writes alt text to live media. With overwrite: true it replaces existing alt text, which is not bulk-reversible. Run first and review the proposed alt text per image. Default () only fills blanks and is low-risk.
