Shopify MCP migrates to UCP: migration guide before June 2026

What changed in the Shopify Storefront Catalog MCP

Shopify has officially migrated the Storefront Catalog MCP to the Unified Commerce Platform (UCP). This is not a minor update: the reference endpoint, tool names, and request/response schemas have all changed. Anyone who has built AI-assisted integrations or headless architectures that rely on the old MCP tools has a firm deadline: June 15, 2026.

Until that date the old tools remain active, but all official Shopify documentation already points to the new version. Waiting means handling an emergency migration under pressure, with all the operational risks that come with it.

---

The new UCP tools: names, functions, and differences

The new MCP surface exposes three main tools, with names and behavior redefined compared to the previous version.

search_catalog

Replaces the old search tool. Performs searches across the product catalog with support for:

• structured filters by attribute, category, and availability
• native result pagination
• buyer context, useful for personalizing results based on market, currency, or segment

lookup_catalog

Replaces the old lookup tool. Enables batch retrieval of products or variants starting from one or more identifiers. This is the right tool when the product or variant ID is already known and you need to fetch structured data without running a search.

get_product

A new tool not present in the previous version. Returns the full detail of a single product, including variant selection and availability signals. It is the entry point for agents and integrations that need to display a detailed product page or handle variant selection logic on the AI side.

---

The new reference endpoint

The endpoint changes substantially. The old path is replaced by:

`` https://{storedomain}/api/ucp/mcp ``

All MCP calls must be redirected to this path. Integrations that continue pointing to the old endpoint will work until the deadline, but will not benefit from the updates and extensions planned for the UCP.

---

Why this migration matters beyond technical cleanup

Moving to the UCP is not just a naming change. Shopify is consolidating all touchpoints between AI agents, headless integrations, and the product catalog under a single access surface. This has concrete architectural implications:

• Schema consistency: a single request/response structure for all integrations, regardless of channel
• Built-in buyer context: the UCP natively brings the concept of buyer context, enabling personalizations that previously required additional layers
• Scalability for AI agents: UCP tools are designed to be consumed by LLM-based agents, with structured descriptions that improve the model's ability to select the correct tool

Anyone evaluating or already implementing AI-assisted architectures for the storefront should treat the UCP as the stable foundation to build on, not a future destination.

---

Migration plan: what to do now

The migration is technically scoped, but requires careful attention to schemas. Here are the operational steps:

1. Audit existing integrations: check whether the application uses the old search and lookup tools in its MCP calls
2. Update tool names: replace search with search_catalog and lookup with lookup_catalog; assess where to integrate get_product
3. Migrate the endpoint: update the path to /api/ucp/mcp across all environments (development, staging, production)
4. Review request/response schemas: each tool call may have additional or renamed parameters; regression testing across all calls is required before go-live
5. Update internal documentation: if the team maintains documentation on integrations, align it before the old references cause confusion

If you are building or maintaining Shopify integrations with AI tools, you can review the Shopify developer plans on Barikreativa to evaluate the technical support available.

---

Deadline and operational risk

June 15, 2026 is the confirmed deprecation date. After that date, the old tools will no longer be guaranteed. Integrations that have not completed the migration risk service interruptions without additional notice.

The best time to start the migration is now, while the old tools are still active and teams can test in parallel without operational pressure.