How to get started with Instant AI

What is Instant AI?

Instant AI runs the email marketing for your online store. It writes, designs and sends your automated flows and your campaigns for you.

What you need to connect

  • Your Shopify store. Instant reads your products, orders and shoppers from Shopify. Without this connection, it has nothing to write about and no one to send to.
  • Your domain. Instant sends from your own domain, so inbox providers can confirm the emails are from your brand. Without this connection, no emails send.

How to set it up

Before you start

  • You need Administrator access to your Shopify store. If you use custom staff permissions, you need Develop Apps and Manage and Install Apps.
  • You need access to your domain’s DNS provider (for example Cloudflare, GoDaddy or Shopify), or the person who manages it.
  • Make a list of the flows that are live in your current email platform, such as Klaviyo. You will turn some of them off before you go live.

Step 1: Connect Shopify

  1. Open the onboarding steps in your Instant AI dashboard
  2. Select Connect Shopify
  3. Follow the on-screen steps to install the Instant app in your Shopify admin
  4. Go back to Instant and verify the connection

Shopify changed how apps are installed on 1 January 2026. The steps in onboarding are always up to date, so follow those rather than an older guide. If the connection fails, see How to troubleshoot installing the Instant App and Instant Shopify Integration.

If your store is headless, see Installing Instant AI for Headless Shopify Sites.

Step 2: Connect your domain

  1. Select Connect Domain
  2. If you see the option to connect your DNS automatically, use it and follow the prompts. If you do not, click Connect your DNS manually
  3. If you connect manually, add each record to your DNS provider exactly as shown. Records are case sensitive
  4. Go back to Instant and click Verify

If your DNS is in Cloudflare, set each record to DNS only (grey cloud), not proxied.

Note: Your domain can take up to 48 hours to verify. To check it, go to Configuration > Domain in your Instant AI dashboard. Your domain is ready when it shows Verified.

If your domain has not verified after 48 hours, see Troubleshooting Your DNS Settings for Instant AI.

Step 3: Book your onboarding call

When Shopify and your domain are connected, you can book your onboarding call from the onboarding steps. On the call, your Customer Success Manager checks your setup with you and helps you go live.

If you need to change the time, reschedule your existing booking rather than make a new one. This keeps you with the same Customer Success Manager.

Step 4: Turn off overlapping flows in your other platform

Before you go live, pause each flow in your other platform that does the same job as an Instant AI flow. For example, Welcome, Abandoned Cart, Abandoned Checkout and Browse Abandonment. If both stay on, your shoppers get two emails for the same action.

For the full list of flows and what each one does, see Understanding Instant AI Flows.

Step 5: Go live

  1. Click Go Live. This starts your subscription and opens your full Instant AI dashboard
  2. Turn on your flows from your dashboard. You can turn each flow on or off at any time

Tip: If you use Klaviyo, connect it to Instant AI. Instant imports your Klaviyo subscribers and up to 60 days of their opens and clicks, so filters like Engaged Last 60 Days work from your first campaign. Opt-outs also stay in sync between the two platforms.

How it works

What Instant sets up for you

  • Subscribers. Instant imports every Shopify shopper with Marketing Consent set to Yes, and every Klaviyo profile that is Subscribed if you connect Klaviyo. Shoppers without consent, or who have unsubscribed, are skipped.
  • Brand Kit. Instant reads your site and builds your Brand Kit: your logo, colours, fonts, button styling and image styling. To change it, go to Instant AI > Brand Kit and click Edit branding.
  • Tone of voice. Instant writes your copy from your website and product descriptions. You do not need to set your tone of voice, but you can add context in your Brand Kit.
  • Flows. Each flow starts with a set number of emails. You can add or remove some of them.

When your emails start sending

  • No emails send until your domain shows Verified.
  • Instant sends from a subdomain of your domain, such as send.yourbrand.com. If another platform already uses that subdomain, Instant picks a different one, so both keep working.
  • Instant only adds new DNS records. It does not change or remove any record you already have.
  • Instant can only recognise returning shoppers who identify themselves on your site after you connect. For about the first week, your previous platform may recognise more returning shoppers than Instant.

FAQ

Do I need to change my existing DNS records, for example for Klaviyo or Google Workspace? No. You only add the new records Instant gives you. Do not edit or remove your existing records.

Can I send emails before my domain verifies? No. Instant blocks all sending until every record is verified. This protects your sender reputation.

Do I need to import my contacts? Usually not. Instant imports them from Shopify and Klaviyo. You only need a CSV import if you use another platform, such as Mailchimp, that does not keep your Shopify contacts up to date. See How do I import a list of shoppers to Instant AI?

Do I need to warm up my domain? Usually not. Start with your abandonment flows for about a week before you move your campaigns across. These flows send less email, so inbox providers learn to trust your new sending setup first.

Can I keep using my Klaviyo or Alia sign-up form? Yes. Instant captures new subscribers from Shopify, Klaviyo, Alia and Instant AI forms, and sends them its Welcome flow. Turn off the Welcome flow in your other platform so shoppers do not get two.

Who can help me if I am stuck on a step? Submit a support request with a screenshot of the step, and our team will help.

If you are comparing Instant AI against your current platform, see Trialling Instant AI.