The news
On 1 October 2026 Shopify launched Canvas, a new way to design an online store. All of the store's pages sit side by side in one workspace that you can pan across and zoom into. You describe a change to Sidekick, Shopify's AI agent, and watch it appear, or you click any element and edit it yourself.
Shopify says the preview runs the store's real code, so animations, different products and collections, and phone or desktop screen sizes can be checked before anything goes live. Sidekick now works directly on the theme files and takes screenshots to check its own work. According to Shopify, Sidekick made more than 25 million edits to merchants' themes in the first half of 2026.
Canvas is in early access, and Shopify's help pages say only some stores have it so far. It runs on a computer only, needs a plan that includes theme customization, and staff need permission to edit theme code. It works with Shopify's own themes and with custom themes, but not with themes from other designers sold in the Theme Store.
There are limits at launch. A theme edited in Canvas opens only in Canvas, stops receiving theme updates and cannot be downloaded. App blocks and app embeds cannot be added, and the theme cannot be customized by market or translated inside Canvas. Your original theme stays in the usual theme editor, and Shopify told TechCrunch it plans to fill these gaps over time.
What it means for you
- You can try a new look for your store by describing it in plain words, without waiting for a developer for every change.
- If your store relies on apps that add blocks or embeds to the theme, such as reviews or upsell widgets, Canvas cannot add or set them up yet.
- A theme edited in Canvas no longer gets updates from its maker, so later fixes and features will not reach it.
What to do now
- On a computer, open Online Store > Themes in your Shopify admin and see whether Canvas is offered to your store.
- Try Canvas on a copy of your theme, and keep your live theme in the normal editor until you are happy with the result.
- Before you publish a Canvas theme, check every app feature your store depends on, because app blocks and embeds cannot be added there yet.
How Didset can help
When Canvas or ready-made apps cannot do what your store needs, we build custom Shopify apps for those features.
Talk to us about it
