Many Shopify stores turn on a storefront password before launch, so only people with the password can view the store. Instant works with password-protected stores, but it needs that password to import your theme styles and to power features that talk to Shopify.
Why Instant needs your store password
When your store is password-protected, Shopify blocks anonymous requests to your storefront. Instant detects this and shows a banner in Settings → Shopify:
Your store is password protected — Instant hasn't been given the password yet.
Your store password has changed — the password you provided no longer works.
The banner explains that access is required to interact with other Shopify apps, with a Configure action to enter the password. Instant uses the password to import theme styles and to interact with other Shopify apps on your behalf.
Some features surface Store password required on their own until you provide it, including:
Custom Liquid code blocks — custom Liquid requires your store password to be configured.
App integrations (App Islands and app blocks) — these require your store password.
Custom fonts imported from your theme.
Give Instant your store password
Open Settings → Shopify.
On the password banner, click Configure.
In the Enter your store password dialog, use See store password to open your store's password settings in Shopify admin if you need to look it up.
Paste the password into Store password and click Submit.
On success, Instant confirms "Store password set successfully." If the password is wrong, the field shows "Incorrect password." Update it here again whenever you change the storefront password in Shopify.
Publishing while password-protected
Publishing works the same whether or not your store is password-protected — layouts deploy to your theme as theme files. The difference is who can see them:
While the password is on, Shopify shows its password page to the public, so your live storefront URLs aren't visible to shoppers until you (or a teammate) enter the password.
If you publish to a draft theme (Pro plan and up), use Shopify's theme preview link to review it.
The builder preview inside Instant never requires the storefront password, so you can build and review layouts freely.
When you remove the storefront password in Shopify, your published layouts are live immediately — no republishing needed.
Launching
When you're ready to go public:
Confirm your layouts are published and in sync in Settings → Shopify → Published layouts.
Confirm Instant Embed is enabled on your live theme (Shopify's editor calls this screen "App embeds").
Disable the storefront password in Shopify admin under Online Store → Preferences.
Visit your store's root URL without the password and confirm everything renders correctly.