Merchant documentation

Optimize confidently. Recover safely.

Follow one protected workflow from draft-theme readiness through optimization, validation, automation, and recovery.

Core workflow

Getting started

Nitro AI uses ready, unpublished themes for one-click, advanced, recovery, and automated operations. Nitro Boost and Max can also manually change one live CSS or JavaScript file at a time with typed confirmation and a recovery snapshot.

Activate access

Choose a paid plan through Shopify. Eligible development stores can use restricted Development Test access.

Duplicate the theme

Create an unpublished copy from Optimize for the safest workflow. Confirm its name, then Nitro AI tracks Shopify processing and selects the new draft when it is ready. Nitro Boost and Max can also make confirmed, one-file CSS or JavaScript changes on a live theme.

AI readiness analysis

Select the draft and review Nitro AI readiness, eligible files, remaining allowance, optimization state, plan operations, and recovery status.

Choose a workflow

Run the recommended one-click flow or open Theme File Workspace to minify eligible files manually.

Validate and publish

Review the result, preview key storefront pages in Shopify Themes, and publish only after testing.

Theme intelligence

Nitro AI analysis

Nitro AI analyzes the selected theme and recorded optimization activity to explain what can be changed, what remains, and which results need attention.

AI savings estimate

Estimates potential file savings from file size, type, and expected minification behavior.

AI readiness analysis

Reviews theme safety, eligible files, plan allowance, included operations, and recovery availability.

AI optimization status

Classifies the selected theme as not optimized, partially optimized, up to date, or needing review.

Nitro AI optimization plan

Summarizes remaining eligible files and included plan operations before a one-click run.

Nitro AI insights

Highlights relevant theme and run findings from the selected Analytics period.

AI savings estimates are projections. Actual savings are recorded only after minification completes and can differ from the estimate.

Store overview

Dashboard

The Dashboard is the operational starting point for optimization. Use Refresh dashboard after Shopify theme changes or completed operations to reload totals, readiness, schedules, and recent runs.

Lifetime overview

Review all-time bytes saved, completed runs, optimized themes, and usable Shopify themes. Recent activity remains limited to the latest operational records.

Store readiness

Confirm that a safe draft exists and that the first successful optimization is complete. Optionally enable the storefront app embed for lazy-loaded image discovery.

Live theme status

See whether the published theme matches a successful optimization, changed afterward, or has no matching optimized draft.

Automation health

Set up or manage eligible schedules, review the next and previous automated runs, and respond to overdue automation.

Total savings covers all successful recorded runs. A successful run can still show 0 B when files were already optimized or the generated output was not smaller than the source.

Optional storefront connection

Storefront extension

Enable the Nitro AI app embed from Dashboard Store readiness to discover images already using lazy loading on the published storefront. Shopify opens the app embed ready to activate; you must click Save in the theme editor to finish.

Optimization does not depend on the embed.

Disabling it stops storefront image discovery only. Manual and one-click optimization, advanced operations, Analytics, automation, and recovery continue to work normally.

Performance reporting

Analytics

Analytics turns optimization history into operational reports. Filters apply immediately by theme, plan, date range, and run status. When no records match, Analytics preserves the filters and offers a reset instead of showing unrelated activity.

Overview and comparisons

Review successful runs, bytes saved, optimized themes, average savings, and previous-period comparisons for 7, 30, or 90 days.

Trends and Nitro AI insights

Use trend charts and actionable callouts to find top-saving themes, large runs, period changes, and failures that need attention.

Activity and run details

Open recent runs, inspect file-level results and recovery availability, or filter directly to failed optimization history.

Detailed reports

Review paginated Technical details and History & Recovery reports. Nitro Max can export all matching Analytics data as CSV.

How savings are calculated.

Savings include successful optimization runs only. Nitro AI uses the recorded run total when available and falls back to changed-file size reductions for older records. Failed, pending, and rollback runs never increase savings. A valid successful run can therefore report 0 B when no file became smaller.

Nitro Starter includes filters, technical metrics, and paid run details. Nitro Boost adds charts, Nitro AI insights, failures, and full history. Nitro Max also enables filtered CSV export. Development Test stores retain basic Dashboard activity but do not have access to detailed Analytics run reports.

Account access

Plans and capabilities

Paid access always takes priority.

Shopify hosts plan selection and securely manages payments. Nitro AI verifies the active Shopify App Pricing contract through the Partner API before every protected page, manual action, one-click run, retry, schedule, and rollback.

Compare public pricing

1 active file per shop

Development Test

Development stores without a paid subscription can manually minify or revert one CSS or JavaScript file. One-click, analytics, automation, retry, and full rollback are unavailable.

10 active files per theme

Nitro Starter

Manual CSS/JavaScript minification, one-click optimization, run history, snapshots, and full-run rollback.

30 active files per theme

Nitro Boost

Everything in Starter, plus guarded live CSS/JavaScript editing, lazy loading, link preloading, third-party script deferring, performance metrics, automation, and Support retry.

Unlimited files

Nitro Max

Everything in Boost, plus Liquid minification, image optimization, and CLS stabilization.

Paid limits count actively minified files per theme. Development Test counts one active file across the entire shop. Failed, skipped, unchanged, and reverted files do not consume allowance. Plan changes return to Plans using a verified plan handle. Cancelling a subscription takes effect immediately and does not issue a prorated credit.

Guided workspace

Optimize theme

Select a theme and confirm its Draft status.
Review eligible CSS/JavaScript files, active files, remaining allowance, plan operations, and rollback availability.
Choose Run optimization for the plan-aware one-click flow, or review files manually.
Follow the progress stages. Other mutation controls remain disabled while an operation is active.
Review changed, unchanged, failed, and saved-byte totals, then open Shopify Themes to preview.

Published themes are context-only.

Main, demo, processing, processing-failed, missing, and other non-draft themes cannot be optimized or restored. Duplicate the theme in Shopify before continuing.

Theme-wide controls

Advanced optimizations

Select a draft theme, then apply or remove each advanced optimization independently. Availability shows whether the current plan includes an operation; Applied confirms that the operation is active on the selected theme.

Image lazy loading

Defers eligible off-screen images until shoppers approach them.

Critical resource preloading

Prioritizes eligible font resources used by the selected theme.

Third-party script deferring

Defers eligible scripts that do not need to block rendering.

CLS stabilization

Adds the app-owned layout stability helper available with Nitro Max.

Image optimization

Compresses supported theme images after creating recovery copies.

Every change is guarded and recoverable.

Nitro AI verifies the subscription and draft-theme state, prevents competing operations, and creates recovery snapshots before mutation. Removal stops with a conflict instead of overwriting files changed by the merchant.

Manual control

Theme File Workspace

Use File Workspace when you need file-level control. Search by filename, filter by file type or status, review AI savings estimates, and perform only the action currently valid for each file.

Eligible

The file and selected draft theme can be modified under the current plan.

Minified

The latest recorded state is optimized and currently consumes an allowance. Reverting frees that allowance.

Upgrade required

The file type requires a higher plan, such as Liquid minification on Nitro Max.

Protected or read-only

The file is protected, or the theme is published, processing, failed, or otherwise unavailable for mutation.

One-click and repeated manual runs use the same cumulative allowance. Live-theme controls are limited to Nitro Boost or Max CSS or JavaScript files; each operation requires typing APPLY TO LIVE.

Recurring runs

Automation settings

Nitro Boost and Max can schedule daily, weekly, or monthly optimization for an unpublished theme. Open Automation from the Dashboard status card or Optimize page actions, choose the theme and cadence, and save only after reviewing the changes.

Every scheduled run is checked again.

Nitro AI revalidates the subscription, plan capabilities, theme role, and remaining allowance before execution. A schedule is deactivated if its theme becomes published or unavailable.

Restore safely

Recovery and retry

Manual revert restores one currently minified file and frees its allowance. Paid full-run rollback is available only for the selected theme's latest eligible run when snapshots exist and the theme remains unpublished. Development Test does not include full-run recovery.

Support retry is available on Boost and Max for the latest failed one-click or scheduled run. Successful, manual-file, and rollback runs are not retry candidates.

Quick answers

Troubleshooting

Why does Total savings show 0 B?

A successful run does not guarantee smaller files. Total savings remains 0 B when eligible files were already optimized, output size was unchanged, or older runs did not record file-size metrics.

I am redirected to Plans

Production stores require an active Nitro Starter, Boost, or Max subscription. Plans and Support remain available when app tools are locked.

My theme is not listed

Choose Refresh themes. If the theme was recently created or renamed, wait for Shopify to finish processing it and refresh again.

The optimization buttons are disabled

Check that the theme is ready, no operation is running, the file type is included, and allowance remains. Live themes additionally require Nitro Boost or Max and typed confirmation.

My file allowance did not reset

Allowance tracks the latest state of each file. Revert a currently minified file, then refresh the workspace to retrieve the latest state.

An optimization run failed

Review its message and run details. Boost and Max merchants can use Support retry for the latest failed one-click or scheduled run.

A storefront change does not look right

Do not publish the optimized draft. Revert a manual file or use full-run recovery when the latest paid run has snapshots.

Need more help?

Bring us the run details.

Include your store domain, theme name, run identifier, and exported diagnostics so support can investigate quickly.

Email support