Shopify Blog SEO Optimizer

Audit Shopify articles, research E-E-A-T gaps, and preview approved HTML improvements

This is an Admin write skill with preview, content audit, research, and post-write verification.

What the merchant experiences

1. Install the skill and configure one private skill-hub.env file.
2. Run a connection check. The skill reports the store, connection mode, granted scopes, and the next action.
3. Give an Article URL, exact title, or Article ID. The skill confirms the matched Article before auditing.
4. The agent audits the current content, researches sensitive or factual claims, and creates a candidate HTML version.
5. The agent generates one standalone HTML report containing the audit, change summary, E-E-A-T evidence, approval bundle, and responsive storefront preview.
6. The merchant reviews the report and explicitly approves or rejects the proposed fields.
7. Only after approval does the skill call articleUpdate; it then reads the Article again and verifies semantic markers, links, and HTML safety.

The merchant should never have to hand-write audit-plan.json or an access token. The agent owns the candidate and report data; the deterministic helper validates and renders it.

Required references

• Read references/onboarding-guide.md for the first-run conversation and connection boundary.
• Read references/audit-checklist.md for deterministic checks and severity rules.
• Read references/eeat-methodology.md before scoring or changing factual and sensitive claims.
• Read references/report-schema.md before creating candidate or approval artifacts.
• Read references/storefront-preview.md before rendering the combined HTML report.

Connection errors

Only after a request fails; keep the selected access method.

• Network (fetch failed, ETIMEDOUT, ECONNRESET, ENETUNREACH): never guess proxy ports. If the runtime is configured to use an approved proxy, retry once; otherwise ask the merchant to expose one to this process.
• 407: fix proxy credentials in the runtime secret store; never paste them in chat.
• CLI_NOT_FOUND / ENOENT: resolve the configured CLI entry or platform command; this is a launcher error.
• 401/403 / invalid_client: check store, credentials, and app installation.
• SCOPE_UPDATE_REQUIRED: show missing scopes, get approval, approve in Shopify, refresh token, retry.
• shop_not_permitted: use an app permitted for this store; do not loop. GraphQL errors: fix query/input; do not retry blindly.
• Suggest another access method only after this path fails and the user agrees.

Install and first connection

Install from the public source:

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npx skills add lvsao/shopify-skill-hub --skill shopify-blog-seo-optimizer

Create the private config in the user's working directory:

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node <absolute-path-to-skill>/scripts/shopify-blog-seo-admin.mjs init-env --method shopify_cli_oauth --env skill-hub.env

Quick mode opens Shopify browser authorization and needs only the store address. For direct Dev App access, choose dev_dashboard_client_credentials and fill these private values:

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SKILL_HUB_SHOPIFY_ACCESS_METHOD=dev_dashboard_client_credentials
SKILL_HUB_SHOPIFY_STORE_DOMAIN=<store>.myshopify.com
SKILL_HUB_SHOPIFY_CLIENT_ID=<private-client-id>
SKILL_HUB_SHOPIFY_CLIENT_SECRET=<private-client-secret>

The app must be installed in the target store and have the minimum content scope families: read_content plus write_content, or the documented read_online_store_pages plus write_online_store_pages alternatives. The direct connector exchanges the client credentials for a short-lived token in memory and never writes it to a file or report. If direct credentials are unavailable, choose shopify_cli_oauth and follow the CLI authorization prompt.

If a direct-mode task needs more scopes, follow the two-consent permission-upgrade flow in references/onboarding-guide.md. Configure the optional Automation Token during initial Dev Dashboard onboarding when approved future releases should run without collecting another credential; it never grants store consent. The merchant must still open the installed app in Shopify admin and approve the pending permission update before the agent refreshes the token and retries.

Run the connection check before giving the skill an Article:

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node <absolute-path-to-skill>/scripts/shopify-blog-seo-admin.mjs connection-check --env skill-hub.env

Do not continue when the connection check reports a missing read scope. For a missing write scope, the skill may continue with audit and report, but must stop before an approved write until the permission update is approved.

Target selection

Accept exactly one of:

• --url <public Shopify article URL>
• --title <exact or close article title>
• --article-id <gid://shopify/Article/...>

Confirm the matched title, handle, blog, Article ID, publication state, author, update date, and storefront URL. Never silently choose the first close match. A public URL is only a locator; Admin GraphQL is the source of truth.

Audit and candidate workflow

Use the helper for deterministic retrieval and checks:

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node <absolute-path-to-skill>/scripts/shopify-blog-seo-admin.mjs find --env skill-hub.env --url <article-url>
node <absolute-path-to-skill>/scripts/shopify-blog-seo-admin.mjs audit --env skill-hub.env --article-id <article-gid> --output audit.json

Read references/audit-checklist.md and references/eeat-methodology.md. The agent then creates candidate.json with the original Article identity, candidate body and optional summary, a plain-language changes list, research sources, E-E-A-T findings, and the exact updates bundle. Use references/report-schema.md as the contract.

Render the combined report without asking the merchant to assemble an intermediate plan:

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node <absolute-path-to-skill>/scripts/shopify-blog-seo-admin.mjs report --audit audit.json --candidate candidate.json --output shopify-blog-seo-report.html

The report must contain:

• deterministic audit findings with severity and evidence;
• plain-language before/after changes;
• research sources, E-E-A-T evidence, confidence, and unresolved questions;
• exact proposed Shopify fields and intentionally unchanged fields;
• a Preview only — not published badge;
• a responsive candidate article preview with clickable TOC and usable FAQ disclosure;
• real-storefront-reference only when the live page was reachable, otherwise theme-like-fallback with the access reason.

Safe optimization scope

Default low-risk changes are stable heading IDs, a clickable TOC, useful FAQ/HowTo content supported by evidence, readable headings and lists, spelling and grammar fixes, empty-element cleanup, verified link repairs, context-accurate image alt text, and a concise summary when the current summary is blank.

Require merchant input for credentials, first-hand experience, author qualifications, expert review, customer evidence, new factual claims, regulated or safety-sensitive advice, and changes that alter the article's meaning. Do not invent E-E-A-T evidence.

Do not change handle, publication state, author, tags, images, theme files, or metafields unless the merchant explicitly expands the scope. Do not put scripts, JSON-LD, JavaScript, forms, iframes, event handlers, or hidden keyword blocks into Article body HTML. Audit meta title, meta description, canonical, robots, Open Graph, and JSON-LD separately when the Article API cannot edit them directly.

Approval and write

Report the exact fields in candidate.json. A dry run is always allowed:

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node <absolute-path-to-skill>/scripts/shopify-blog-seo-admin.mjs apply --env skill-hub.env --input candidate.json

After the merchant explicitly approves the combined report, create an approved plan with approved: true (or approval.confirmed: true) and execute:

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node <absolute-path-to-skill>/scripts/shopify-blog-seo-admin.mjs apply --env skill-hub.env --input approved-plan.json --execute
node <absolute-path-to-skill>/scripts/shopify-blog-seo-admin.mjs verify --env skill-hub.env --article-id <article-gid>

The helper only writes body and summary, checks userErrors, and rejects --execute without an explicit approval marker. Afterward compare semantic markers, not byte-for-byte HTML, because Shopify may normalize markup.

Deterministic validation

Run the no-network regression suite before submitting or updating the Hermes PR:

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node --test <absolute-path-to-skill>/tests/test-shopify-blog-seo-optimizer.mjs

The suite covers report CSP and untrusted HTML handling, public URL validation, DNS-to-private-range rejection, and the preview-only report path. It does not need a Shopify store, credentials, or package installation.

Failure handling

• ARTICLE_NOT_FOUND: show the candidates or ask for a different locator.
• SCOPE_UPDATE_REQUIRED: show the exact missing scope family and stop before writing.
• shop_not_permitted: explain that direct client credentials work only for an eligible installed store; offer the CLI OAuth fallback.
• Password-protected or blocked storefront: generate the report with a clearly labelled theme-like fallback; never claim a real frontend was verified.
• Research uncertainty: preserve the original claim, mark it for review, and do not manufacture authority.