The Altera CLI tool is a powerful command-line interface for interacting with your Shopify store through the Altera app. It provides an efficient way to manage your Shopify files, and soon, data imports and exports. While we do not provide direct API access to Altera, this tool allows you to manage your store's data and files from the command line and to automate your workflows.
We launched the CLI tool in September 2025. If you have any questions or feedback we would love to hear from you.
Getting Started
Important: Keep your API key private as anyone with access will be able to access your store's data.
Install the Altera app from the Shopify App Store
Navigate to Settings → API Keys
Enter a contact email and save the settings
Then generate an API key and copy it to your clipboard
In your terminal run
npx altera shop addto connect your store to the CLI
Command Reference
This section provides a reference for all the commands available in the Altera CLI.
Shop Management
shop add [shopDomain]- Connect a new Shopify store to the CLIshop list- View all configured shopsshop use [shopDomain]- Switch between different shopsshop remove [shopDomain]- Remove a shop configurationshop test [shopDomain]- Test API connection for a specific shop
File Management
The files subcommand allows you to upload and download files from the Shopify Files section. Each time you upload or downloads files you will also get an Excel file of the files in the Altera format.
files download [localDir]- Download files from Shopify to local folderOptions:
--filename <filename>- Filter files by filename--media_type <type>- Filter by media type (IMAGE, EXTERNAL_VIDEO, MODEL_3D, VIDEO, FILE)
files upload [filePath]- Upload a file to Shopify
Example Commands
Download all files from Shopify to a local folder:
$ npx altera files download local_folder Downloading Files ----------------- URL: https://admin.shopify.com/store/example-store/apps/altera/job/q17bPE/ Output directory: ./local_folder Excel summary: ./local_folder/Files_2025-09-24_062200.xlsx [x] Preparing file list (1029) [x] Creating local directory [x] Downloading files (1029/1029) 1029 files downloaded to ./local_folder
Download all images from Shopify that contain 'shoes' in the filename:
$ npx altera files download local_folder --filename shoes --media_type IMAGE
Upload files from a local folder to Shopify:
$ npx altera files upload ./product_images/*.jpg Uploading Files ----------------- URL: https://admin.shopify.com/store/example-store/apps/altera/job/ED2k8q/ Excel summary: File_Upload_2025-09-24_063407.xlsx [x] Uploading files (4/4) [x] Waiting for Shopify to process files [x] Download summary File upload job completed successfully
Export Operations
Exports are still in development and will be available soon.
export create <types>- Create a new export jobOptions:
--shop <shopDomain>- Specify the shop domain--nodownload- Create export and return URL without waiting--file-name <fileName>- Specify the output file name
export status <jobId>- Check export job statusexport list- View recent export jobs
Import Operations
Imports are still in development and will be available soon.
import create <filePath>- Create a new import jobOptions:
--shop <shopDomain>- Specify the shop domain--types <types>- Specify the types to import (products, orders, customers, etc.)