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Build with Sidekick

Customize Manifest with Sidekick in the theme editor

Change settings, add Manifest's sections and fill in blocks by asking. Six habits that make it work every time, with what Sidekick did in our tests, step by step.

Zack Lam
Authored by Zack LamFounder, doTask
WhereOnline Store → Themes → Customize → the Sidekick button at the top.

In the theme editor, Sidekick changes what you'd otherwise click: it hides and adds sections, changes Theme settings, picks products, fills in text and removes what you don't want. Each change shows in the preview straight away, and nothing reaches your store until you click Save. We tested every example below on Manifest in September 2026.

Open it

  1. In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store, Themes, and click Customize beside Manifest. Try a copy first (… button, Duplicate).
  2. Click the Sidekick button at the top right, or press ⌘ and . together (Ctrl and . on Windows). The panel opens on the right and asks Where should we begin?
  3. Type in Work with Sidekick at the foot of the panel and press Enter.

How a change looks

Theme editor

Hide the Announcement bar.

The Announcement bar marked hidden in the section list, Sidekick's reply in the panel, and the Save button now active
1: The section, now marked hidden. 2: What Sidekick did. 3: Save lights up: nothing is on your store until you click it.
TipSidekick may say a change is "now hidden on your storefront". It isn't until you click Save. Until then, the undo arrow at the top (or ⌘Z) steps back one change at a time.

1. Say "the theme's … section"

Ask for a comparison table and Sidekick may reply that your theme doesn't have one and offer to write new code. Manifest does have one. Name it as the theme's section and say not to generate code, and Sidekick adds Manifest's own section, with all its settings.

Theme editor

Add the theme's Comparison table section under the hero. Don't generate code.

2. Click what you mean first

Sidekick works on whatever is selected: its name shows as a small label above the message box. Click a section or block in the preview or the list, then ask. It can fill in text and pick products, collections and pages.

Theme editor, with the Comparison table selected

In this Comparison table, choose three of my snowboards as the Products, and set the heading to 'Which board is yours?'

A Comparison table with its heading changed and three snowboards chosen, highlighted in purple, and Sidekick's summary
1: The new heading, in purple. 2: The three products it chose. 3: Sidekick lists what it did.

3. For Theme settings, close the block first

With a block still selected, Sidekick can mix things up. In our test it changed the Button shape and Corner radius in Theme settings correctly, but said it had changed "the button on this Slide". Close the block (the × at the top of its settings) before asking for store-wide changes, and check under Theme settings: changed groups have a purple dot.

Theme settings, Corners open, with Corner radius 0 and Button shape Square in purple, and Sidekick's reply mentioning a slide
1: A Slide was still selected. 2: The Theme settings did change: Corners has a purple dot. 3: Sidekick's description was wrong.

4. Add a section, click Save, then add its blocks

Sidekick can't add blocks to a section it has only just added. It says the section doesn't accept that block, which isn't true. Click Save after adding the section, and the same request works.

Sidekick saying it keeps being rejected when adding a Row block to a Comparison table it had just added
1: Before saving, Sidekick couldn't add a Row to the new Comparison table. After Save, it could.

5. Add a block, then fill it in

When Sidekick adds a block, it usually leaves the block's example text as it is, even when its reply says it filled it in. The new block is selected afterwards, so a second, short request fills it in.

Theme editor, with the new block selected

In this Quote block, set Quote to 'Best board I've owned.' and Author to 'Sam'.

A Quote block with its Quote and Author filled in, highlighted in purple, and Quote shown above the message box
1: The selected block Sidekick is working on. 2: The text it filled in, in purple.

6. Believe the preview, not the reply

Sidekick's replies are sometimes wrong: it has said "All done!" after removing rows it was asked to replace, and mentioned a row that didn't exist. Before you save, look at the preview and at the section list on the left.

Undo, Discard and Save

  • The undo arrow (or ⌘Z) steps back one change at a time. It can go back past your last save, so watch the preview as you click.
  • To throw away everything since your last save, click the exit arrow at the top left and choose Leave page.
  • Save puts the changes on your theme. On your live theme, that's your store, straight away.

Use Manifest's names

Sidekick finds settings by their names, so use the ones the editor shows. The ones people ask about most:

  • Theme settings: Primary and Display font, Heading weight, Base text size, Page width, Space between sections (Compact, Normal, Roomy), Corner radius, Button shape (Pill, Rounded, Square), Use animations.
  • Colors: color schemes 1 to 6 in Theme settings, Colors, and each section's Color scheme.
  • Product cards: Image shape, Show second image on hover, Show specs and pack size, Show subtitle, Sale badge.
  • Sections: Hero, Collection tiles, Range tabs, Featured collection, Comparison table, Editorial, Statement, Story, Page tabs, Image steps, Lookbook, Before and after, Testimonials, Trust badges, People cards, FAQ, Help center, Gallery, Ingredients, Numbers, Scrolling logos, Scrolling text, Flexible section.
  • Header group: Announcement bar and Header. Overlays: Popup and Age verifier.

What to do yourself

  • Choose photos and videos in image and video settings.
  • Connect settings to product fields with the database icon. See Show different details on each product.
  • Menus live in Content, Menus in your admin, outside the editor.
  • Anything Sidekick gets wrong twice: do it by hand. Each section's guide in this help center shows how.
TipAsk Sidekick questions too, such as "What does Range tabs do?" or "Which section shows a row of logos?". It reads the theme's settings and their help text.