Shopify admin extensions

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Overview

The Layers app adds a set of extensions to your Shopify admin so you can check how Layers treats a product or collection, queue a resync, and jump to the right place in the Layers dashboard from the page you are already on. It also gives Shopify Sidekick a set of read-only tools for answering questions about search and merchandising, and provides a Shopify Flow trigger and action for automating filter groups. The extensions are installed automatically with the Layers app. There is nothing to enable in the theme editor or the Layers dashboard.

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Prerequisites

• The Layers app is installed and the store has finished onboarding. Until then, the cards show a Connect the store or Finish setting up Layers banner with a link to the dashboard.
• To follow an Open in Layers link, you need a Layers account with access to the store. If you are signed out, Layers asks you to sign in and then continues to the page you asked for.

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Product page cards

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How Layers sees this product

The How Layers sees this product card is a compact version of the AI product breakdown in the Layers dashboard. It shows:

• Freshness: Up to date, Stale (the product changed in Shopify since Layers last indexed it), or Not indexed.
• Updated: when Layers last indexed the product.
• Strategy: whether Layers indexed the product as a single entry, or split it by a variant option (for example by color) into several entries. Split products list each entry with its variant count.
• Indexed fields: for tags, collections, and metafields, how many values Layers included, the first few included values, and how many it ignored grouped by reason (Not descriptive, Catalog-wide, Not shopper-facing, Not searchable). The full explanation of each reason is in See how AI reads a product.

If the product has never been indexed, the card tells you so and points you to the Resync in Layers action. Use Open in Layers to jump to the product in the Layers dashboard, where you can read the full indexed content and flag anything that looks wrong.

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Layers indexing (variant page)

On a variant page, the Layers indexing card explains how that specific variant fits into the index:

• For products indexed as one entry, the card notes that variants are not indexed separately.
• For split products, the card names the entry the variant belongs to and whether it shares that entry with other variants or has one of its own.

The card also shows the product’s freshness. If the parent product has never been indexed, open the product page and use Resync in Layers there.

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Collection page cards

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Layers default sort

The Layers default sort card shows the sort order shoppers see on the collection by default:

• The sort order’s name and type (Relevance, Metric, or Manual), plus a Sequences on badge when product sequences apply.
• When the sort order was last updated and how many products are in the collection.
• Edit sort in Layers and, when available, Preview links that open the sort order editor and storefront preview.

If no default sort is set, the card shows a warning that shoppers see the collection in the fallback order, with a Set default sort in Layers button.

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Layers merchandising rules

The Layers merchandising rules card lists up to five merchandising rules that target the collection. For each rule you see its name (linked to the rule in Layers), an Enabled or Disabled badge, the number of pinned products, the schedule if one is set, and the sort order the rule applies. A count at the bottom shows how many rules exist in total. Manage rules and Open in Layers take you to the collection’s merchandising page in the dashboard. If the collection isn’t in Layers yet, the card says so. Layers only knows about collections that have synced from Shopify; see Catalog sync.

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Resync in Layers

Both the product and collection pages have a Resync in Layers action in the More actions menu. It does the same thing as Sync from Shopify in the Layers dashboard (see resync a single product and resync a single collection) without leaving Shopify.

1. Open the product or collection in Shopify admin.
2. Click More actions, then Resync in Layers.
3. Review the description and click Resync.

Layers confirms one of the following:

• Resync queued: the job is scheduled. Search and collection results update once it finishes, usually within a few minutes. Large collections can take longer.
• Already queued: a resync was requested recently and is still pending. There is no need to request another.
• Sync already running: the collection is being synced right now. Changes appear when it finishes.
• Resync paused: background jobs are paused for the store. Contact support if this persists.

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Open in Layers links

The More actions menu on product and collection pages includes links that open the matching page in the Layers dashboard in a new tab:

• View in Layers (product page) opens the product’s detail page.
• View collection in Layers (collection page) opens the collection’s detail page.
• Merchandise in Layers (collection page) opens the collection’s merchandising rules.

The Open in Layers buttons inside the cards go to the same places. If you are signed out of Layers, you are asked to sign in first and then taken to the page you asked for.

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Layers tools for Shopify Sidekick

Layers gives Shopify Sidekick four read-only tools. Sidekick uses them automatically when you ask a question they can answer, and includes links back to the Layers dashboard so you can act on what you learn. None of these tools change anything in Layers. Example prompts:

• “Which searches returned no results in the last 30 days?”
• “How is this product indexed in Layers?”
• “What merchandising rules apply to this collection?”
• “What sort order does this collection use?”

Sidekick is limited to reading these four things. For full store management from an AI assistant, including making changes, connect to the Layers MCP server.

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Shopify Flow

Layers also ships a Shopify Flow trigger, Value added to Filter, and an action, Sort Filter Value Groups, so new filter values can be placed into your existing value groups automatically. See Automate grouping with Shopify Flow for setup steps and how the action behaves.

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Troubleshooting

• “This store isn’t connected to Layers”: the Shopify store hasn’t been linked to a Layers store. Open the Layers dashboard and finish installing Layers.
• “Finish setting up Layers”: onboarding is still in progress. The cards and actions work once onboarding completes.
• “Layers is temporarily unavailable”: a transient issue reaching Layers. Click Retry or try again in a moment.
• “Not in Layers” / “Collection not synced to Layers”: Layers hasn’t received this product or collection yet. Wait for catalog sync to pick it up, or use Resync in Layers.
• “Not indexed yet”: Layers knows about the product but hasn’t indexed it. Use Resync in Layers on the product page to queue it.
• Open in Layers doesn’t open a tab: your browser may block pop-ups from the Shopify admin. Click the Continue to Layers link that appears next to the button.
• Open in Layers shows “This link has expired”: go back to Shopify and click the button again. Links are single-use and short-lived.

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Next steps

• See how AI reads a product
• Manually resync a single product
• Manually resync a single collection
• Create a merchandising rule
• Automate filter grouping with Shopify Flow
• MCP servers