Shopify has introduced a new tool called Canvas that lets merchants build their online stores by chatting with artificial intelligence. The company announced the product on Thursday, October 1.
Canvas works with Sidekick, Shopify's AI agent. Merchants describe what they want, and Sidekick makes the changes to the store.
Before Canvas, Shopify offered a no-code builder. Merchants could pick a theme and rearrange sections and blocks to design their store.
However, deeper changes required editing code. Many merchants had to hire a developer to make those updates.
How Canvas Works
With Canvas, merchants chat with Sidekick to create their site. As the AI makes changes, Canvas shows the results in real time.
Merchants can view the whole store as it comes together. They can also zoom in to focus on specific details.
According to Shopify, the display is not a static preview. It shows the real code behind the store being rendered.
This means merchants can test the page's full interactivity and animations. They can also see how pages look on different screen sizes.
Sidekick takes screenshots of the work as the site updates. This lets the AI see the same thing the merchant sees.
Merchants can still click on individual elements and change them directly. But Shopify expects most users will simply tell Sidekick what they want in a chat.
Sidekick is not a new product. Merchants have already used it to write code, build apps, customize themes, and make other edits.
Until now, those features had not been combined into a full site-building product. Canvas lets users see the entire store at once, pan around, and update the site's actual files.
To make this possible, Shopify gave Sidekick the ability to work directly with theme files. The company also simplified its theme design so the store's structure, logic, and layout are easier for the AI to understand and change.
Canvas joins other AI-powered site builders from companies like Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, and Framer. It also joins vibe-coding platforms such as Lovable and Replit.
Features Not Yet Available
The product is still in its early stages. Several features are not part of the first release.
These include third-party theme support, app blocks and extensions, markets, translations, rollouts, and theme updates. Canvas is also available on desktop only.
Shopify told TechCrunch it plans to add support for these features over time. The company said the product is still new.
