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Theme Access: let Nexus publish to your Shopify theme
Settings > Theme Access connects Shopify's free Theme Access app to Nexus. With the connection, Nexus can publish landing pages as full-width sections of your theme. You can then move, hide and edit the parts of a page in the Shopify theme editor. A link at the bottom of the page opens Storefront password, a second page for stores that lock their storefront.
Problem and intended user
The ecommerce manager (the person who runs the store) wants each landing page to publish as a full-width section of the store's theme, with live prices and the store's own add-to-cart. Without a theme connection, pages publish in the basic layout. That layout puts the page inside your theme's standard page template, with a static add-to-cart form.
Current workflow
Without Nexus, a merchant or an agency builds a landing page in the Shopify theme editor, or pastes the page into a Shopify page by hand. Someone then copies prices and buttons across, and updates them each time a product changes. Each change means more manual work in the theme.
Prerequisites
- Nexus is installed on your Shopify store.
- Shopify's free Theme Access app, installed on your store from the Shopify App Store.
- For the second page only: your storefront password. The page says you find it in Shopify under Online Store → Preferences → Restrict store access.
How Nexus works
The page intro reads: "Connect Shopify's free Theme Access app so Nexus can publish landing pages as full-width sections of your theme, with live prices and your store's own add-to-cart. Without it, pages publish in the basic layout."
You give Nexus one password from the Theme Access app. Nexus stores it and uses it to reach your theme. The password is write-only. Nexus never shows it again after you save it. Fixed rules run the connection and the test. AI writes nothing on this page. You approve each step yourself: nothing connects until you select Save.
The page has four cards, from the top: Status, How to connect, Theme Access password and Is your storefront password-protected?.
Connect Theme Access
- Select Settings > Theme Access.
- In the How to connect card, select View setup guide. A window titled Set up Theme Access opens. Select Close when you finish.
- Install the free Theme Access app from the Shopify App Store onto this store. The link in the card opens the App Store in a new tab.
- Open the app and select Generate password.
- Give the password a name, for example "Nexus Insights", and confirm.
- Copy the generated password. It starts with
shptka_. Shopify shows it only once. - In the Theme Access password card, paste the password into the Password field. The field shows
shptka_...until you type. - Select Save. Nexus shows Saved. Your password is stored encrypted and will not be shown again. The field clears.
- Select Test connection with the field empty. Nexus checks the password it saved.
Test before you save
Select Test connection with a password typed in the field to try it before you save. A test of a typed password does not change the Status card. A test with the field empty checks the saved password. When that test passes, the Status card shows a new Last verified time.
If the typed value does not start with shptka_, Nexus shows Password must start with "shptka_" — paste the value from the Theme Access app. under the field. Save stays off while the field is empty.
Disconnect
Select Disconnect, next to Save. The button shows only while Theme Access is connected. A window titled Disconnect Theme Access says: "This removes the stored Theme Access password. New publishes use the basic layout until you reconnect. Pages already live keep their full-width section until you publish them again." Select Disconnect again to confirm, or Cancel.
Store a storefront password
The last card is titled Is your storefront password-protected? It says that most stores do not need this. Nexus normally reads your branding from your theme settings, which works whether or not your storefront is locked. Store the password only when your theme uses custom settings Nexus cannot interpret and your storefront is password-protected.
- Select Set up storefront password. The Storefront password page opens.
- Find the password in Shopify under Online Store → Preferences → Restrict store access.
- Type it in the Storefront password field. A save bar appears with Save and Discard.
- Select Test password to check it. With the field empty, the test checks the saved password.
- Select Save in the save bar. Nexus shows Saved. Your password is stored encrypted and will not be shown again. Select Discard to drop what you typed.
To remove it, select Remove. The button shows only while a password is saved. Confirm in the window titled Remove storefront password. The window says Nexus keeps reading your branding from your theme settings.
Exact output
You get a connection, not a report. The result is the Status card and the test message. The Status card shows one of these:
| Status text | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Checking status… | Nexus is reading the state. |
| Connected with Last verified and a date | A saved password passed a test on that date. |
| Connected with Not yet tested — use “Test connection” below to confirm it works. | A password is saved and no test has passed. Saving a new password resets the date. |
| Not connected — follow the setup steps below to get started. | No password is saved. |
| Couldn't check Theme Access status. Reload the page and try again. | The page could not read the state. |
| Theme Access isn’t available for this account. | Nexus could not use Theme Access for this account. See the limits below. |
Test connection answers in a box under the field:
| Message | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Connected successfully — found N themes. (found 1 theme. for a single theme) | Nexus reached your themes with that password. |
| That password was rejected by Shopify. Double-check it and try again. | Shopify refused the password. |
| The connection test timed out. Try again in a moment. | The check ran out of time. |
| Could not reach the Theme Kit Access proxy. Try again in a moment. | Nexus could not reach the service that checks the password. |
| The connection test failed. Double-check the password and try again. | The test failed for another reason. |
| Could not connect to the Theme Kit Access proxy. | The check failed before Shopify answered. |
| Could not reach the server to test the connection. | Your browser got no answer from Nexus. |
| The server rejected the request (HTTP N). | Nexus answered with an error and no message. |
| No Theme Access password saved yet. | You tested with an empty field and nothing is saved. |
| Unable to read the stored Theme Access password. Try saving it again. | The saved password cannot be read. Save it again. |
The Storefront password page has its own Status card: Saved with Last verified and a date, Saved with Not yet tested — use “Test password” below to confirm it works., or No password saved. Its test answers Your storefront accepted this password. or That password was rejected by your storefront. Double-check it and try again. A test with an empty field and no saved password answers No storefront password saved yet. A test that gets no answer from Nexus shows Could not reach the server to run the test.
What to do with it
| What you see | Decision or action | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Not connected — follow the setup steps below to get started. | Follow the setup guide and select Save. The Theme Access app is installed in Shopify, outside Nexus. | Ecommerce manager |
| Connected with Not yet tested | Select Test connection with the field empty. | Ecommerce manager |
| A test message that Shopify rejected the password | Generate a new password in the Theme Access app, paste it and select Save. | Ecommerce manager |
| Connected and Last verified with a date | Publish a landing page. It publishes as a full-width section of your theme. Edit its blocks in the Shopify theme editor if you want. See Landing page editor. | Ecommerce manager |
| Pages that published in the basic layout while Theme Access was off | Publish the pages again after the Status card reads Connected. New publishes use the full-width section while Theme Access is connected. | Ecommerce manager |
| Branding on a landing page looks wrong, your theme uses custom settings Nexus cannot interpret and your storefront is password-protected | Store the storefront password on the Storefront password page, then run Test password. | Ecommerce manager |
| You no longer want the connection | Select Disconnect. | Ecommerce manager |
Expected value and measurement
A theme connection changes how a landing page publishes: as a full-width section of your theme, with live prices and your store's own add-to-cart. A stored storefront password lets branding come through on a locked store.
To check it, publish a landing page after the Status card reads Connected. Open the live page on your storefront and compare it with a page from your theme: the fonts, the colours, the prices and the add-to-cart. Compare it with a page you published in the basic layout. Other theme changes can alter the look at the same time, so the effect cannot always be isolated.
Limitations and exceptions
- Nexus can refuse a Theme Access request for an account. The Status card then reads Theme Access isn’t available for this account. Test connection and Save are greyed out. Disconnect does not show. The password field, View setup guide and the link to the Storefront password page still open.
- On that account, the Storefront password page shows Couldn't check the status. Reload the page and try again. Reloading does not change it. Test password and Save stay active, and a save can fail with Could not save the password. Try again.
- A saved Theme Access password must start with
shptka_. A storefront password has no required start. A length limit applies to both. - Save does not test the password. A saved password that is wrong still shows Connected until you test it.
- Disconnecting deletes no theme file. New publishes use the basic layout. Pages already live keep their full-width section until you publish them again. While Theme Access is off, Nexus cannot update a full-width page, and the message reads "Nexus needs Theme Access to update this page, so nothing was changed. Reconnect Theme Access in Settings, then try again."
- Test password and Test connection need a reachable service. A failed test can come from a timeout and not from a wrong password.
- A Theme Access save that fails shows the message that Nexus sends back, or The server rejected the request (HTTP N). when none comes, or Could not reach the server to save the password. when no answer comes. Try again, then use Contact support if it stays.
- The storefront password is only for reading your branding from a locked store. Most stores do not need it.
- In Demo Mode, Test connection answers Theme Access isn't testable in demo mode. and Test password answers The storefront password isn't testable in demo mode. Save shows its usual message and saves nothing. Disconnect and Remove save nothing. In the public demo, a change on the Theme Access page is blocked and its Status card shows This action is not available in the public demo. On the Storefront password page, a blocked save shows Could not save the password. Try again.