Setting up the Knowledge Base app in five steps
Install the free app from the Shopify App Store. Shopify auto-generates a starter FAQ set from four admin surfaces: Language settings, Customer account settings, Shipping and delivery settings, Return rules. Review each auto-generated FAQ for accuracy. Override the ones that need fixing. Add manual entries for the questions Shopify didn't anticipate. The setup is 30 minutes for a typical store.
The app's install path is documented on its App Store listing1 and the help-center setup flow2. Auto-generated FAQs draw from the four surfaces named on the FAQ-management page3.
§ 01 Sources
The four settings surfaces
Shopify pulls FAQ content from Language settings (multi-language stores), Customer account settings (login flows, account creation), Shipping and delivery settings (zones, rates, delivery times), and Return rules (return windows, restocking fees, exchange policies). Fixing the underlying setting updates the FAQ and the AI agent's answer simultaneously.
| Settings surface | What it feeds | Update cadence |
|---|
| Language settings | Multi-language FAQs and locale-specific answers | Sync after settings change |
| Customer account settings | Account creation, login, password reset FAQs | Sync after settings change |
| Shipping and delivery settings | Shipping zones, rates, delivery time FAQs | Sync after settings change |
| Return rules | Return window, restocking fee, exchange FAQs | Sync after settings change |
§ 02 Manual
Adding manual FAQs (the 1-2 sentence rule)
Per Shopify's own guidance, manually created FAQs should have 'a brief 1-2 sentence answer.'3 Longer answers fragment when the AI agent quotes them. The pattern: state the answer directly in sentence one; add any condition or caveat in sentence two. Don't write paragraphs.
Manual FAQs come from three triggers: questions Shopify didn't auto-generate, questions in the Top unanswered questions surface, and questions the merchant knows are asked frequently but aren't in the settings layer. The Top unanswered questions surface is the highest-leverage source — it shows what real buyers actually ask.
§ 03 Checklist
The setup checklist
Walk these in order. Step 1 should take under 5 minutes. Step 2 takes 10-15 minutes (depending on how many auto-FAQs are accurate). Step 3 takes 10-15 minutes (the manual entries). The whole setup is 30 minutes for a typical store.
- Install the app from apps.shopify.com/shopify-knowledge-base.
- Open Settings > Policies and confirm each policy is current. Knowledge Base draws from these.
- Open Settings > Shipping and delivery and confirm zones / rates / delivery times are current.
- Open Settings > Customer accounts and confirm the customer account behavior is configured.
- Open the Knowledge Base app. Review each auto-generated FAQ. Override the inaccurate ones; leave the accurate ones unchanged.
- Open the Top unanswered questions section. Answer the 5-10 most frequent ones.
- Add manual FAQs for any frequently-asked question not covered by auto-generated or unanswered.
- Spot-check three FAQs by asking ChatGPT a question about your store and confirming the answer is accurate.
