Shopify has introduced Canvas, a new AI-powered workspace that lets merchants build and customize online stores by describing what they want to Sidekick, Shopify’s AI agent. Instead of relying mainly on theme settings, modular sections, or code, merchants can ask Sidekick to change individual elements or redesign an entire store while watching the results appear in real time.
Shopify announced Canvas on October 1 and said it is rolling out to merchants over the coming days. The tool displays a store’s pages together in one workspace, allowing users to pan across the site, zoom into specific sections, and edit elements directly or through AI instructions.
Canvas Works With The Store’s Actual Code
Canvas does not show merchants a static mockup. Shopify says it renders the actual code behind the store, allowing users to test interactions and animations while previewing pages with different products, collections, and screen sizes.
Sidekick can also inspect screenshots of its changes to determine how its work appears visually. It then uses that feedback alongside code validation before returning the changes to the merchant.
Merchants can still select individual blocks and adjust settings or text themselves. They can also ask Sidekick to make changes that are not available through a block’s existing controls.
Sidekick Gets Deeper Access To Store Themes
Sidekick already supported tasks such as writing code, creating apps, and customizing themes before Canvas. Shopify said the AI made more than 25 million theme edits during the first half of 2026.
For Canvas, Shopify gave Sidekick direct access to theme files and simplified its theme architecture so the AI can better understand a store’s structure, logic, and design. That allows Sidekick to coordinate changes across several files rather than editing isolated sections.
Canvas Launches With Several Limitations
Canvas remains in early access and is currently available only on desktop devices and to certain stores. It supports Shopify-developed and custom themes, but third-party themes from the Shopify Theme Store are not supported at launch.
The initial version also lacks support for Markets customization, app blocks and embeds, direct theme translations, and some rollout functions. Themes edited in Canvas do not receive regular theme updates, although Shopify said it plans to expand support over time.
The launch places Canvas alongside AI-assisted website-building products from Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, and Framer, as well as coding platforms such as Lovable and Replit. Shopify, however, is positioning Canvas specifically around commerce, with Sidekick working directly inside the files and components used to run a merchant’s online store.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
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