Optimize images and alt text with OpenClaw
Optimizing your store's images with OpenClaw means messaging the agent runtime you host yourself from WhatsApp, Slack or its Control UI, and letting it find and fix heavy or unlabelled images through StoreSEO one image at a time.
Last updated: October 2026
Set up OpenClaw for StoreSEO
Skip this if OpenClaw is already connected. The full guide, with the alternatives, is on the OpenClaw page.
- 1
Add StoreSEO to OpenClaw
Run this on the installation that owns the connector. The --auth oauth flag marks the server as an OAuth server, which is what openclaw mcp login needs.
Terminalopenclaw mcp add storeseo \ --url https://mcp.storeseo.com/mcp \ --transport streamable-http \ --auth oauth
- 2
Sign in to your store
The login prints an authorization URL. Open it in a browser, pick your Shopify store and approve access. OpenClaw captures the redirect and saves the credentials.
Terminalopenclaw mcp login storeseo
- 3
Check the connection
The probe opens a live connection and reports the tools the server offers. A saved server entry proves nothing until the probe passes.
Terminalopenclaw mcp doctor storeseo --probe
How does this work in OpenClaw?
OpenClaw runs on your own machine or server, and you talk to it from a chat app on your phone. You send find the five heaviest product images that are not compressed yet, and the agent calls storeseo_start and then storeseo_list_images through the storeseo server you added with openclaw mcp add. It replies in the same thread with the product, the file size and which of the three axes, compression, alt text and file name, are still open. You can run openclaw mcp doctor with its probe option first to confirm the StoreSEO tools are listed.
Changes are a conversation. Tell the agent which images and which axes you want, and ask it to state the count and the spend before it starts: compression uses Image Optimizer quota, alt text and file names use AI Content Optimizer credit. Then it calls storeseo_optimize_image once per image and reports each axis. If a result is wrong, a message such as restore the file name on that image makes it call storeseo_restore_image. Because a rename changes the image's storefront URL, ask the agent to list the new URLs in its reply.
The scheduler suits the audit half of this job. An automation created with openclaw automations create can run on a cron expression in an isolated session and announce the result in a Telegram chat, for example a Monday count of images with no alt text and the five heaviest uncompressed files. That run should be report-only, because nobody is there to say yes to a write. When the report arrives and you want the fixes, reply in the chat, where you can answer the agent's question about scope and cost.
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You: Which of my product images are heaviest and not compressed?
- storeseo_start read-only
- storeseo_list_images read-only
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OpenClaw: The top five are all over 3 MB, three on Market Basket. Compression uses Image Optimizer quota, one image per call. Shall I compress those three Market Basket images now?
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You: Yes, compression only.
- storeseo_optimize_image needs approval
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OpenClaw: First image compressed, the other two are queued behind it. I will report each result as it lands.
What to ask OpenClaw
Use StoreSEO to list my ten heaviest uncompressed product images. Read only, and tell me the quota compression would use.
Every Monday at 8am, tell me how many product images have no alt text and which five are heaviest. Do not optimize or restore anything.
Optimize the images on the product Market Basket: compression, alt text and file name. Ask me before you start.
- Find my ten heaviest unoptimized product images and compress them. Tell me the quota it will use first.
- Which product images have no alt text at all? Write alt text for the ones on my best seller.
- Optimize every image on the product Canvas Tote: compression, alt text and file name.
- Restore the original alt text on the last image you changed.
- Give my collection images descriptive file names, and warn me which URLs will change.
What StoreSEO does: image seo and alt text
StoreSEO tracks three things per image: file-size compression, alt text and file name. The agent finds the heaviest or unlabelled images, optimizes them one call per image, and can restore any of the three if you do not like the result.
Requires: Compression needs the Image Optimizer add-on and counts against its monthly quota; alt text and file names spend AI Content Optimizer credit.
- 1
Find the images
The agent lists product, collection or article images, heaviest unoptimized first by default. It can filter to images with no alt text, or scope the list to one product by title.
- 2
Check what it found
A title search can also match image file names from other resources, so the agent checks each row belongs to the product you meant.
- 3
Agree the scope and cost
Compression uses image quota and alt text and file names use AI credit, so the agent confirms before working through many images.
- 4
Optimize one image per call
Each call takes the axes you want: compression, alt text, file name or all three. The axes always run compression, then file name, then alt text, and the response reports each one separately.
- 5
Report or restore
The agent reports what applied, what was already done and what was refused. If a result is wrong, the restore tool brings back the original file, alt text or name.
Image SEO and alt text reference
| Axes per image | Compression, alt text, file name |
|---|---|
| Image sources | Products, collections and articles (pages have no images) |
| Batching | One image per call; never two calls on the same image at once |
| Compression | Image Optimizer add-on and its monthly quota; an already compressed image is reported as already applied |
| Alt text and file name | AI Content Optimizer credit; both together are billed as one generation |
| File name change | Renames the file on Shopify and changes the image's storefront URL |
| Collection and article renames | Re-upload the image, so the call can take a couple of minutes |
| Restore | Reverts compression, alt text or file name per axis |
| Score impact | Alt text and file names count on products, collections and articles; compression counts on products |
Rules OpenClaw follows
- The agent confirms the number of images and the kind of spend before a bulk run.
- One image per call, all wanted axes together; never parallel calls on the same image.
- A renamed image has a new URL, so the agent tells you, because anything that hard-coded the old URL keeps serving the old file.
- If a response is lost, the agent re-lists the image instead of retrying, because a retry regenerates and spends again.
- A refused axis, for example compression without the add-on, is reported as such while the other axes still apply.
In OpenClaw
A scheduled OpenClaw run cannot wait for your yes, so an automation for this job should call only storeseo_list_images and report; leave storeseo_optimize_image and storeseo_restore_image to a chat you can answer. OpenClaw also has a per-server approval setting, set with openclaw mcp configure storeseo --approval, and a mode that skips the check would leave StoreSEO's own confirmation as the only stop before an image is rewritten. Run the mcp commands on the installation that owns the connector.
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
Can OpenClaw optimize my images on a schedule?
It can run a scheduled check, but keep that run to reads. An automation has nobody to say yes, so have it report heavy and unlabelled images, then ask for the optimization in a chat message you can answer.
How do I check that OpenClaw can see the StoreSEO image tools?
Run openclaw mcp doctor storeseo with the probe option. It opens a live connection and lists the tools, and you should see storeseo_list_images, storeseo_optimize_image and storeseo_restore_image in the list.
Can the agent compress images without the Image Optimizer add-on?
No. Compression needs the Image Optimizer add-on and counts against its monthly quota. Alt text and file names work without it and spend AI Content Optimizer credit instead.
Can I undo an image optimization?
Yes. The restore tool reverts compression, alt text or file name for one image, per axis. Restoring compression brings back the original file.
Why did my image URL change?
Giving an image a new file name renames the file on Shopify and re-points its storefront URL. Pages that use the image through Shopify keep working, but anything that hard-coded the old URL keeps the old file.
Can I write my own file name or alt text through the agent?
No. StoreSEO writes the alt text and file name from the resource's own context. You can steer the language, and you can always edit alt text yourself in Shopify admin.
Keep going
Image SEO and alt text with other agents
More OpenClaw guides