Documentation

Setup tutorial

Go from install to a live, self-syncing community in about 15 minutes.

This guide walks through the full setup. You'll connect your Discord server, map spend tiers to roles, add the storefront widget, and (optionally) invite your existing customers. No code required.

1. Install the app

   Add Community Connect from the Shopify App Store. On install you'll approve the read-only permissions it needs (read_customers, read_orders, read_all_orders) to calculate lifetime net spend. The app never writes to your store.

2. Connect your Discord server

   Open Settings → Discord and click Connect Discord. Authorize the app and pick the server (guild) you want to gate. This adds the Community Connect bot so it can assign and remove roles.

   Enable the Server Members Intent. In the Discord Developer Portal, turn on the Server Members Intent for the bot. Without it, reconciliation can't read your member list and the guild scan will fail. Also drag the bot's role above the roles it needs to assign, or Discord won't let it manage them.

3. Create your spend tiers

   Go to Tiers and add one or more thresholds by lifetime net spend — for example, $100 for "Member" and $500 for "VIP". A customer is placed in the highest tier they've cleared. (The Free plan supports up to 2 tiers; Pro is unlimited.)

4. Map each tier to a Discord role

   For each tier, choose the Discord role to grant. When someone qualifies, they get that role; when their net spend drops below the threshold, the role is removed on the next reconciliation. You can mark certain roles as exempt so moderators and partners are never touched.

5. Add the storefront "Join community" widget

   In your Shopify theme editor, add the Community Connect app block (or use the thank-you / order-status page). Customers click it, authorize Discord, and are instantly placed in the tier they've earned — right from your store.

6. Invite your existing customers Pro

   On Pro, use Invitations to email past customers a secure, single-use link to join. Only customers who have accepted email marketing are contacted. Invitation links expire after 7 days.

7. Let reconciliation run

   That's it — the nightly sweep now keeps every member's access accurate. New qualifiers are added, refunds and chargebacks pull access automatically, and you get a clean record of every change.

Tuning reconciliation

Reconciliation is powerful, so it ships cautiously. You control how it treats members who are in your Discord server but don't map to a paying customer:

• Launch-review mode — start in record-only mode. The app reports what it would change without touching anyone, so you can review before enabling enforcement.
• Grandfathering — keep existing members who joined before you installed, even if they don't meet a threshold, so no early supporter is ever kicked by surprise.
• Exempt roles — flag moderator, staff, or partner roles that reconciliation must never remove.
• Role exceptions report — see members holding a paid role who are unlinked or below the threshold, and Keep any of them with one click to grandfather them in.
• Auto-reconcile toggle — turn automatic enforcement off entirely at any time and go back to record-only.

Test before you launch

• Link your own Discord account through the widget and confirm you receive the right role.
• Check the Members CRM — you should see yourself with the correct tier and net spend.
• Leave reconciliation in launch-review mode for a day and read the report before enabling enforcement.

Questions about how a specific case is handled? See the FAQ →