Liquid Weekly Podcast: Shopify Developers Talking Shopify Development

In this episode of the Liquid Weekly Podcast, Karl Meisterheim and Taylor Page talk with Shopify partner Brendan Quigley (founder of Three Acres) about building a sustainable solo business. Brendan shares his path into Shopify development, lessons from freelancing, and practical financial strategies—including YNAB and Profit First—to create more control and stability.

They also discuss moving from one-off projects to retainer/membership models for predictable income, strengthening long-term client relationships, setting clear expectations, scaling thoughtfully, and managing time well. The episode wraps with Brendan’s perspective on selling expertise, improving productivity, and protecting work-life balance.

*Support Heroes*For more information about the sponsor of this episode, Support Heroes, check out: http://thesupportheroes.com/?utm_source=liquid_weekly&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=sponsorships

Timestamps
00:00 Exploring Money and Business
02:21 Brendan's Journey into Shopify Development
04:37 The Journey of Freelancing
06:40 Building a Business in E-commerce
09:09 The Power of Automation and Scripting
15:23 Understanding Finances as a Solopreneur
27:12 Implementing Profit First for Business Success
29:44 Membership Models and Client Relationships
36:05 Understanding Project Tiers and Workflows
38:47 The Importance of Time Management in Client Projects
39:48 Building Relationships with Clients
43:35 Scaling Your Business Effectively
47:22 Utilization Rates and Work-Life Balance
52:51 Transitioning to the Changelog and New Developments
01:07:06 LW podcast intro video.mp4

Dev Changelog
All changelog updates are posts on the forum - https://community.shopify.dev/c/changelog/28 

Shop Minis January 2026 update - https://shopify.dev/changelog/shop-minis-january-2026-update 

Automatically copy cart metafields to orders at checkout completion - https://shopify.dev/changelog/automatically-copy-cart-metafields-to-orders-at-checkout-completion 

New: Persist cart metafields to orders with `cartToOrderCopyable` - https://community.shopify.dev/t/new-persist-cart-metafields-to-orders-with-carttoordercopyable/29264 

Increasing the app block limit to 30 for theme app extensions - https://shopify.dev/changelog/increasing-the-app-block-limit-to-30-for-theme-app-extensions 

Picks of the Week
Karl - Quest Protein Chips
Taylor - Waste King L-8000 1HP Garbage disposal affiliate link https://amzn.to/45OnoIK
Brendan - YNAB - https://www.ynab.com and Raspberry Pi + Pihole - http://pishop.us/ or https://pishop.ca/ AND https://pi-hole.net/

SEO Keywords
Liquid Weekly Podcast, Shopify, Brendan Quigley, finances, budgeting, solopreneur, Profit First, YNAB, development, entrepreneurship, business model, membership, client relationships, pricing, freelancing, productivity, time management, scaling, services, deliverables

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In this episode of the Liquid Weekly Podcast, hosts Karl Meisterheim and Taylor Page recap Taylor's trip to New York City for the exclusive Shopify Winter Editions meetup. They break down the "Agentic Commerce" hype, the realities of the new Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), and why the best way to optimize for AI is actually just using Standard Category Metafields.
The episode features on-the-ground interviews with key Shopify staff members, including Liam Griffin, Darius (Senior Product Lead, Dev Platform), and Eitan (Shopify Flow team), offering deep dives into the new developer tools, Shop Minis, and the future of Shopify Flow.
Interviews & Highlights
Liam Griffin: Discusses the Model Context Protocol (MCP) for developers, using AI for mundane tasks like REST-to-GraphQL migration, and the "Pokemon generation" explosion of Shop Minis (including a virtual sommelier!).
Darius: Breaks down the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), how the Catalog API works with agents, and why "Agentic Engine Optimization" isn't about hacks—it's about clean data and taxonomy.
Eitan: Covers the "Flow 3.0" feel with new Sidekick-generated workflows, the highly anticipated testing layer, and moving toward declarative UIs.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction, Stickers, and Winter Storm Stories
06:40 Taylor’s NYC Editions Trip Recap
20:45 Key Takeaways: Agentic Commerce & UCP Realities
31:00 Live Demo: Shopify Flow Sidekick Generation & Testing Layer
38:30 Developer Tip: Running Queries from Dev Docs in GraphiQL
43:00 Interview: Liam Griffin (Dev MCP, Shop Minis, Dev Forums)
55:20 Interview: Darius (Universal Commerce Protocol, Metaobject Limits, Catalog API)
01:07:50 Interview: Eitan (Shopify Flow Updates)
01:20:30 Dev Changelog Highlights
01:25:00 Picks of the Week
Dev Changelog
New article list input settings for themes: Link
Migrate metafields with Shopify App Import custom data definitions: Link
[Action Required] Shop Minis development now requires partner account permissions: Link
[Action Required] Standardization of asset_url version params: Link
Shopify App extensions now support Admin and Theme App Extensions: Link
[Action Required] Ensuring POS UI extension stability by hardening callback handling: Link
Picks of the Week
Karl: MagiQuest at Great Wolf Lodge – An interactive live-action game that turns the water park lodge into a questing adventure.
Taylor: DJI Mic 3 – Wireless microphones that offer professional audio quality and ease of use for field recordings and interviews.
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In this episode of the Liquid Weekly Podcast, hosts Karl Meisterheim and Taylor Page welcome Simon Barnes, the Head of Developer Relations at Mantle.

The conversation kicks off with Simon's journey into Shopify development. He shares his early experiences with web development, the evolution of his career, and how he transitioned from agency work to his current role at Mantle. The discussion highlights the importance of community and collaboration in the developer ecosystem, particularly in the context of building Shopify apps and the unique features of Mantle's platform.

The trio discusses the potential for app developers to leverage Mantle's tools to enhance their applications and improve user experience. They also touch on the upcoming Seismic Volume 3 release, which promises exciting new features for developers. The episode wraps up with personal picks of the week, showcasing a mix of technology, nostalgia, and travel recommendations.

Support Heroes
For more information about the sponsor of this episode, Support Heroes, check out: http://thesupportheroes.com/?utm_source=liquid_weekly&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=sponsorships

Find Simon Barnes Online
X - https://x.com/sb18281
LinkedIn - http://linkedin.com/in/simonbarnesnz

Timestamps
00:00 Introduction and Setup
01:03 Welcoming Simon Barnes
04:57 Simon’s Origin Story in Development
07:56 Transition to Shopify and App Development
08:36 The Evolution of Mantle and Its Offerings
14:26 Developer Relations and Community Engagement
19:56 Exciting Developments in Mantle's Ecosystem
26:27 The Future of Elements and Developer Opportunities
33:07 Building for the Mantle Ecosystem
39:51 Navigating App Development with Mantle
45:52 Building on Existing Features
48:20 Upcoming Events and Community Engagement
49:44 Insights from the Change Log
56:22 Picks of the Week

Resources
Mantle Seismic Volume 3 - https://rebrand.ly/seismic-3
Mantle Elements - https://coreapi.heymantle.dev/reference/getting-access
Mantle on X - https://x.com/heymantle
Mantle Discord - https://discord.gg/BBWjX3UDcH

Dev Changelog
* Subscription billing attempts throttling - https://shopify.dev/changelog/subscription-billing-attempts-throttling
* Introducing the orders/link_requested webhook topic - https://shopify.dev/changelog/introducing-the-orderslinkrequested-webhook-topic
* [action required] Deprecation of Shop.billingAddress in favor of Shop.shopAddress - https://shopify.dev/changelog/deprecation-of-shop-billingaddress-in-favor-of-shop-shopaddress
* [action required] Removing permitsSkuSharing field from fulfillment service - https://shopify.dev/changelog/removing-permitsskusharing-field-from-fulfillment-service
* Conversion tracking fields added to MarketingEngagementCreate - https://shopify.dev/changelog/conversion-tracking-fields-added-to-marketing-engagement-create
* (Simon) Better way to match Shopify Payments payouts with bank deposits - https://changelog.shopify.com/posts/better-way-to-match-shopify-payments-payouts-with-bank-deposits

Picks of the Week
Karl - Omarchy / https://omarchy.org

Simon Barnes - Niche instagram accounts:
@idontgiveaseat
@vhsdates
@totally80sroom
@depthsofwikipedia

Taylor - Big Stone Gap - town with a cool sidewalk…

SEO Keywords
Liquid Weekly Podcast, Shopify development, Mantle, Simon Barnes, developer relations, app development, revenue operations, Seismic Volume 3, elements feature, web development

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In this episode of the Liquid Weekly Podcast, hosts Karl Meisterheim and Taylor Page sit down with Farid Mosumov, a Shopify app developer and one of the first to release a Shop Mini, to explore the new frontier of the Shop app ecosystem.

Farid shares his journey from building Shopify competitors in PHP to becoming a full-time Shopify app developer in the Netherlands. He pulls back the curtain on the "Shop Minis" early access program, explaining how developers can leverage this new surface to improve discoverability for merchants. He discusses the technical stack (Cloudflare Workers, OpenAI), the "hidden" nature of Minis currently, and why this is a massive opportunity for developers to rethink how they drive sales.

Support Heroes
For more information about the sponsor of this episode, Support Heroes, check out: https://thesupportheroes.com/?utm_source=liquid_weekly&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=sponsorships

The leading outsourced customer support service for Shopify apps, helping developers focus on building while they handle the tickets.

Find Farid Masumov Online
Twitter (X): https://x.com/faridmovsumov
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faridmovsumov/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCLzQ6NcHTYxwRCZDHn1PbPA
Website: https://craftshift.com/
Shopify Apps: https://apps.shopify.com/partners/craftshift
Shop Mini App: https://shop.app/mini/find-your-colors
Rankbase.io: https://rankbase.io/

Timestamps
00:00 Introduction and Support Heroes Sponsor Ad
02:00 Welcome and Introduction of Farid Masumov
05:08 Farid’s Origin Story: From PHP to Shopify App Dev
11:40 The Tech Stack: Laravel, React, and AI Tools
15:00 Using AI for Coding vs. Marketing
20:45 Getting Started with Shop Minis (Thanks to Harshdeep!)
23:00 What are Shop Minis? Strategy and Discovery
26:30 Ideation: How to Build for the Shop App Consumer
31:50 The Early Access Experience & Working with Shopify Product Managers
37:00 The Importance of Standard Category Metafields
46:00 Infrastructure & Costs: Cloudflare Workers and OpenAI
53:25 Dev Changelog Highlights
55:50 Picks of the Week

Resources
Shop Minis announcement: https://www.shopify.com/blog/shop-minis-a-new-era-of-immersive-commerce
Shop Minis Documentation: https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/shop-minis
Dev Community Forums: https://community.shopify.dev/c/shop-minis/33
Harshdeep Post: https://x.com/kinngh/status/1981088833903972531?s=20

Dev Changelog
[Action Required] Customer marketing URL fields now require write access: https://shopify.dev/changelog/customer-marketing-url-fields-now-require-write-access
Discount functions API now supports rejecting discount codes: https://shopify.dev/changelog/discount-rejection-support-for-discount-functions
Venmo and PayPal are now treated as separate payment methods: https://shopify.dev/changelog/venmo-and-paypal-are-now-treated-as-separate-payment-methods

Picks of the Week
Karl: Russell Stover Sugar-Free Peppermint Patties – A keto-friendly indulgence for when you need a sweet treat.
Farid: Custom Data Declarations & Admin Intents – Using Metaobjects and Admin Intents to create fast, native-feeling editing experiences within embedded apps.
Taylor: Ninja Creami – An ice cream maker that lets you control ingredients (and mix-ins!) for high-quality frozen desserts at home.

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In this reaction episode of the Liquid Weekly Podcast:
Hosts Karl Meisterheim and Taylor Page take a deep dive into the Shopify Winter Editions '26 "Renaissance" release. They explore the stunning (and Easter egg-filled) visuals of the new landing page, including hidden interactive elements like the "Party in Slack like it's 1499" emoji and a Da Vinci-priced beanie.
The duo breaks down the most impactful announcements for developers and merchants, including:
The evolution of Sidekick into an agent that can generate apps and modify themes.
The new SimGym tool for simulating shopper behavior.
The introduction of Rollouts for native A/B testing.
They also discuss major updates like the Shopify Product Network (effectively "Collective on steroids"), global expansion for Collective, and new B2B capabilities like ACH payments and store credit.
On the technical side, they cover critical changes: the deprecation of Shopify Scripts in favor of Functions by June 2026 and the new security requirement for expiring access tokens.
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Sponsor
The Support Heroes - https://thesupportheroes.com
Chapters
(00:00) Intro: Hunting for Easter Eggs in the Editions Site
(01:51) Welcome & Winter Weather Chat
(05:09) Deep Dive: Winter Editions '26 "Renaissance" Site Visuals
(11:47) Sidekick Updates: App Generation, Pulse, & Automations
(21:24) Agentic Commerce: Rollouts & SimGym (Shopper Simulator)
(25:54) Shopify Product Network & Collective Global Expansion
(31:46) B2B Updates: ACH Payments & Store Credit
(33:39) The "Key" Easter Egg Struggle
(38:20) Major Update: Functions Replace Scripts (June 2026)
(38:59) Major Update: Enhanced Security with Expiring Tokens
(49:50) Web Vitals API by Region
(50:40) Picks of the Week
---
Resources
Shopify Winter Editions '26: Link
Technical breakdown thread: Link
Interesting Winter Editions X Links
Ben Sehl: Link
Paul Nuschke: Link
Eytan Seidman: Link
Jake Casto: Link
Picks of the Week
Karl: Endurance by F. A. Worsely - Goodreads
Karl: The PITT - Wikipedia
Taylor: Everand - Link