Overview
What works on a hosted storefront today, and what is still a script tag rather than an app.
There is no PULSE app or plugin yet
Not in the Shopify App Store, not on the WordPress plugin directory, not in the Magento Marketplace. Anyone telling you otherwise is describing a plan. What exists today is the script tag, and it works on all three.
That is less of a limitation than it sounds. PULSE needs three things from a storefront: the
script, an init call with your keys, and signals describing what the shopper is looking at.
Every platform here can supply all three from its own theme templates, which is also the only
place that knows what page the shopper is on.
Shopify
theme.liquid, with signals from Liquid objects.
WordPress and WooCommerce
wp_enqueue_script, with signals from the WooCommerce conditionals.
Magento 2
Layout XML and a template block.
What an app would add
Worth being precise about what you give up by pasting a script instead:
| Script tag, today | An app or plugin | |
|---|---|---|
| Install | Paste into a theme file | One click, no theme edit |
| Keys | Typed into the theme | Entered in an admin screen |
| Survives a theme change | No | Yes |
| Catalogue sync | You send products per request | Pushed and kept current |
| Signals | You write them per template | Mapped for you |
The first four rows are convenience. The fifth is where the difference actually lives, and it is also why a plugin is not just packaging: a good one knows what a "collection page" means on that platform and sends the right signal without being told.
Other platforms
Anything that lets you add a script to a page can run the browser SDK, and anything that can make an HTTPS request can call the API directly. If your platform is not listed, the Alpine guide is the closest shape: a script tag and HTML attributes, no build step. For server-side work, see Backend.