AI shopping agents and custom storefronts

AI shopping agents (ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot) and Shop app links

These can't choose a delivery date yet. Shopify gives apps no way to ask an agent for one. Your date rules still apply to their orders at checkout:

• With Block, checkout asks the customer to finish on your store and pick the date.
• With Accept, the order goes through and the customer picks the date on the order confirmation (thank-you) page, or later on the order status page once signed in to their account.

See Orders without a delivery date.

Tell agents a date is needed

OrderRules → Delivery Dates → Orders & fulfillment → Tell AI agents a date is needed. Copy the ready-made FAQ and add it to Shopify's free Knowledge Base app, which AI agents read when shoppers ask about your store. Adding the same sentence to your shipping policy helps too.

Custom storefronts (Hydrogen, headless, custom agents)

OrderRules' delivery date picker is a theme app block, so it only appears on Online Store themes. A storefront built on the Storefront API skips it, whether that's Hydrogen or a custom React or Next.js app. Checkout still enforces your rules.

To let buyers pick the date in your own storefront, write it to the cart with the same fields the picker uses. The queries below are for Storefront API 2026-10.

1. Read the open dates

query OrderRulesDelivery {
  shop {
    metafield(namespace: "order_rules", key: "delivery") { value }
  }
}

value is JSON. The parts you need:

Show a date only when all of these hold:

• it's in the rule's allowedDates;
• it isn't in blackouts;
• capacity[date]._all isn't 0.

When requireDate is true, a date is mandatory. The metafield is refreshed whenever you change your delivery settings and after orders come in. Treat it as read-only: the format is internal and may change.

2. Write the chosen date

One date for the whole order. Cart attributes:

mutation SetDeliveryDate($cartId: ID!) {
  cartAttributesUpdate(cartId: $cartId, attributes: [
    { key: "_os_dp", value: "d|2026-11-04|am" }
    { key: "delivery_date", value: "2026-11-04" }
    { key: "delivery_slot", value: "am" }
  ]) {
    cart { id }
    userErrors { field message }
  }
}

• _os_dp is what the checkout check reads. Its format is d|YYYY-MM-DD|slotId; leave the slot empty when there are no time slots, for example d|2026-11-04|.
• delivery_date and delivery_slot are what your order list, tags, CSV export and capacity counts read.

Or a date per product. A line attribute:

mutation AddDatedLine($cartId: ID!) {
  cartLinesAdd(cartId: $cartId, lines: [{
    merchandiseId: "gid://shopify/ProductVariant/123"
    quantity: 1
    attributes: [{ key: "_os_dpl", value: "d|2026-11-04|am" }]
  }]) {
    cart { id }
    userErrors { field message }
  }
}

A line's own _os_dpl wins over the order-level _os_dp. Lines without one use the order-level date.

3. Check it

Go to checkout with a date-required product.

• Without a date: checkout shows "Please choose a delivery date…".
• With a valid date: checkout continues, and the order shows the date under its additional details.

Links instead of a storefront

For chat, email or social sales, use Checkout link with a delivery date. It creates a cart link with the date already set.

Related

• Orders without a delivery date · Checkout protection · Delivery date after the order