Changelog

September 16, 2026

GitHub Actions deployments for Native Hosting

New documentation covers deploying a Catalyst storefront to Native Hosting from GitHub Actions, both on merge to your default branch and as a preview for each pull request.

  • Deploy on merge — a workflow that authenticates the Catalyst CLI without a browser login, and passes runtime secrets so they reach the deployed application rather than only the build
  • Pull request previews — a published action that deploys pull request code and comments the URL on the pull request; the newest open pull request deploys automatically, and any other claims the preview by commenting redeploy preview
  • One preview at a time — a hosting project has one hostname rather than one per deployment, so a repository shares a single preview project and preview URL
  • Configuration and troubleshooting — the variables and secrets each workflow reads, and the misconfigurations that produce a successful build with a broken deployment

For details, see GitHub Actions.

September 16, 2026

MCP server: logged-in shopping with Storefront Session Sync and B2B Buyer Portal tools

The BigCommerce MCP server now supports authenticated shopping flows. AI agents can operate in a shopper’s existing Stencil browser session, and B2B buyers get a new tool set for shopping lists and quotes.

  • Storefront Session Sync — link an MCP session to a shopper’s existing Stencil session with a short-lived opaque token. Generate the token with the generateSessionSyncToken GraphQL mutation and pass it in the X-Bc-Storefront-Sync-Token header at MCP initialization. Login state, cart, and identity carry into the agent without exposing cookies, and reverse sync (X-Bc-Mcp-Stencil-Sync-Code) keeps the storefront in step when the agent creates a new cart.
  • Logged-in B2C shopping — the B2C Storefront tool set now supports guest and logged-in customer flows. Authentication happens through session sync rather than a dedicated customer_login tool.
  • B2B Storefront tool set — new Buyer Portal tools on the same MCP endpoint, gated per store by B2B Edition and per tool by the buyer’s permissions: 12 shopping list tools (create, update, add and remove items, submit for approval, approve, reject, duplicate) and 5 quote tools (request a quote, view details, message the sales representative, generate a checkout URL).
  • One endpoint, layered tool sets — the catalog, cart, and checkout tools stay available to every session, including guests on B2B-enabled stores; B2B tools are added on top when the buyer’s synced session qualifies.

For details, see the MCP Server overview, Storefront Session Sync, B2C Storefront, and B2B Storefront.

September 16, 2026

Updated storefront crawler detection list

The list of known crawlers and bots that storefronts use to classify incoming traffic has been refreshed to match the latest industry list, keeping crawler detection consistent across the BigCommerce platform.

  • Newer crawlers recognized — bots that have appeared recently are now identified as crawlers.
  • Outdated entries removed — patterns that are no longer in use have been dropped.
  • Fewer false positives — some in-app browsers, such as the WeChat browser, are now correctly treated as shoppers rather than crawlers.

This change is rolling out gradually to all stores.

For details on the is_crawler value exposed to Stencil themes, see the settings object reference.