Optimize images and alt text with Zed
Optimizing your Shopify images in Zed means asking the Agent Panel to find heavy or unlabelled images through StoreSEO and optimize them one image at a time, with Zed's own tool prompt in front of every call.
Last updated: October 2026
Set up Zed for StoreSEO
Skip this if Zed is already connected. The full guide, with the alternatives, is on the Zed page.
- 1
Add StoreSEO as a remote server
Open Settings, then AI, then MCP Servers and add a remote server, or add this to settings.json yourself. Leave out headers so Zed can sign you in.
JSON{ "context_servers": { "storeseo": { "url": "https://mcp.storeseo.com/mcp" } } } - 2
Sign in and check the dot
Because the entry has no Authorization header, Zed prompts you to authenticate. Pick your Shopify store and approve in the browser. In Settings, AI, MCP Servers a green dot next to storeseo means the server is active. Then ask this in the Agent Panel.
PromptUse StoreSEO to show me my store's SEO score breakdown.
How does this work in Zed?
You have Zed open on your theme project with the Agent Panel beside the code, and storeseo listed under Settings, AI, MCP Servers with a green dot. You ask which product images have no alt text, heaviest first. The agent calls storeseo_start and then storeseo_list_images, and because Zed asks before running a tool action by default, each of those reads shows an approval prompt first. Once you accept, you get a list with the three axes for every image, compression, alt text and file name, plus how many are done.
That default prompt shapes the job. A listing is only two or three calls, but an image run is one storeseo_optimize_image call per image, so a batch of ten means ten prompts in Zed on top of the confirmation StoreSEO tells the agent to ask for. You can cut the noise for audits by allowing the read tools with per-tool keys such as mcp:storeseo:storeseo_list_images, and leave storeseo_optimize_image and storeseo_restore_image on confirm. Ask the agent to state the number of images and the spend first: compression uses Image Optimizer quota, while alt text and file names use AI Content Optimizer credit.
Because the panel sits in your editor, a rename has a visible follow-through. A new file name changes the image's storefront URL, and the agent can search the open theme for the old file name and show you each match. If a result is wrong, a request to restore the alt text, the file name or the compression calls storeseo_restore_image, and Zed asks you again before it runs.
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You: Which product images have no alt text, heaviest first?
- storeseo_start read-only
- storeseo_list_images read-only
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Zed: Eight images, the heaviest on Canvas Tote at 3.4 MB. Alt text uses AI credit, one call per image. Shall I write alt text for the three Canvas Tote images?
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You: Yes, alt text only.
- storeseo_optimize_image needs approval
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Zed: First Canvas Tote image has new alt text. Zed will prompt again for the next call.
What to ask Zed
Use StoreSEO to list my ten heaviest unoptimized product images and tell me what compressing them will use.
Which product images have no alt text? List them, then search this theme for any that are hard-coded by file name.
Compress and rename the images on the product Canvas Tote, and tell me the new URLs before and after.
- 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 Zed 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 Zed
Zed's default is to ask before every tool action, reads included, so an image audit and a batch of single-image optimize calls each bring a prompt. Allow only the read tool with a key like mcp:storeseo:storeseo_list_images and keep storeseo_optimize_image and storeseo_restore_image on confirm. If you set agent.tool_permissions.default to allow, Zed stops asking and the confirmation StoreSEO tells the agent to ask for is the only check before an image is compressed or renamed.
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
Why does Zed ask me before every image call?
agent.tool_permissions.default is confirm unless you change it, so the Agent Panel asks before each tool action. Allow the read tools by name to reduce prompts and keep the optimize and restore tools on confirm.
Can Zed show me where my theme uses a renamed image?
Yes. A new file name gives the image a new storefront URL, and the Agent Panel can search the open project for the old file name. StoreSEO only reports the new address, so the search happens in your theme.
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 Zed guides