How to Generate BigCommerce API Credentials for Chatbot Studio?
These credentials are only needed when an AI Studio setup needs to read or update data through the BigCommerce API. You do not need to add them to your storefront theme.
Step 1: Open Store-Level API Accounts
In your BigCommerce admin, go to Settings, then find Store-level API accounts under the API section. Click Create API account.
Step 2: Name It and Set Permissions
Give the account a clear name, such as YourGPT Chatbot, then set these OAuth scopes:
Scope | Access | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
Products | Read-only | Product search and product details |
Carts | Modify | Building the cart link |
Orders | Read-only | Order status and return eligibility |
Information & Settings | Read-only | Reading your store currency |
Storefront API Tokens | Manage | Shopper-facing product search |
Leave every other scope set to None. These five are what the BigCommerce flow uses — granting more than a flow needs only widens what a leaked token could reach.
Carts needs Modify, not read-only. BigCommerce builds a cart on the server and hands back a link, so a read-only scope here means the chatbot can look up products but never produce a working cart link.
Step 3: Save and Copy Your Credentials
Click Save. BigCommerce now shows your credentials:
Client ID
Client Secret
Access Token
API Path — your store's API address, which contains your store hash
Copy these now — the access token isn't shown again after you leave this page.
Keep them secure. They grant access to your store's data, so store them somewhere safe and don't share them.
Your store hash is the code inside the API Path, between
stores/and the next/. This field is the easiest place to find it.
Step 4: Add Them to Your Studio
In AI Studio, open your flow and add these as configuration variables:
BIGCOMMERCE_STORE_HASH— from your API PathBIGCOMMERCE_ACCESS_TOKEN
Publish the flow, and your chatbot can start answering from your BigCommerce data.