Hermes is a persistent agent: it runs, builds memory, and carries that memory into the next session. That is exactly the shape of the catalog job you want to run on Shopify. Point it at your products once, give it the rewrite you need, and by the end of the first pass it has a skill for your catalog structure. The second pass, new arrivals, the next brand refresh, starts from that skill and moves faster.
What slows people down is the storefront. It is live, it is making sales, and most ways to wire an AI agent to a store connect straight to the live data. A confident rewrite ships to every product before you have read a line of it. Scratch pulls the catalog down as a folder of files on your laptop. Hermes edits the files. You read each change as a diff and approve what ships. Prices, variants, and inventory stay locked throughout, so the pass you cannot afford to get wrong simply cannot happen.
How it works
- Scratch pulls your catalog into files. Every product comes down as one JSON file in Shopify's GraphQL Admin shape, in a folder on your laptop. Hermes has 40-plus built-in tools, including file access; it reads the folder directly.
- Hermes edits the products. Point Hermes at the Scratch folder and describe the job. Rewrite every description to lead with the material, trim to under 160 words, and fix the SEO title. Hermes works the files, builds a skill from the run, and never touches the live store.
- You review every diff and publish. Scratch shows each changed field next to the original, word by word. Approve what ships, and Scratch writes only those products back through the Admin API, one at a time.
What people use it for
- Rewrite every description to a consistent length and voice, then run the same skill on next month's arrivals.
- Backfill the missing SEO title and meta description across the catalog in one scheduled pass.
- Open each description with the material, fit, or benefit instead of supplier-copied boilerplate.
- Tidy vendor, type, and tags so collections and filters behave.
- Refresh the blog and pages to match a new brand voice, then reuse the skill for the next update.
Why not an MCP server?
A Shopify MCP server or app hands Hermes a live connection to your catalog. Every write goes straight to the storefront, so one overzealous pass ships to every product at once and you spend the afternoon fixing it by hand. Hermes's browser automation and scheduled automations make it fast; that speed pointed at a live store with no review step is the problem.
Scratch gives Hermes the same full read and write access, but against a local copy. The publish step is pulled out and handed to you. Hermes can change anything in the folder; only you can ship it to Shopify. On a storefront that is taking orders, that separation is the whole point.
What Hermes edits in Shopify
Editable fields:
- Product titles, descriptions (HTML), and handles
- Vendor, type, and tags
- Product SEO title and meta description
- Articles, blogs, and pages
Stays locked:
Prices, variants, inventory, and metafields are locked at the connector level. Hermes cannot write them back even if it tries, and length and taxonomy validators catch problems before a diff reaches you. The full field list lives on Scratch for Shopify.
Questions people ask
Does Hermes's memory mean it gets better at my catalog over time?
Yes, that is the point. On the first pass Hermes learns your product structure and builds a reusable skill. The second pass, whether it is new arrivals next week or a brand refresh next quarter, starts from that skill. You describe the delta, not the whole job again.
Will Hermes ever touch my prices, variants, or inventory?
No. Prices, variants, inventory, and metafields are locked at the connector. They cannot be written back, even by mistake.
Can I roll a change back after it ships?
Yes. Scratch keeps the original beside every rewrite, so any published product reverts per row. You decide which version stays.
Is this an MCP server or a Shopify app?
Neither. An MCP or an app wires Hermes straight to the publish button. Scratch keeps it. Hermes gets the same access to your catalog, and publishing is a separate step you approve, product by product.
Do I need to be technical?
Hermes is a CLI agent, so if you are already comfortable running it from a terminal, you are set. If a terminal is not your surface, the Claude desktop app runs the same Scratch loop with a chat interface.
See it on your own catalog
The fastest way to trust it is to watch it run on your products. See it run on your Shopify catalog →, or download Scratch free and take the first pass yourself.