Inside Shopify Catalog: What You Can Actually Build With It (Spring ’26 Edition)
Shopify’s Spring ’26 “Everywhere” Edition introduced more than 150 updates, but one of the most impactful additions for developers is the continued evolution of the Catalog API. As Shopify pushes further into agentic commerce, Catalog API is becoming the foundation that allows AI agents to search, understand, compare, and recommend products across the Shopify ecosystem.
This update doesn’t just improve the Catalog API—it expands what developers can build with it. From image-based product discovery to AI-powered shopping assistants, Shopify is creating the infrastructure needed for the next generation of commerce experiences.
What Is Shopify Catalog API?
Catalog API gives AI agents access to Shopify product data through a standardized interface. Instead of integrating with individual stores one by one, developers can use Catalog API to search products, retrieve product information, and recommend items to shoppers.
Whether you’re building an AI shopping assistant, a recommendation engine, or a niche discovery app, Catalog API provides access to the product data needed to power those experiences.
What’s New in Spring ’26?
1. Image Search
One of the most exciting additions is image-based product search.
Agents can now submit an image and receive visually similar products from across Shopify’s catalog. Matching is based on factors such as material, color, shape, and style, allowing users to shop directly from inspiration images.
Imagine uploading a photo of a chair, lamp, or jacket and instantly finding similar products available for purchase from Shopify merchants.
2. Product Lookup at Scale
The lookup_catalog tool now supports significantly larger requests.
Developers can resolve up to 50 product or variant identifiers in a single Global Catalog request (10 for Storefront Catalog), returning real-time pricing and inventory information.
This allows AI agents to quickly refresh product information without performing new searches, improving performance and reducing unnecessary API calls.
3. Richer Product Data
Catalog API now provides access to more detailed product information, including:
- Product media and images
- Complete variant information
- Live availability and inventory status
- Multiple seller offers for the same product
This enables AI agents to present shoppers with more complete product information and even help identify the best available offer.
4. Shop Sign-In Support
Developers can now integrate Shop account sign-in directly into Catalog-powered experiences.
Instead of creating new accounts, shoppers can authenticate using their existing Shop identity. While personalized recommendations based on Shop data are not yet available, Shopify has already laid the foundation for future personalization features.
5. Sponsored and Promoted Products
Perhaps the most significant long-term update is Shopify’s early work on monetization.
Through promoted product placements within Catalog API experiences, Shopify is exploring ways for developers to earn revenue from sales generated through their applications.
Although currently available as a developer preview, this signals Shopify’s intention to support a sustainable ecosystem of AI-powered commerce applications.
