Liquid Weekly Podcast: Shopify Developers Talking Shopify Development

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.
---
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

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 Online
LinkedIn: / eytanseidman
Twitter (X): / eytan

Timestamps

00:00 Teaser: App Intents & Sidekick Capabilities
00:41 Intro & Welcome
01:24 Introducing Eytan Seidman, VP of Product at Shopify
02:51 High-Level Overview of Winter Editions '26 Updates
05:31 AI-Native Platform: Dev Assistant & MCP Server Updates
11:57 Technical Deep Dive: Shopify.dev moving to Server-Side Rendering (Remix)
16:38 Catalog MCP: Democratizing Agentic Shopping Experiences
23:39 App Intents for Sidekick: Registering Tools & Context
30:30 Merchant Control & Privacy in Sidekick Extensions
39:16 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 Developers
54:20 Outro

Resources

Shopify Editions: https://www.shopify.com/editions
Metaobjects 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 Changelog

The 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.

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