Every week, a new client messages us with some version of the same request: “Here’s my Shopify email and password.” We politely refuse. Password sharing is the worst way to give an agency access to your store, and Shopify has a built-in feature that’s cleaner, more secure, and faster to set up. It’s called a Collaborator Request Code, and it takes about two minutes to use.
What is a Collaborator Request Code?
Shopify lets approved Partners (developers, designers, agencies) request access to your store through their Shopify Partner account. To stop random Partners from spamming you with requests, you can lock this down with a 4-digit Collaborator Code. Only people you share that code with can send an access request. You still approve every request manually, and you control exactly which parts of the store they can see.
Collaborator access doesn’t count against your staff account limit, doesn’t cost anything, and doesn’t require you to share a single credential. It’s the right way to work with any external team on Shopify.
Phase 01
How to Find Your Collaborator Code
Four clicks. Under 60 seconds.
- 1Log in to your Shopify admin at shopify.com/login.
- 2Click Settings in the bottom-left corner of the admin dashboard.
- 3Select Users and Permissions from the left menu.
- 4Scroll to the Collaborators section at the bottom. If you’ve enabled restricted collaborator access, your 4-digit code is displayed there.
Don’t see a code? Turn on “Only people with a collaborator request code can request access” in the same section. Otherwise any Shopify Partner can request access using just your store URL, which defeats the purpose.
Phase 02
How to Share It Safely
What your agency actually needs from you.
Send the code through a direct, private channel (email, a project management tool, whatever you both already use). Never post it in a public Slack or a shared doc. A Collaborator Code is scoped and revocable, but it’s still a key to your store.
What to Send
Your store URL
Usually something like yourbrand.myshopify.com. The agency needs this to submit the request from their Partner dashboard.
Your 4-digit Collaborator Code
The one you just pulled from Users and Permissions.
The permissions you want to grant
Themes, Products, Orders, Apps, Analytics, etc. Scope access to exactly what they need. Nothing more.
The agency submits the request from their Partner dashboard. You get a notification in your Shopify admin to approve it. That’s the full loop.
Phase 03
Why This Beats Password Sharing
Three reasons it’s not even close.
Secure
You never share your password. The agency logs in with their own Shopify Partner account. If their email gets phished, your store is fine.
Scoped
You choose exactly which sections of the store the collaborator can access. An agency building a product page doesn’t need access to your financials.
Revocable in one click
Project done? Agency change? You remove access instantly from Users and Permissions. No password rotations, no forgotten logins still floating around.
“If an agency asks for your password instead of a Collaborator Code, that’s a red flag. Not because they’re malicious, but because it tells you they don’t know how Shopify works.”
Working with Byteex
If you’re bringing us on, here’s the fastest path to getting started. Send us three things:
Your store URL
Example: yourbrand.myshopify.com
Your 4-digit Collaborator Code
From Settings > Users and Permissions.
The areas we’ll be working on
Themes, Products, Apps, Analytics, whatever the scope of the project is.
We’ll submit the request from our Shopify Partner dashboard, you approve it, and we’re in. Usually under five minutes end-to-end.
Need a hand?
If anything in the process is unclear, or you’d rather have a Shopify expert walk you through it live, reach out through our contact page. At Byteex we build, optimize, and maintain Shopify and Shopify Plus stores. Setting up access the right way is a small thing, but it’s the first signal that the partnership is going to be handled well.