---
title: Tools for building Shopify themes
description: >-
  Accelerate your theme development process with Shopify’s suite of development
  tools.
source_url:
  html: 'https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools'
  md: 'https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools.md'
api_name: liquid
---

# Tools for building Shopify themes

Shopify provides a range of tools to help you build Shopify themes faster.

***

## Tools for building and editing themes

The following tools help you quickly scaffold, test, share, and develop Shopify themes.

[Shopify CLI\
\
](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/shopify-cli/theme)

[A powerful command-line tool for building Shopify themes, and exploring Liquid code in a REPL interface.](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/shopify-cli/theme)

[Shopify Liquid VS Code extension\
\
](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/shopify-liquid-vscode)

[Use the Shopify Liquid Visual Studio Code extension to improve your local development experience.](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/shopify-liquid-vscode)

### Legacy tools

[Shopify CLI 2.x\
\
](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/cli/cli-2/commands)

[The previous major version of Shopify CLI.](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/cli/cli-2/commands)

[Theme Kit\
\
](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/theme-kit)

[A legacy command-line tool for building Shopify themes.](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/theme-kit)

***

## Web-based editors for themes

The following tools can be used by merchants and developers to customize themes in the Shopify admin. As a developer, you should account for these tools when you're developing your theme to ensure the best merchant experience.

[Admin theme editor\
\
](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/online-editor)

[An interactive editor that lets merchants customize their online store and theme.](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/online-editor)

[Admin code editor\
\
](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/code-editor)

[A code editor built into the Shopify admin.](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/code-editor)

***

## Access tools

The following tools allow you to access Shopify infrastructure for testing, and help you to safely access merchant stores.

[Development stores\
\
](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/development-stores)

[A free Shopify account that you can use to build and test themes.](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/development-stores)

[Collaborator accounts\
\
](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/stores/collaborations)

[An account that lets you access and manage a merchant's store, with only the permissions the merchant grants you.](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/stores/collaborations)

[Theme Access app\
\
](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/theme-access)

[An app that grants programmatic access to themes in a particular store. Used with Shopify CLI and Theme Kit.](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/theme-access)

***

## Version control tools

The Shopify GitHub integration helps you to track and push changes to and from a theme in a Shopify store by using Git.

[Shopify GitHub integration\
\
](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/github)

[Manage your Shopify theme code by using Git version control.](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/github)

***

## Testing tools

The following tools help you to optimize and detect errors in your theme code.

[Theme Check\
\
](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/theme-check/configuration)

[A command-line based linter for themes. Also offered as part of the Shopify Liquid Visual Studio Code extension.](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/theme-check/configuration)

[Liquid Prettier Plugin\
\
](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/liquid-prettier-plugin)

[Use the Liquid Prettier Plugin to format your Liquid and HTML in a consistent style.](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/liquid-prettier-plugin)

[Shopify Theme Inspector for Chrome\
\
](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/theme-inspector)

[Profile and debug your Liquid template performance with this extension for Chrome Developer Tools.](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/theme-inspector)

[Lighthouse CI\
\
](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/lighthouse-ci)

[Ensure that your theme is performant by using the Lighthouse CI GitHub Action.](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/lighthouse-ci)

[LiquidDoc\
\
](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/liquid-doc)

[Enable enhanced tooling features for Liquid snippets.](https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/liquid-doc)

***

## Tools for learning Liquid

The following tools help you to learn and write Liquid.

[Imagery\
\
](https://cdn.shopify.com/)

[Learn how to write image tags, and understand how images are dynamically transformed with Imagery.](https://cdn.shopify.com/)

***