Shopify Sidekick and Packwork
Sidekick is the AI assistant built into the Shopify admin. It knows your orders, products and customers, but your shipments live in Fulfil, so on its own it can’t tell you whether an order has left the warehouse.
Packwork fills that gap. It gives Sidekick three tools that read an order’s shipments, returns and drop shipments in Fulfil. Ask about an order in plain language and Sidekick looks it up in Shopify, then asks Packwork what Fulfil knows about it.
How it works
- You ask Sidekick something like “Has #1002 shipped yet?”
- Sidekick finds order #1002 in Shopify.
- Sidekick picks the Packwork tool that fits the question and passes it the order.
- Packwork reads the order’s shipments from Fulfil and hands them back.
- Sidekick answers in plain language, with a link to each shipment in Fulfil.
The first time Sidekick wants to use Packwork in a conversation, it asks for your approval. Shopify activates an app for the current conversation only, so you’ll see that prompt again in a new chat. Shopify explains this in using Sidekick with third-party apps.
The tools
| Tool | What it reads from Fulfil |
|---|---|
| List customer shipments | The shipments that send the order from your warehouse: status, planned date, carrier, holds and items |
| List customer return shipments | The order’s returns: what’s still expected back, what’s been received and restocked, and tracking |
| List drop shipments | Items a supplier ships straight to your customer |
You don’t call these tools yourself. Sidekick decides which one to use from your question, and often uses more than one. “Where is everything for #1002?” can touch all three.
What you can ask
Mention the order by its name or number. For example:
- “Has #1002 shipped yet?”
- “Why is #1002 on hold?”
- “Which items of #1002 are in which shipment?”
- “Have we received the return for #1002?”
- “Is anything in #1002 shipped by a supplier?”
- “Give me the Fulfil link for #1002’s shipment.”
Read only
Sidekick can read shipments but can’t change them. To hold, release, split or re-route a shipment, use the Flow actions. To see the same shipments on the order page itself, use the Admin UI extension.
Plans
Sidekick’s shipment tools are part of the Insights and Retail Operations plans. On the Automate plan, Sidekick tells you the shipments need an upgrade instead of answering.
Getting started
There’s nothing to set up beyond installing Packwork and connecting Fulfil. After that, Sidekick can use the tools straight away.
To open Sidekick, click the Sidekick icon in the Shopify admin, or go to admin.shopify.com/sidekick. On a phone or tablet, use the Shopify app, because Sidekick isn’t available in a mobile browser. Shopify’s getting started with Sidekick covers the details.
Troubleshooting
If Sidekick says it can’t see an order’s shipments, check your plan first. If you’re on Insights or Retail Operations, confirm the order exists in Fulfil and that the Fulfil user Packwork connected with still has read access to shipments.
If Sidekick doesn’t use Packwork at all, mention the order by its number and ask about shipping, returns or drop shipments. You can also @-mention Packwork in the chat to point Sidekick at it.
Still stuck? Email hello@getpackwork.com.