Shopify Launches Canvas to Let Merchants Build Stores by Chatting With AI

TL;DR

• Shopify launched Canvas, a store-building tool that lets merchants create and edit websites through conversations with Sidekick.
• The workspace renders actual store code, allowing users to test interactions, animations and different screen sizes.
• Merchants can view their entire store, zoom into details and edit individual elements directly.
• Shopify expanded Sidekick’s access to theme files and simplified the architecture to support the product.

Shopify has introduced Canvas, a new tool that allows merchants to build and customize their online stores by chatting with its AI agent, Sidekick.

Announced Thursday, Canvas combines conversational editing with a visual workspace that updates as changes are made. Merchants can examine the store as a whole, zoom into particular sections and test how pages behave.

The launch extends Shopify’s existing AI capabilities into a dedicated site-building product, although its initial release comes with limitations.

Conversation Becomes Part of Store Design

Shopify previously offered a no-code builder based on themes, modular sections and blocks. Merchants could rearrange those components, but deeper customization often required code changes or help from a developer.

Canvas introduces a different editing workflow. Users describe what they want in a conversation with Sidekick, which then makes changes to the store.

The workspace displays those updates in real time, allowing merchants to assess the result and refine their instructions.

Direct editing remains available. Users can select individual elements and make changes themselves, combining hands-on adjustments with AI assistance.

That flexibility gives merchants more than one way to work, depending on whether they want to describe a broader design change or adjust a specific detail.

Live Rendering Lets Merchants Test Interactions

According to Shopify, Canvas displays the actual code behind the store rather than a static design preview.

Merchants can therefore test page interactions and animations as they build. They can also inspect how pages appear at different screen sizes.

The ability to zoom and pan across the workspace makes it possible to move between the overall store design and individual components.

Sidekick takes screenshots of its work so it can examine the same visual result the merchant sees. That gives the agent a way to assess rendered changes alongside the underlying files.

The approach connects instructions, code changes and visible results within one editing environment.

Sidekick Gains Direct Access to Theme Files

Sidekick was already capable of writing code, building apps, customizing themes and making other changes within Shopify.

Canvas brings those capabilities together into a more complete site-building experience.

To support it, Shopify gave Sidekick the ability to work directly with theme files. The company also simplified the theme architecture to make the store’s structure, logic and design easier for the agent to understand and modify.

Those changes are central to the product’s ambition: allowing merchants to request meaningful customizations while seeing the effects on their store.

They also move the workflow beyond rearranging predefined blocks, although the initial release does not yet support every part of Shopify’s broader ecosystem.

Initial Release Leaves Several Features Unsupported

Canvas is available only on desktop at launch.

Third-party themes, app blocks and extensions, markets, translations, rollouts and theme updates are also outside the initial feature set.

These omissions could affect merchants whose stores depend heavily on external themes, application integrations or localized storefronts.

Shopify told TechCrunch that it plans to support these areas over time. However, the supplied announcement does not establish dates for their arrival.

Merchants considering Canvas will therefore need to assess its current capabilities rather than assume future additions are already available.

Shopify Joins a Crowded AI Website Market

Canvas enters a growing field of AI-assisted website tools from companies including Wix, Squarespace, Webflow and Framer, alongside platforms such as Lovable and Replit.

Shopify’s offering centers on building within its own commerce environment, using Sidekick’s existing capabilities and direct access to store files.

As support expands, Canvas could make customization more accessible to merchants with limited development budgets or technical experience. Its immediate value will depend on whether the current feature set meets their store’s requirements and how effectively Sidekick translates instructions into usable designs.