Shopify has introduced Canvas, a visual workspace that allows merchants to build and edit online stores through natural language conversations with the AI assistant Sidekick. The tool provides real-time rendering directly from the store's theme code, enabling users to view and modify all pages simultaneously on a single canvas.
According to Ben Sehl of Shopify, this new interface reduces the time required to create a custom store from two weeks of coding to approximately 20 minutes. The rollout of Canvas is currently underway, with access being granted to merchants gradually over several days following the October 1, 2026, announcement.
At launch, Canvas does not support third-party theme app extensions or specific Shopify tools including Rollouts, Markets, and Translations. The company intends to integrate these features before making Canvas the default editor, as they are essential for merchants managing international operations.
The integration of Sidekick marks an evolution for the assistant, which previously focused on help-desk tasks. In Q1 2026, weekly active shops using Sidekick increased by 385% year-over-year, and approximately 42% of all Shopify merchants were utilizing the company's AI-powered features during that same period.
