Liquid Weekly Podcast: Shopify Developers Talking Shopify Development

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.---SponsorThe Support Heroes - https://thesupportheroes.comChapters(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: LinkInteresting Winter Editions X Links Ben Sehl: Link Paul Nuschke: Link Eytan Seidman: Link Jake Casto: LinkPicks of the Week Karl: Endurance by F. A. Worsely - Goodreads Karl: The PITT - Wikipedia Taylor: Everand - Link

In this special edition of the Liquid Weekly Podcast, hosts Karl Meisterheim and Taylor Page are joined by Eytan Seidman, VP of Product at Shopify, to discuss the major announcements from Winter Editions '26. Eytan reveals how Shopify is rewiring the platform to be fully AI-native, democratizing access to the Catalog MCP for building agentic shopping experiences, and introducing App Intents for Sidekick, allowing apps to register capabilities that Sidekick can invoke directly from merchant queries.The group also dives deep into the "boring but powerful" platform updates, including massive improvements to Bulk Operations concurrency, advanced filtering and increased limits for Metaobjects, and the shift to server-side rendering for Shopify.dev.Find Eytan Seidman OnlineLinkedIn: / eytanseidman Twitter (X): / eytan Timestamps00:00 Teaser: App Intents & Sidekick Capabilities00:41 Intro & Welcome01:24 Introducing Eytan Seidman, VP of Product at Shopify02:51 High-Level Overview of Winter Editions '26 Updates05:31 AI-Native Platform: Dev Assistant & MCP Server Updates11:57 Technical Deep Dive: Shopify.dev moving to Server-Side Rendering (Remix)16:38 Catalog MCP: Democratizing Agentic Shopping Experiences23:39 App Intents for Sidekick: Registering Tools & Context30:30 Merchant Control & Privacy in Sidekick Extensions39:16 Boring Updates: Bulk Operations Improvements (Concurrency & Mutation Support)42:40 Boring Updates: Metaobjects (Advanced Filtering & Increased Limits)51:13 Eytan’s Top 3 Takeaways for Developers54:20 OutroResourcesShopify Editions: https://www.shopify.com/editionsMetaobjects Documentation: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/cu...Bulk Operations API: https://shopify.dev/docs/api/usage/bu...Model Context Protocol (MCP): https://modelcontextprotocol.io/Dev ChangelogThe hosts and Eytan discuss the following updates from the Winter Editions '26 release:AI-Native Dev Platform: The Dev Assistant and Dev MCP Server now cover the entire platform, including generating Checkout UI Extensions, modifying TOML files, and utilizing the latest Polaris components.Shopify.dev Server-Side Rendering: The documentation site has moved to server-side rendering (using Remix) to improve crawler access and performance for AI agents.Catalog MCP: Developers now have access to the full catalog of products across the merchant base (normalized and searchable) to build agentic shopping experiences.App Intents for Sidekick: Apps can now register "tools" and capabilities that Sidekick can invoke based on natural language merchant queries (e.g., "Show me my recent campaign stats").Bulk Operations Improvements:Now supports all mutations. Concurrency increased to allow up to 5 operations per API client per shop simultaneously.New query to check the status of all running bulk operations.Metaobject Enhancements: Advanced Filtering: Query metaobjects by value ranges on metafields (e.g., filter testimonials by date range). Increased Limits: Separate pools for apps—each app can create up to 128 definitions with up to 1 million entries each.Sign Up for Liquid WeeklyDon't miss out on expert insights and tips—subscribe to Liquid Weekly for more content like this: https://liquidweekly.com/

In this episode of the Liquid Weekly Podcast, hosts Karl Meisterheim and Taylor Page explore recent Shopify updates and features, including the new unlisted product status, collection management, and the integration of meta fields for blog posts. They also touch on the new theme editor, the implications of meta objects, and the importance of effective error reporting and app management. They share insights on coding practices, the challenges of launching new apps, and the tech choices developers face, especially in preparation for high-traffic events like Black Friday.HookdeckFor more information about the sponsor of this episode, Hookdeck, check out https://hookdeck.com/?utm_source=LWPodcast&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_id=LWAdSlotTimestamps00:00 Introduction and Personal Updates06:38 Diet and Fitness Challenges11:28 Shopify Updates and Changelog Discussion24:17 Trust in Product Efficacy25:28 Streamlining Menu Management26:59 Quality of Life Updates27:48 Meta Fields and Blog Integration32:22 Navigating the New Code Editor37:32 Visible If for Theme Settings38:52 Understanding Meta Object Limits43:38 The Power of Meta Objects46:09 New Flow Triggers and Cart API Enhancements47:34 Launching the App: A Milestone Achieved49:30 Navigating Technical Challenges and User Feedback52:23 Integrating Third-Party Solutions for Efficiency55:37 Code Architecture: Balancing Functional and Imperative Styles57:31 Error Monitoring and User Experience01:01:34 Tech Upgrades: Evaluating New Devices01:04:32 Final Thoughts and RecommendationsPicks of the WeekKarl - Rogue Heroes book and show on MGMhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAS:_Rogue_HeroesTaylor - rockauto.com

In this episode of the Liquid Weekly Podcast, hosts Karl Meisterheim and Taylor Page welcome Roberto Senabre, co-founder of the Shopify app Orbe, to discuss the complexities of Shopify Markets and internationalization.Roberto shares his journey from starting a plant-based leather brand on WooCommerce to becoming a "Shopify Markets fanboy" after realizing the struggles of managing localized experiences. He explains how Orbe solves the critical issue of directing international shoppers to the correct localized storefront without negatively impacting SEO or UX.HookdeckFor more information about the sponsor of this episode, Hookdeck, check out https://hookdeck.com/?utm_source=LWPodcast&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_id=LWAdSlot Find Roberto Senabre Online- Orbe: https://apps.shopify.com/orbe- Twitter (X): https://x.com/robertosenabre- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/senabre/ Timestamps- 00:00 Introduction and Hookdeck Sponsor Ad- 02:40 Welcome and Introduction of Roberto Senabre from Orbe- 05:25 Roberto’s Background: From 12-year-old Coder to Merchant- 08:30 The Birth of Orbe and Discovering Shopify Markets- 11:20 The Vision of Shopify Markets: Beyond Just Countries- 13:45 The Pain of "Expansion Stores" vs. Single Store Markets- 19:00 Technical Pitfall 1: Not Using Proper Liquid/JS Routes Objects- 22:45 Technical Pitfall 2: Confusing Markets with Storefronts (The "Rest of World" Mistake)- 26:30 Technical Pitfall 3: Hard-Coding Full URLs in Content- 30:30 Technical Pitfall 4: Manually Editing Hreflang Tags (Don't do it!)- 32:30 Technical Pitfall 5: Using Visual-Only Currency Converter Apps- 33:40 Technical Pitfall 6: Automatic Redirection vs. SEO Crawlers- 35:50 When to Use Expansion Stores vs. Markets- 38:00 Orbe’s Tech Stack: PHP, Vanilla JS, and Web Components- 44:50 Dev Changelog Highlights- 50:40 Picks of the WeekResources- Orbe Geolocation: https://orbe.app/install/liquidweekly- Orbe Affiliate Program: http://orbe.app/affiliates/liquidweekly- Hookdeck: https://hookdeck.com/- Common issues on Markets: https://orbe.app/blogs/blog/shopify-markets-mistakes- Expansion stores vs one single store: https://orbe.app/blogs/blog/shopify-expansion-stores-vs-shopify-marketsDev Changelog- New: Unlisted Product Status - https://shopify.dev/changelog/new-unlisted-product-status- Improved concurrency handling in the Cart AJAX API and Storefront Cart -GraphQL API - https://shopify.dev/changelog/improved-concurrency-handling-in-the-cart-ajax-api-and-storefront-cart-graphql-api- Updated online store promotion app store requirement - https://shopify.dev/changelog/updated-online-store-promotion-app-store-requirement- Increased limits in metafield and metaobject definitions - https://shopify.dev/changelog/increased-limits-for-metafields-and-metaobjects- [action required] Bulk operations group objects default changed to false - https://shopify.dev/changelog/bulk-operations-group-objects-default-changed-to-false- Built for Shopify apps get priority visibility across the Shopify App Store - https://shopify.dev/changelog/built-for-shopify-apps-get-priority-visibility-across-the-shopify-app-store- The cartDiscountCodeUpdate mutation now requires the discountCodes field - https://shopify.dev/changelog/the-cartdiscountcodeupdate-mutation-now-requires-the-discountcodes-fieldPicks of the Week- Karl: Chronometer - A free nutrition, calorie, and macro tracking app with a great food library and barcode scanner. https://cronometer.com/ - Roberto: RFC for Shopify Storefront Standard events: https://x.com/benjaminsehl/status/1982862575298838983 - Taylor: Ashland High School Football - Celebrating local team making it to the first round of the playoffs.Sign Up for Liquid WeeklyDon't miss out on expert insights and tips—subscribe to Liquid Weekly for more content like this: https://liquidweekly.com/

In this episode of the Liquid Weekly Podcast, hosts Karl Meisterheim and Taylor Page explore a wide range of topics—from home improvement mishaps and 3D printing experiments to the evolving challenges of Shopify app development and pricing models in an AI-driven world.They dive deep into product design, beta testing, user experience, and the importance of theme compatibility in Shopify apps. The conversation wraps up with insights on value-based pricing for freelancers, Shopify’s latest developer updates (including 2K+ product variants).HookdeckFor more information about the sponsor of this episode, check out hookdeck.Dev ChangelogThe product variant limit is now 2048 for all merchants - https://shopify.dev/changelog/the-product-variant-limit-is-now-2048-for-all-merchantsRemoving visible_to_storefront_api field on metaobject field definitions - https://shopify.dev/changelog/removing-storefront-visibility-field-on-metaobject-field-definitionsIntroducing the Shop Minis SDK (early access) - https://shopify.dev/changelog/introducing-the-shop-minis-sdk-early-accessSubscription Selling Plan support with POS UI Extensions - https://shopify.dev/changelog/subscription-selling-plan-support-with-pos-ui-extensionsPicks of the WeekKarl: The Watchmakers Daughter by Larry LoftisTaylor: Harry Potter Series (Book & Audiobook)Sign Up for Liquid WeeklyDon’t miss expert insights and tips—subscribe to Liquid Weekly for more content like this:👉 https://liquidweekly.com