Walk a merchant through installing the Symmetry theme — or any paid Theme Store theme — on any Shopify store, from Theme Store preview to live publish. Trigger on: "install Symmetry", "add Symmetry theme", "install a Shopify theme", "switch theme", "try a new theme", "publish a theme", "Shopify theme install", "theme store", or any request to change a Shopify storefront theme. Also trigger when the user links to themes.shopify.com/themes/symmetry or to any Shopify Theme Store listing.
Walk a merchant through installing the Symmetry theme — or any paid Theme Store theme — on any Shopify store, from Theme Store preview to live publish. Trigger on: "install Symmetry", "add Symmetry theme", "install a Shopify theme", "switch theme", "try a new theme", "publish a theme", "Shopify theme install", "theme store", or any request to change a Shopify storefront theme. Also trigger when the user links to themes.shopify.com/themes/symmetry or to any Shopify Theme Store listing.
Walk a merchant through installing the Symmetry theme — or any paid Theme Store theme — on any Shopify store, from Theme Store preview to live publish. Trigger on: "install Symmetry", "add Symmetry theme", "install a Shopify theme", "switch theme", "try a new theme", "publish a theme", "Shopify theme install", "theme store", or any request to change a Shopify storefront theme. Also trigger when the user links to themes.shopify.com/themes/symmetry or to any Shopify Theme Store listing.
Symmetry theme install — merchant playbook
Use this skill when the user wants Symmetry (a paid Shopify theme by Clean
Canvas) installed on a Shopify store. Works identically for any paid Theme
Store theme — just swap "Symmetry" for the theme name.
What you are doing
Adding a theme to a Shopify store does NOT replace the live storefront. It
lands as a Draft theme, which the merchant can customize and preview at
a secret URL. Only a deliberate "Publish" swap makes it live. The
shopify_describe_theme MCP tool (from the shopify-mcp skill) can confirm
what's currently published before and after.
Symmetry costs money (one-time license, typically ~$350 USD, per-store).
"Try theme" is free and creates the Draft; "Buy theme" is the licensing step.
Path A — Merchant self-serve (recommended)
This is the default. The merchant owns the Shopify admin and their own
payment method. Claude's job is to write the steps clearly.
Admin → Online Store → Themes. If there is no Themes menu, the store
is not on a plan that permits theme changes — flag that and stop.
Search Symmetry (or paste the Theme Store URL). Open the listing.
Click Try theme. Shopify installs it in Draft themes for free.
Customize Draft → preview with the eye icon → share preview link with
stakeholders.
When ready, in Draft themes click the ... menu → Publish.
Shopify prompts for payment. Once paid, the theme becomes the live one
and the previous theme moves to the Theme library as a backup.
Always recommend step 4 (Try theme) before step 7 (Buy/Publish). A
Draft install is free and reversible; publishing is an immediate swap.
Path B — Partner / staff — via Shopify CLI
Use this when Claude has repo access and the merchant wants a version-
controlled theme.
# One-time: install CLI
npm install -g @shopify/cli @shopify/theme
# Auth against the merchant's store (substitute the client's handle)
shopify login --store <handle>.myshopify.com
# Pull the current live theme as a safety backup (writes to ./backup/)
shopify theme pull --live --path ./backup
# Download Symmetry source (merchant must have purchased it first — CLI cannot# buy a theme). Get the .zip from Theme Store > My themes, then:
shopify theme push --path ./symmetry --unpublished
# Preview
shopify theme dev --store <handle>.myshopify.com --theme "Symmetry"# Publish when stakeholders approve
shopify theme publish --theme "Symmetry"
Keep the pre-Symmetry backup in git under themes/pre-symmetry/ so a
rollback is shopify theme push --path ./themes/pre-symmetry --live.
Path C — Claude-in-Chrome automation
Only use this if the user explicitly asks Claude to drive the admin. Chrome
MCP is tier-"read" for the browser itself, but the extension tools can click
inside the admin. Before any click inside Shopify admin:
Verify the extension is connected (chrome-health-check skill).
Navigate to https://admin.shopify.com/store/<handle>/themes.
Walk the user through Try theme as above, pausing at every destructive
step (especially Publish) for confirmation.
Do NOT auto-publish. Do NOT enter payment details. Always hand control
back for the buy-theme step.
Pre-install checklist
Before the merchant clicks anything:
Confirm current theme name and version (shopify_describe_theme).
Confirm Shopify plan supports theme changes (Basic and up do).
Confirm staff account has Themes permission.
Export a backup of the current theme (Admin → Themes → ... → Download).
Note any custom Liquid or apps that inject into the current theme —
these will need to be re-wired in Symmetry.
Screenshot the live storefront hero + product page for before/after.
Checkout flow completes end to end on a test order.
Apps that inject into theme still work (reviews, currency switcher,
cookie banner, live chat).
Analytics pixels present (GA4, Meta, TikTok if used).
Mobile viewport tested — Symmetry is responsive but custom sections
can break.
Search indexing: robots.txt and sitemap still valid.
SOSA notes
Supervised — publishing a theme is a destructive storefront change;
always confirm with the merchant before Path B's theme publish or
Path A's Publish click.
Orchestrated — follow the Plan/Act/Verify structure: describe current
theme, install draft, verify preview, publish, verify live.
Secured — never ask the merchant for their Shopify password. All
operations go through staff accounts or CLI tokens the merchant owns.
