Editor · Anysphere

Run Your Shopify SEO from Cursor

Cursor is an AI code editor from Anysphere whose agent can use external tools through the Model Context Protocol. Connected to StoreSEO, it reads your store's SEO scores, previews optimized meta and schema, and applies what you approve while your Shopify theme is open next to it.

One entry in mcp.json, or paste it into Cursor's MCP settings
OAuth through your Shopify admin, or a Bearer header
Switch off four tools to fit Cursor's 40-tool cap

Connect Cursor What it can do

Last updated: October 2026

Cursor + StoreSEO Illustrative session

You: Check which schema types are on for my store and turn on product schema if it is off.
storeseo_start read-only
storeseo_get_schema_settings read-only
Cursor: Product schema is off. Turning it on adds structured data for every product. Review and Offer fields come from your settings. Turn it on?
You: Yes, turn it on.
storeseo_update_schema_settings needs approval
Cursor: Product schema is now on. Want me to open the theme's product template and check nothing else prints a second Product block?

StoreSEO is the AI SEO Agent for Shopify merchants — a Shopify app that optimizes your store for Google and gets it cited by ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity.

On the Shopify App Store Start Free Trial

5.0/5 from 750+ Shopify reviews

How do I connect Cursor to StoreSEO?

1
Add StoreSEO to mcp.json

Put this in ~/.cursor/mcp.json to use StoreSEO in every project, or in .cursor/mcp.json inside one theme project. In the StoreSEO app's setup guide the same JSON goes into Settings, Tools and MCP, New MCP server.
JSON

{ "mcpServers": { "storeseo": { "url": "https://mcp.storeseo.com/mcp" } } }
2
Sign in to your store

Open Cursor's MCP settings (the Customize page in current versions), find storeseo and sign in when Cursor asks. A browser window opens: pick your Shopify store and approve access.
Prompt

Use StoreSEO to show me my store's SEO score breakdown.
3
Switch off four StoreSEO tools

StoreSEO has 44 tools and Cursor stops at about 40 active ones across all servers. In the storeseo entry in Cursor's MCP settings, turn off at least four you do not need. The four rank and competitor lookups are a good first choice if you are not on Pro.
Prompt

storeseo_list_rank_locations storeseo_list_rank_languages storeseo_add_competitors storeseo_delete_competitor
4
Or connect with an access token Optional

If you cannot use the browser sign-in, generate a token in StoreSEO under Settings, AI Toolkit and add it as a header. Cursor can read it from an environment variable so the token stays out of the file.
JSON

{ "mcpServers": { "storeseo": { "url": "https://mcp.storeseo.com/mcp", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${env:STORESEO_TOKEN}" } } } }

Sign-in

Cursor supports OAuth for remote MCP servers, so you sign in by picking your Shopify store in the browser and approving. If you prefer a token, generate one in StoreSEO under Settings, AI Toolkit and add it as an Authorization header in mcp.json.

Check it worked

Prompt

Use StoreSEO to show me my store's SEO score breakdown.

What is Cursor?

Cursor is an AI code editor made by Anysphere. Its agent reads the project you have open, edits files and calls tools, and shows each tool call in the chat so you can see what ran.

It connects to MCP servers over stdio, SSE or streamable HTTP. Servers are listed in mcp.json, either in ~/.cursor/mcp.json for every project or in .cursor/mcp.json inside one, and a remote server needs only a url and, if you use a token, a headers block. Cursor supports OAuth for remote servers, and you install, toggle and remove servers from its Customize page.

By default Cursor asks for approval before an MCP tool runs, and its Run Modes decide which tools may run on their own. Teams and Enterprise admins can also allowlist which MCP servers people may use.

Why use Cursor with StoreSEO?

SEO next to the theme code

When a fix touches Liquid, such as where a schema block prints or how FAQs render, the same Cursor session can open the template while StoreSEO shows the scores for that page.

Batch work in one chat

Ask for every product under a score and Cursor pages through the listing, previews each one and gives you one summary to approve, instead of you opening products one by one in the Shopify admin.

Two checks on every write

StoreSEO tells the agent to preview and wait for your yes, and Cursor asks before a tool runs unless you have allowed it, so a write has to get past both.

Good to know

StoreSEO has 44 tools and Cursor allows about 40 active tools across all your servers. Turn off at least four StoreSEO tools in Cursor's MCP settings, and more if you run other MCP servers.
A server added to .cursor/mcp.json belongs to that project only. Use ~/.cursor/mcp.json if you want StoreSEO in every project.
If you set a StoreSEO tool to run without asking, the confirmation StoreSEO asks for in chat is the only check left. Keep the apply, generate, publish and delete tools on ask.
Admins on Teams and Enterprise plans can restrict which MCP servers run, so a server you add may be blocked until an admin allows its URL.

What can you ask Cursor to do in StoreSEO?

Prompt 1

Use StoreSEO to list every product scoring under 50 and preview new meta for the first ten.

Prompt 2

Which product images have no alt text? Show me the ten heaviest ones first.

Prompt 3

Check my product schema settings and tell me what turning on Review and Sale dates would add.

Prompt 4

Is my llms.txt up to date? If not, tell me what generating a new one will change before you run it.

Prompt 5

Show me Search Console queries from the last 28 days where we rank between 8 and 20.

Cursor guides by job

Each guide covers one StoreSEO job end to end in Cursor: setup, prompts, an example session, the rules and the limits.

Audit your store's SEO with Cursor Find the products, collections, pages and posts with the lowest SEO scores and see exactly what each one is missing. Optimize meta tags and content with Cursor Preview and apply new meta titles, descriptions, URL handles, tags, FAQs and AI snippets, and set what StoreSEO optimizes automatically for newly synced products, collections and articles. Optimize images and alt text with Cursor Compress heavy images, write alt text and give image files descriptive names, one image at a time, with a restore for each change. Get products ready for AI search with Cursor Raise a product's GEO score so AI shopping agents and answer engines can understand it: FAQs, AI snippet, product schema and an agent-ready description. Publish llms.txt and agents.md with Cursor Generate the llms.txt file answer engines read and the agents.md file AI shopping agents read, check what is live, roll back or delete llms.txt versions, and reset agents.md to Shopify's default. Set up structured data with Cursor Check which JSON-LD schema types are on, configure organization, local business, product and review schema, and switch types on or off. Manage sitemaps and indexing with Cursor Exclude pages from the sitemap, set noindex or nofollow on a resource, and set up an HTML sitemap page for shoppers and crawlers, including which menu links to it. Track keyword rankings with Cursor Track where your store ranks on Google by country and language, add or remove keywords and up to five competitors, read each keyword's rank history, and build keyword clusters for products. Read Search Console and Analytics with Cursor Ask about clicks, impressions, queries, pages and traffic sources from Google Search Console and GA4 without opening either. Write SEO blog post drafts with Cursor Have StoreSEO write a complete SEO blog post and save it as a draft in your Shopify blog, ready for you to review and publish.

Which way should you connect?

MCP server with OAuth

Best for: Claude, ChatGPT and any client that supports remote MCP sign-in
Sign-in: Pick your store in Shopify and approve once
What you get: All 44 tools, scoped to the store you approved

Connect the MCP server

MCP server with an access token

Best for: Terminal agents and editors, or any client without OAuth
Sign-in: Generate a named token in Settings, AI Toolkit and send it as a Bearer header
What you get: The same 44 tools; revoke the token in the app to cut access

Set up the AI Toolkit

Shopify Sidekick

Best for: Merchants who stay inside Shopify admin
Sign-in: Nothing to add: StoreSEO is installed in your store
What you get: SEO answers and deep links to the fix page, not the MCP tools

Use StoreSEO with Sidekick

What runs without asking. Reads such as SEO scores, store listings, settings and Google reports run straight away. Generating a preview spends AI credit but writes nothing, and StoreSEO tells the agent to say what a generation will cost before it runs one. Applying content, optimizing images, changing settings, publishing llms.txt or agents.md, writing a product description and deleting anything wait for your yes in the conversation. That yes is an instruction the agent follows, not a lock on the server, so your client's own tool-approval setting is the hard stop.

Questions

How do I connect Cursor to StoreSEO?

Add a storeseo entry with the url https://mcp.storeseo.com/mcp to ~/.cursor/mcp.json, or paste the same JSON into Cursor's MCP settings. Then sign in when Cursor asks: your browser opens, you pick your Shopify store and approve access.

Why do I have to turn off StoreSEO tools in Cursor?

StoreSEO exposes 44 tools and Cursor allows about 40 active tools across all your MCP servers. Switch off at least four StoreSEO tools you do not need in Cursor's MCP settings. The rank and competitor lookups are a good first choice if you are not on Pro.

Do I need a StoreSEO API key for Cursor?

No. Cursor signs in with OAuth and keeps the credentials. A personal access token from StoreSEO under Settings, AI Toolkit is the alternative, sent as an Authorization header in mcp.json.

Will Cursor change my store without asking?

StoreSEO tells the agent to preview first and wait for your yes before it applies content, optimizes images, publishes a file or deletes anything, and that yes is an instruction the agent follows, not a lock on the server. Cursor also asks for approval before an MCP tool runs by default, and that setting is the hard stop. Reads such as scores and reports run straight away.

Which StoreSEO plan does Cursor need?

Any active StoreSEO plan, including the free plan, can use the MCP server. Rank tracking is a Pro feature, Google reports need a paid plan with Google connected, and generated content spends AI Content Optimizer credit. See the pricing table for current plans.

Should I use the global or the project mcp.json?

Use ~/.cursor/mcp.json when you want StoreSEO available in every project. Use .cursor/mcp.json when only one theme repository should see it, for example on a shared machine or in a repo you hand to a client.

How do I disconnect Cursor from my store?

Remove or toggle off the storeseo server in Cursor's MCP settings, or delete its entry from mcp.json. Then revoke the connection or the access token in StoreSEO under Settings, AI Toolkit, where every connected app is listed.