# How to ask Sidekick about your store

> From installing Rabbot to your first answer in Shopify Sidekick: the consent card, the Apps picker, and questions that work.
> Category: Ask Sidekick
> Canonical: https://rabbot.ai/docs/sidekick/how-to-ask-sidekick/
> Updated: 2026-09-20

---

## Start with the install

Install Rabbot on your store and give the first check time to finish. See [Install Rabbot](/docs/getting-started/install-rabbot/) if you have not done that yet. Allow a few minutes after the install before you ask Sidekick anything, or the answer will say the store has not been established yet.

## Ask your first question

1. Open Sidekick from the top bar of your Shopify admin.
2. Type your question, starting it with "Using Rabbot,".
3. Send it, and approve the consent card described below.

That is the whole path. "Using Rabbot, is anything broken on my store?" is a good first question, because the answer sets out what Rabbot is watching and how much of your store that covers.

## The consent card

The first time Rabbot is asked in a conversation, Sidekick shows a short consent card. It names Rabbot and what Rabbot will read. Approve it and your answer follows straight away.

The card appears once per conversation, not once per question. A brand new conversation asks again.

## When Sidekick answers from somewhere else

Sidekick can answer store questions on its own, and it does not always reach for Rabbot. If the answer does not look like Rabbot's, or Sidekick says an app is not enabled in this conversation, do one of two things.

The quick fix is to put "Using Rabbot," at the front of the question and send it again. The durable fix is to turn Rabbot on for that conversation: in the composer, choose **Add files and more > Apps**, turn Rabbot on, then ask. It stays on for the rest of that conversation.

## Name a product exactly

When you ask about one product, give Sidekick something exact: the product title as it appears in your admin, the handle, or the storefront URL. "Why can nobody buy the Aurora Hoodie?" works. "Why can nobody buy the hoodie?" often ends the turn with no answer at all, because there is nothing precise enough to look up.

If a question about one product comes back empty, that is usually the reason. Paste the URL and ask again.

## Times may look different

Sidekick may restate times in your own timezone. Rabbot's records are kept in UTC. A check that Rabbot recorded at 09:00 UTC can appear as 10:00 in a British summer conversation, and both are the same check.

## Getting a fresh read

Sidekick sometimes answers from earlier in the same conversation instead of asking Rabbot again. The answer is then as old as the point in the conversation it came from. Start a new conversation when you want a fresh read, particularly after you have fixed something and want to see whether the next check agreed.

## Six questions that work

- "Using Rabbot, is anything broken on my store?"
- "Using Rabbot, what is blocking sales right now?"
- "Using Rabbot, do I have any SEO problems?"
- "Using Rabbot, why can nobody buy the Aurora Hoodie?"
- "Using Rabbot, what broke in the last week?"
- "Using Rabbot, how do I fix the password page issue?"

Change the wording to suit your own store. [The six things you can ask about](/docs/sidekick/the-sidekick-tools/) lists what sits behind each kind of question.