Shopify automation updates

Mechanic Additions

Follow the Mechanic updates behind advanced Shopify automation: platform improvements, builder tools, integrations, AI support, docs, and task examples as they ship.

Release log

A running log for meaningful Mechanic updates.

Product changes, docs, and task examples appear here when they are useful for people building with Mechanic. Some are platform-level, some improve task building, and some help you start from a stronger example.

Latest

Recent Mechanic updates

Product updates, docs, and examples for people building beyond Shopify's defaults.

Run visibility Local workflow Shop-level secrets Cleaner events Connected services

Build notes

What changed

The notes below stay close to the product surface: what changed, where it shows up in Mechanic, and which docs or examples help you use it.

Workflow

Build, preview, publish, and monitor from your own tools.

The Mechanic CLI pulls tasks into Git-friendly JSON files, so you can edit Liquid in your own editor, preview changes against your shop without saving, review diffs, and publish when you mean to. Shop status reports waiting runs, queue lag, and top contributors — in your terminal, or as JSON for Datadog, Cronitor, and friends.

  • Pull, preview, diff, publish
  • Git-friendly task files
  • Queue + lag monitoring
  • GitHub Actions templates

Configuration

Keep shared values and credentials out of task code.

Globals are shop-level values any task can read with globals.foo. Secrets are write-only once saved: secrets.foo gives a task a signed reference that resolves only where the value is actually needed — HTTP requests, OAuth calls, HMAC filters — while logs, previews, and exports stay redacted.

  • Shop-level globals
  • Write-only secrets
  • Redacted in logs + previews
  • Secret-aware task options

Signals

Filter Shopify webhooks before tasks receive them.

For advanced cases, custom Shopify webhooks let tasks receive the Shopify events they actually need: filtered at the source, trimmed to the fields that matter, optionally including selected metafields, and routed onto a user/... topic you control.

  • Shopify-side filters
  • Smaller payloads
  • Selected metafields
  • user/... topics

Task runs

Turn manual runs into guided workflows.

Task options now support richer field types like dates, times, colors, ranges, choices, and Shopify resource pickers. User forms bring those fields to Run buttons, single-task manual runs, and Shopify admin action links so the task gets the right input up front.

  • Richer option types
  • Resource pickers
  • User-form runs
  • Required fields

Help

Ask Mechanic without leaving the task.

Ask Mechanic can answer product questions, find task examples, check Shopify API context, validate GraphQL, and review pasted code, task exports, or log excerpts.

  • Docs answers
  • Task examples
  • Pasted code + logs
  • GraphQL context

AI tools

Let your AI tools understand Mechanic.

Mechanic docs and task-library patterns can now travel into the tools builders already use. The MCP server gives AI tools access to tasks and docs, while the task-writer skill teaches Mechanic-specific patterns for subscriptions, preview mode, GraphQL, and importable task JSON.

  • MCP server
  • Agent Skills
  • Claude, Cursor, Codex, Gemini

Connected services

Connect tasks to Airtable, Slack, and Google.

Connect Airtable, Slack, and Google accounts in Mechanic, then use tasks to post messages, update bases, and work with Google Drive or Sheets files.

  • Connected accounts
  • Airtable
  • Slack
  • Google Drive + Sheets

Builder tools

More controls for building and updating tasks.

Declare Shopify permissions directly, use keyboard shortcuts, and keep GraphQL-in-Liquid docs and migration examples close at hand while building or refreshing tasks.

  • Permissions tag
  • Keyboard shortcuts
  • GraphQL examples
  • Run-page inputs

Working examples

Start from task examples for real Shopify operations.

The task library includes practical patterns for connected services, analytics, merchandising, order controls, and shipping operations, so builders can start from working examples instead of a blank editor.

  • Integration examples
  • ShopifyQL patterns
  • Order + shipping automations
  • GraphQL refreshes

Mechanic

Build custom Shopify automation with Mechanic.

Mechanic is the platform behind these updates. Learn how it works, or install it from the Shopify App Store.