Author: Nadali. Prepared using AI.
On October 28, Shopify announced the Sidekick Launch API: an embedded app can open an assistant conversation and send an app-prepared prompt as the merchant’s message. Store owners should distinguish a button that opens an assistant from one that already sends text.
Availability and limits
The documentation limits this to the web admin, excluding Shopify’s mobile app; availability must be checked for the store. Launch must follow a merchant action. Store changes from such a prompt are only proposed: Sidekick can apply them after the merchant asks in their own message.
What to ask your team to check
Nadali’s editorial checklist:
- Ask the developer to show the exact text each button sends. A button label is not a substitute for that text.
- Agree the prompt’s purpose: explain a report, prepare a draft or propose an edit. Do not combine everything into one vague command.
- Check whether staff can understand which app initiated the conversation and whether its prompt matches their expectation.
- Separately decide who on the team may request that a proposed change be applied. Internal approval still matters when an action is technically available.
This is a proposed plan, not a completed test. An illustrative example: a manager clicks a report-explanation button and first checks the requested reporting period, rather than immediately accepting the conclusions. No measured time saving is claimed.
Takeaway: check what a button says, not just whether it opens a chat. Nadali has not tested a store, app or access settings.
Primary sources read November 2, 2026 UTC. The cover is a reused conceptual AI illustration of checking records, not the Shopify interface.