Shopify Sidekick Integrations: Apps, Use Cases, and Tolstoy

Quick answer: Sidekick integrations bring app context into Shopify conversations

Shopify Sidekick integrations let supported apps surface their data and safe, scoped workflows inside Sidekick. Instead of opening every app to look for a campaign, return, review, promotion, or storefront project, a merchant can ask Sidekick a question in everyday language and approve the relevant app for that conversation.

• Data extensions help Sidekick search app data and answer with app-specific context.
• Action extensions can take the merchant to the right app screen and stage a supported change for review.
• Approval stays explicit: Shopify says Sidekick asks before using an installed app, and activation lasts for the current conversation.
• The current guide lists 18 apps: they span marketing, customer experience, promotions, products, and store operations.
• Tolstoy’s integration adds visual-content context: it is designed to help merchants find Tolstoy media and inspect Player and AI Widgets projects from Sidekick.

Availability note: Tolstoy’s Sidekick integration is in pre-release as of August 7, 2026. The Shopify app extension still requires publication before merchants can use it in Sidekick.

How do Shopify Sidekick integrations work?

Shopify Sidekick is the AI commerce assistant built into Shopify admin. It can analyze store data, edit supported Shopify resources, create content, generate simple internal apps, and guide merchants through operational tasks. Shopify presents proposed changes for review before they take effect.

Sidekick is Shopify’s native assistant. If you are trying to connect an external assistant instead, our ChatGPT and Shopify integration guide covers that separate workflow.

Sidekick App Extensions connect selected data and workflows from installed apps. According to Shopify’s developer documentation, Sidekick can search an app, answer with its context, and navigate the merchant to the right place.

“Works with Sidekick” describes a scoped extension, not unlimited app access. Each developer defines the available data or actions. Shopify currently limits Sidekick integrations to 20 apps per user on a store.

Which apps work with Shopify Sidekick?

Shopify launched Sidekick App Extensions with more than 15 partners in Spring 2026 and opened the framework to any developer in its ecosystem. The official Apps that work with Sidekick guide currently lists the following apps as of August 7, 2026.

Use Shopify’s live guide as the source of truth because the list can change. An app appearing in the Shopify App Store does not automatically mean it has a Sidekick extension.

How do you use Sidekick with a third-party app?

To use one:

1. Install an app that supports Sidekick. Start with Shopify’s current Sidekick app guide or the app’s own release notes.
2. Open Sidekick in Shopify admin. Sidekick is available from the admin on desktop and mobile.
3. Ask for a job, not a feature. For example, ask “Which recent email campaigns had the highest click rate?” instead of “Use my marketing integration.”
4. Approve the app. Shopify’s Sidekick help documentation says the app is activated for the current conversation only.
5. Review the answer and follow the app link. For supported actions, inspect the proposed change before confirming it.

If several installed apps could answer the question, Shopify says Sidekick selects the most relevant one based on app capabilities and user preferences. A specific prompt helps. Include the object, timeframe, status, or channel you care about.

What should you check before relying on a Sidekick integration?

A useful extension handles a few recurring jobs cleanly. Check four things before relying on one:

• Clear objects: Can it identify a campaign, return, review, media asset, or storefront widget without a vague prompt?
• Enough context: Do results include names, status, dates, source, and a direct link?
• Tight permissions: Can the merchant inspect data without granting unnecessary write access?
• A useful handoff: Does the result open the exact app screen where specialized editing, approval, or reporting happens?

That last point is especially important for customer-facing content. A chat answer can find an asset or flag a draft. Creative quality, product accuracy, mobile presentation, and publication still deserve a deliberate review.

How the Tolstoy Sidekick integration works

Tolstoy’s pre-release Sidekick extension is store-scoped and read-only. It is intended for merchants who already use Tolstoy with Shopify and need to find visual content or check a storefront project’s status.

When released, Sidekick will be able to search the current store’s Tolstoy media and inspect projects from Tolstoy AI Player and AI Widgets. Results include concise metadata and a direct Tolstoy link so the merchant can open the right asset or project without hunting through the library.

Visual-content work often starts with a status check: what assets exist, which experiences are live, and where the newest draft lives. Sidekick can answer those questions while Tolstoy remains the place to create, edit, review, and publish the work.

What the Tolstoy integration does not do

The current Tolstoy Sidekick integration is intentionally read-only. It does not:

• generate or edit a video, image, gallery, Player widget, or AI Widget;
• publish a draft or change a live storefront experience;
• return data from another Shopify store or Tolstoy account;
• replace product, brand, legal, or creative review;
• prove that a widget or asset caused a conversion lift.

That scope keeps discovery fast without moving customer-facing changes out of Tolstoy or bypassing human approval.

A practical Sidekick and Tolstoy workflow

Use Sidekick to locate the work, then use Tolstoy to execute it:

1. Ask Sidekick what already exists. Search for relevant product videos, campaign images, galleries, or storefront widgets.
2. Check publication state. Separate live projects from drafts before planning a change.
3. Open the exact item in Tolstoy. Review the asset, widget configuration, product connections, and storefront placement.
4. Create or edit in the right workspace. Use Tolstoy to produce the customer-facing experience, then complete brand and product review.
5. Publish deliberately and measure the right outcome. Verify the live storefront and evaluate downstream shopping behavior rather than treating a chat answer or media view as conversion proof.

For a broader map of Shopify’s AI stack, read Shopify’s AI initiatives in 2026. If your immediate job is building a customer-facing module, see how to create custom Shopify PDP widgets with AI.

Use Sidekick to find the work; use Tolstoy to change it

Sidekick saves time when the request is specific: find the campaign, check the return, inspect the review, locate the asset, or open the right project.

For Tolstoy users, the handoff is explicit. Sidekick shows what exists and its status. Tolstoy handles the creative and publishing work that comes next.

Explore Tolstoy for Shopify to create shoppable videos, manage visual media, and publish storefront widgets.

Sources and update note

This guide was checked on August 7, 2026. Shopify’s supported-app list and Sidekick capabilities can change, so verify availability before making a rollout plan.

• Shopify Help Center: Sidekick
• Shopify Help Center: Use Sidekick with third-party apps
• Shopify developer docs: Sidekick app extensions
• Shopify App Store: Apps that work with Sidekick
• Shopify Spring ’26 developer release