Goal
Install the Altera connector inside ChatGPT (or Claude) so you can ask the assistant to export, edit, and re-import data from your Shopify store without leaving the chat. The assistant calls Altera's tools on your behalf, you review the results, and Altera applies the changes through the same APIs the web app uses.
Prerequisites
An Altera account with at least one Shopify store connected.
Permission on the Altera account to create OAuth grants (any owner, admin, or staff role).
A ChatGPT plan with access to custom connectors (Pro, Business, or Enterprise), or a Claude account. Altera is listed in the Claude connector directory, so Claude does not need custom connector access.
Add the connector in ChatGPT
In ChatGPT, open Settings > Connectors and click Add custom connector (you may need to enable developer mode first under Advanced settings).
Enter the connector URL:
https://mcp.getaltera.com/mcp.Click Connect. ChatGPT redirects you to Altera to sign in.
Sign in with your Altera credentials, choose the shop you want to authorize, and click Authorize.
You're redirected back to ChatGPT. The connector now shows as Connected in your settings.
The grant is per-shop. If you want ChatGPT to act on more than one shop, repeat the steps above and authorize each shop separately.
Add the connector in Claude
Altera is listed in the Claude connector directory, so you do not need to enter a connector URL:
Open the Altera listing in the Claude connector directory. You can also find it in Claude under Customize > Connectors > Browse connectors by searching for Altera.
Click Connect. Claude redirects you to Altera to sign in.
Sign in with your Altera credentials, choose the shop you want to authorize, and click Authorize Claude.
You are redirected back to Claude. The listing now shows Connected, and Altera appears under Customize > Connectors.
The directory connector works in the Claude web app, desktop app, mobile apps, Claude Code, and Claude Cowork.
Connect more than one shop
Each authorization grants access to a single shop, and the directory connector can be connected only once. To let Claude act on additional shops, add a custom connector for each extra shop under Customize > Connectors > Add custom connector (custom connectors require a paid Claude plan). Claude identifies each connector by its URL, so give every extra shop a distinct URL by appending a query parameter (Altera ignores the value and still resolves the shop from the authorization step):
Add a custom connector with a URL like
https://mcp.getaltera.com/mcp?shop=second-store, then sign in and authorize the second shop.Repeat for any other shops, giving each a distinct value (any label works, for example a store nickname).
The directory connector and the custom connectors then appear separately in Claude, and each one acts on the shop you authorized it against.
Allow file uploads in Claude Cowork
If you want Claude Cowork to upload files from your computer (product images, videos, PDFs) to Shopify through Altera, it also needs network access to Altera's upload host:
In Claude Cowork, open the Capabilities settings.
Go to the Network access (network egress) section.
Either allow all domains, or add
mcp.getaltera.comto the allowed domains.
You don't need this for regular imports and exports. It's only required when Claude uploads local files, because the upload itself is an HTTP request to mcp.getaltera.com rather than a connector tool call.
Choose what the connection can access
By default a new connection can read and write all of your store data. On the authorization screen you can scope it to specific resources instead:
Expand Data access and review the resource list.
Check Read to allow exports of a resource, or Write to allow imports. Tick a Read or Write column header to select the whole column at once, then adjust individual rows.
Leave everything unchecked to keep full access. Resources that are export only (such as Activity and Payouts) can't be granted write access.
Finish authorizing. The connection then shows a Full access or Limited badge in Altera under Settings > MCP connections.
Read access maps to exports and write access maps to imports. Permissions are set when you authorize and can't be edited afterward, so to change them you disconnect the AI tool and reconnect, choosing the new set of permissions on the authorization screen.
Try it out
Open a new conversation and ask:
Use Altera to show me my five most recent jobs.
The assistant calls whoami to discover the shop, then list_jobs and reports the result.
For a write example:
Export the first 10 active products from my store as a CSV.
The assistant creates an export job, polls for completion, and returns the file: small CSV, JSON, and XML exports come back inline so the assistant can read them directly, while larger or binary files come back as a time-limited download link you can save locally.
What the assistant can do
The connector exposes tools in three groups:
Discovery:
whoami,list_shops,list_jobs,ref_resources,ref_fields,ref_filters,ref_operators,ref_metafields,taxonomy_search,taxonomy_browse,taxonomy_validate,search_docs,read_doc.Shop reads:
shop_metafield_definitions,shop_metaobject_definitions,shop_markets,shop_locations,shop_customer_segments.Jobs and files:
export_create,request_upload_url,upload_file_data,request_media_upload_url,import_create,job_status,job_run,job_cancel,job_download_url. (upload_file_datasends a small file's contents inline, for assistants that can't upload to a URL.)
Read tools run automatically. Write tools (import_create in particular) prompt you to confirm before changing data on the store.
Permissions and safety
Each connection can be limited to specific resources when you authorize it (see Choose what the connection can access). A scoped connection shows a Limited badge under Settings > MCP connections.
The connector also inherits whatever data permissions you've configured for your Altera account. Both layers apply, so the assistant gets a permission error if either the connection's own scope or your account permissions disallow an action.
Imports that change data require explicit confirmation in the chat UI. The assistant can't apply an import silently.
Every tool call is logged in your Altera account's audit log with the timestamp, tool name, and arguments.
Disconnect
To revoke the assistant's access:
In ChatGPT: Settings > Connectors > Altera > Remove. In Claude: Customize > Connectors, open the Altera connector, and disconnect it.
In Altera: Settings > API & Connections > find the matching grant and click Revoke (this also revokes the underlying OAuth grant).
Doing both is the safest path; the Altera-side revocation invalidates the access token immediately.