All app developers can now build Sidekick app extensions, letting Sidekick access data inside an app and perform actions within it. 18 companies including Klaviyo, Loop, Smile, Judge.me, Checkout Links, and Matrixify are already live via early access.
Sidekick could mainly touch data and actions in Shopify itself. The contents of the third-party apps merchants use every day lived outside of Sidekick.
Once an app implements the extension, Sidekick can search and display that app's data and guide merchants to the app's action pages with context.
Lets merchants search your app's content from Sidekick. When a merchant asks something like "find my best-performing email subject lines," Sidekick surfaces the relevant campaigns from that appshown with key metrics.
Lets merchants trigger in-app actions directly from Sidekick. Sidekick takes them to the right page in your appwith the relevant context pre-filled, and the merchant reviews the content before the change takes effect.
| Item | App data | App actions |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Search & browse Find content in your app | Act & execute Take action inside your app |
| Experience | In response to a question, Sidekick shows the relevant data with key metrics | Navigates to the relevant page with context pre-filled |
| Example | "Find my best-performing email subject lines" → shows the relevant campaigns | Sidekick guides the merchant to the app's action page; they review and then execute |
| How changes apply | —(read-only) | Changes don't take effect until the merchant confirms |
| Best suited for | Analytics, reporting, and content apps | Apps for creating, editing, sending, and other actions |
*"Find my best-performing email subject lines" is the example given in the original post. The specific metrics and the range of supported data depend on each app's implementation; the post does not document individual specs.
Through the developer early access program,18 companiesare already live. The ones named in the original post are below.
Shopify CLI scaffolds the entire extension setup for you.
Build in the logic for App data and App actions. Refer to the documentation.
The CLI simplifies the steps, letting you deploy a working extension in minutes.
Design diverges between App data (search and browse) and App actions (operate and execute). Decide which to implement first based on whether your app's value is in "showing" or "doing." You can also implement both.
App actions navigate to the relevant page with the context pre-filled, and the merchant confirms before any changes are made. Rather than fully automating and causing side effects, human-in-the-loop is the premise. You need to design for idempotency and a confirmation UI.
The CLI scaffolds the entire extension and lets you deploy in minutes. Since it fits right into your existing app development flow (Shopify CLI-based), the cost of building new scaffolding is low.
Proven apps like Klaviyo, Loop, Smile, Judge.me, Checkout Links, and Matrixify are already running. You can start with category-by-category reference implementations already present in the market.
This article is primarily an announcement that it has "opened up," and individual specifics such as the API schema, authorization scopes, billing, and supported plans arenot covered. When you begin implementation, treat the Sidekick app extensions documentation as your primary source, and the proper approach is to give feedback or ask questions in the Shopify Developer Community for anything unclear.