Store permissions
CSVwise asks for one permission on your Shopify store: view and edit products. This article explains what that permission lets the app do, what CSVwise actually does with it, and what it doesn't do.
The single permission
When you install CSVwise, Shopify's review screen shows:
Products: view and edit products
That permission lets an app:
- Read product data (handles, titles, vendor, type, tags, options, variants, images, custom fields).
- Create, update, and delete products.
What CSVwise actually does
In practice, CSVwise uses this permission for one thing only: the store-match check on Pro and Studio (see What is a store match?). The collision check appears in the app as the Store matches section on the Fix issues stage.
The check:
- Sends Shopify a list of the handles in your CSV.
- Asks "which of these already exist on this store?"
- Receives back the subset that match existing products.
That's it. CSVwise does not:
- Create, update, or delete products on your store. Every change to your catalog is initiated by you running Shopify's built-in CSV importer on the file CSVwise produces. CSVwise's job ends when you click Generate clean CSV and the file lands in your downloads.
- Read your product descriptions, images, custom fields, or any other product data. The store-match check asks only for handles. Nothing else is requested.
- Read your customers or orders. Both are outside the permission CSVwise asks for, and the app doesn't ask for them.
Why "view and edit" instead of "view only"
CSVwise currently requests Shopify's write_products access scope, which grants read and write on products together. Only the read half is ever exercised: the store-match check asks Shopify which handles already exist, and nothing in CSVwise creates, updates, or deletes a product.
The honest version is: edit access is granted, but no edit is performed. The cleaned CSV is delivered to you, and you run Shopify's importer yourself.
What if you don't want CSVwise to have edit access?
Use CSVwise on the Free plan. Free skips the store-match check entirely, so the products permission is never actually used.
The cleanup engine (auto-fixes, problem detection, the live preview) runs entirely in your browser. None of those features touch your Shopify store, regardless of plan. The one part that does leave your browser is the AI column-mapping step, which runs only after you click Suggest column mapping with AI and confirm, and which sends only your column headers and up to 5 sample rows to our AI provider over zero-data-retention routing, never your full file. See the Privacy Policy.
Permission changes over time
If we ever add a feature that needs a new permission, Shopify will prompt you to re-approve. Existing installs won't quietly gain new permissions. You have to explicitly say yes.
CSVwise's current and historical permission list:
| Date | Permission | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Launch | View and edit products | Store-match check (Pro / Studio) |
Reviewing or revoking access
You can review or revoke CSVwise's access at any time:
- In your Shopify admin, go to Settings → Apps and sales channels.
- Click CSVwise in the installed apps list.
- Review the permissions section.
- To revoke, click Uninstall.
Uninstalling immediately cuts CSVwise off from your store. There's a 48-hour grace period before your CSVwise account data is permanently deleted (see Cancellation).