Previously, Shopify offered a no-code builder that involved editing a selected theme by rearranging modular sections and blocks, but deeper customizations required editing code or bringing in a developer. Canvas replaces that workflow with a conversation: merchants tell Sidekick what they want and watch the results appear in real time.
According to Shopify, the preview is not static, but the real code behind the store being rendered. That means merchants can test the page's full interactivity and animation, and view pages as they would appear across different screen sizes. Sidekick also takes screenshots of the work so it can see the same thing the merchant sees as the site updates.
Merchants can still click on individual elements to make changes directly, though the main interface is the chat. Sidekick itself is not new; it has already been used to write code, build apps, customize themes, and make other edits. Canvas is the first product to pull those capabilities into a full site-building experience where users can see the entire store at once and zoom and pan while making updates to the site's actual files.
To make this work, Shopify gave Sidekick the ability to work directly with the theme's files and simplified the theme architecture so the store's structure, logic, and design would be easier for the AI to understand and change.
Canvas joins a growing field of AI-powered site builders from companies like Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, and Framer, alongside newer vibe-coding platforms like Lovable and Replit. The product is still in its early days, with areas Shopify says will need to expand and improve. The company said Canvas could make becoming an online seller more accessible to those who do not have the budget for developers and designers, or the time to learn to code.