Getting started with Shopify CLI

Shopify CLI helps you build Shopify themes and apps. It quickly generates Node.js apps, Ruby on Rails apps, and Shopify themes. It also automates many common development tasks.

This documentation explains how to use Shopify CLI for theme development. To learn how to use Shopify CLI for app development, see Shopify CLI for apps.

Before you start

Before you start using Shopify CLI to develop themes, make sure that you do the following tasks:

• Install Shopify CLI.
• If you want to use a development store to build a theme, then create or log in to a Shopify Partner account, and then create a development store.
• Make sure that you have a collaborator account or a staff account with the the Manage themes permission or Themes permission for the store that you want to work on, or you're the owner of the store.
• Note the URL of the store that you want to work on.
• Make sure that you're connected to the internet. Most Shopify CLI commands need an internet connection to run.

Authenticate

Use shopify login to connect Shopify CLI with the store that you want to work on.

You can log into a development store or a Shopify store. You need to have collaborator access to the store, or be a staff member or owner of the store. To switch between stores that you have access to, use shopify switch.

1. In a terminal, type shopify login --store <DOMAIN>, where <DOMAIN> is the store that you want to log into:

2. In your browser window, log into the account that's attached to the store that you want to use for development.

Create a new theme

Use shopify theme init to create a new theme on your local machine. This command clones a Git repository to your local machine to use as the starting point for building a theme. By default, this command creates a copy of Dawn, Shopify's example theme.

To start cloning a theme, run the following command. You're prompted to enter a title for your theme, which also acts as the name of the directory.

Use an existing theme

If you want to use an existing local theme for development, then navigate to the theme's directory on your local machine using cd [path/to/theme]. Any Shopify CLI theme command that you run uses the theme in that directory.

To use an existing remote theme, use one of the following options:

• Pull the theme onto your local machine using shopify theme pull. You're prompted to select a theme from the list of themes on the store.
• If your theme is in GitHub, use shopify theme init and specify the remote URL using the --clone-url flag.

Populate test data

Use shopify populate <object> to populate example data, such as products, customers, or draft orders, to test your theme's behavior.

To populate test data, run the following command, specifying the type of data that you want to add:

The output is similar to the following:

Preview, test, and share your theme

After you create or navigate to your theme, you can run shopify theme serve to interact with the theme in a browser. Shopify CLI uploads the theme as a development theme on the store that you're connected to, and returns the following:

• A link to your development theme at http://127.0.0.1:9292. This URL hot reloads local changes to CSS and sections, allowing you to preview changes in real time using the store's data. This preview is available only in Google Chrome.
• A link to the online store editor for the theme.
• A preview link that you can share with others.

To serve your theme, run the following command:

The output is similar to the following:

Lint your theme's code

Use shopify theme check to analyze your code for errors and ensure that it follows theme and Liquid best practices. Learn more about the checks that Theme Check runs.

To run theme check against the current theme, run the following command.

The output is similar to the following:

Push your theme to your store

Use shopify theme push to upload your local theme files to Shopify, overwriting the remote versions. You're prompted to select the theme to overwrite from the list of the themes in your store. Use the --unpublished flag to upload the theme to the theme library without overwriting an existing theme.

Publish your theme

Use shopify theme publish to select and publish an unpublished theme from your theme library. If you want to publish your local theme, then you need to run shopify theme push first.

Find your theme ID

You might want to use a theme's ID to pull, push, publish, or delete a theme using Shopify CLI.

When you serve, push, or publish a theme, the theme's ID is listed in the response:

You can also find the ID of a theme in any URLs related to editing or previewing the theme:

Next steps

• Build and customize your themes faster using component-based Liquid examples.
• Use the Liquid Cheat Sheet as a quick reference while you build your themes.
• Access our comprehensive Liquid reference for detailed documentation on Liquid tags, objects, and filters.
• Read the complete reference documentation for core and theme-specific Shopify CLI commands.