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Shopify debuts Canvas, an AI-powered store builder that runs on conversation
The new tool lets merchants redesign entire online stores through a visual workspace while Sidekick edits theme code and previews changes in real time.
Shopify has launched Canvas, a new AI-powered design workspace that lets merchants build and redesign online stores alongside its Sidekick assistant.
Canvas gives merchants a view of their entire storefront at once, allowing them to move across pages, zoom into individual elements and make changes either directly or through conversations with Sidekick.
Shopify said the tool is rolling out over the coming days and is designed to make fully customized storefronts accessible to merchants without requiring coding or professional design experience.
Unlike a static website preview, Canvas renders the actual code behind the store. Merchants can interact with pages, test animations and view designs across different products, collections and screen sizes while Sidekick applies changes in real time.
Sidekick can also make coordinated changes across the files and templates that make up a Shopify theme.
The AI agent asks merchants questions, proposes design approaches and incorporates feedback as it works. It also remembers earlier preferences and design choices so users do not need to repeatedly specify the same instructions.
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Shopify said Sidekick takes screenshots of its work and validates the underlying code as it makes changes, using both signals to review and refine a design before presenting it to the merchant.
The company has been expanding Sidekick’s coding capabilities throughout the year. Shopify said the agent made more than 25 million edits to merchant themes during the first half of 2026.
The new system can handle tasks ranging from individual section changes to complete store redesigns, with Shopify saying it has also simplified its theme architecture to make it easier for Sidekick to understand and modify.
Ben Sehl, Shopify’s director of product and co-founder of clothing brand Kotn, said merchants can now create a customized store in about 20 minutes, compared with the weeks it previously could take even someone with coding experience.
Shopify said Canvas remains an early product and will not replace its existing online store editor for now. The company expects the tool to evolve as merchants begin using it and providing feedback.