Understand Shopify’s platform-level route
Shopify introduced its agent-discovery files in May 2026. /agents.md is the canonical discovery URL; by default, /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt serve the same content. A store should not treat these paths as arbitrary uploaded files. Theme-level customization can use agents.md.liquid, while URL-specific templates can override a single path when needed. Confirm the current behavior on your live storefront before changing a theme. Shopify’s developer changelog documents the rollout and fallback order.
Add concise, factual guidance
An agent-facing file should help a crawler identify the store, its primary product categories, key public pages, and any important constraints. It should not be a keyword dump or an unsupported promise. Link to canonical collection, product, shipping, returns, and contact pages where those facts live. The best guidance points agents toward evidence they can verify.
Keep the file aligned with the storefront
Update agents.md.liquid when your catalog structure or policies change. If a URL needs different guidance, use its specific template such as llms.txt.liquid. If an agent file says a collection is your primary assortment, that collection should exist, load publicly, and match the language used in visible navigation. Inconsistent guidance makes retrieval harder to trust.
Test the actual output
Request /agents.md and /llms.txt from the public domain after publishing. Check status codes, redirects, canonical links in the pages it references, and whether the rendered text contains theme markup by mistake. Treat it like any other customer-facing technical asset.