Building a workflow automation used to take 30 minutes. Now it takes three.
Four updates to Shopify Flow have changed the full automation journey from building to testing to fixing. AI creates workflows from plain language descriptions. Testing shows execution paths without touching real data. You can cancel failing runs instantly, and the redesigned editor fits more on the screen.
The result: automation that’s accessible to everyone, whether you’re building your first simple workflow or managing dozens of complex ones. What took 30 minutes now takes three. What felt risky now feels safe.
Build Workflows by Describing What You Want
Tell Sidekick what you want to automate –“Tag customers as VIP when they place an order over $200” – and watch as it builds a workflow in seconds: trigger, condition, action, ready to review.
Building this automation manually meant navigating through Flow’s interface to select “Order created” from a trigger dropdown, configuring a condition to check order value, and adding a tag action. The steps weren’t complex, but they took time. Sidekick removes this friction by translating plain language into Flow’s technical logic.
Say you want to track when product inventory runs low. You open Flow, click the Sidekick icon, and type: “Create a workflow to email me when inventory for any variant drops below 5 for the first time” Sidekick generates the workflow in minutes. You review it in the Flow editor, the trigger is set to inventory level changes, the condition checks for quantities below 5, the email action includes your address. You make one adjustment (change “below 5” to “5 or fewer”), then activate. Total time: under three minutes.
How to use Sidekick to build workflows
- Install Flow and open it first. Sidekick can only build workflows when the Flow app is installed and open in your admin. Install Flow, then ask Sidekick to create your workflow.
- Be specific in your prompts. “Tag customers as VIP when they place an order over $200” works better than “tag VIP customers.” The former gives Sidekick a clear trigger, condition, and action. The latter leaves the AI guessing.
- Start with common automation patterns. Sidekick handles tagging, notifications, inventory alerts, and scheduled reports best. Complex multi-step conditional logic often needs refinement.
- Review before activating. Check that conditions match your intent. Verify comparison operators (greater than vs. greater than or equal to). Confirm data references are correct. You can also use the new test run feature to verify logic safely (more on that below).
New vertical layout makes it easier to build automations
Workflows now flow top-to-bottom. The redesigned Flow editor moves the configuration panel to the left. Sidekick stays on the right. You can now see your workflow, AI suggestions, and configuration settings simultaneously – no more panel juggling. Visual improvements include cleaner step card styling, more visible selection states, and improved spacing between steps.
Say you’re building a 12-step abandoned cart recovery workflow while Sidekick suggests improvements. You see your workflow on the left, Sidekick suggestions on the right, and the configuration panel slides out when you click a step. No panel juggling. When the workflow becomes messy with steps scattered across the canvas, you click “Arrange workflow” and it auto-organizes into a clean vertical flow.
New workflows use vertical layout by default. Existing workflows can switch with the “Arrange workflow” button. In January 2026, all workflows will update to vertical automatically.
How to use the new Flow editor
- Switch existing workflows to vertical. Open any workflow, click “Arrange workflow” to auto-organize steps top-to-bottom.
- Use bulk selection to reorganize. Click the first step, hold Shift, click the last step, drag them together to move multiple steps at once.
Test workflows safely before going live
Flow’s new ‘test run’ feature shows exactly what a workflow will do before you activate it. The execution path lights up step-by-step as the preview runs using sample data. Each condition shows why it’s ‘true’ or ‘false’. Actions that would trigger appear in the preview without touching real orders, customers, or inventory. When the workflow reaches a step that would change something (send an email, update inventory, cancel an order), the preview stops. You see what would have happened. Nothing is changed in your store.
Say you’re building a fraud detection workflow with three risk levels. Low-risk orders process normally. Medium-risk orders get flagged for manual review. High-risk orders are cancelled and refunded automatically. You select sample orders representing each scenario, run the preview three times, and watch which path each order follows. All three branches work correctly. You activate with confidence.
How to test workflows safely
- Use realistic sample data. Test with orders, customers, or products that match your typical store data. Generic samples miss edge cases that reveal problems.
- Test all conditional branches. If your workflow has “if-then-else” logic, test both paths using different sample values to verify each branch works correctly.
- Check Liquid variable rendering. The preview shows what variables actually output. If customer.first_name renders blank, your data structure differs from expectations. Catch these errors before production.
- Test after every edit. Changed a condition threshold? Run the preview again to verify the new logic produces the intended result.
Stop failing workflows immediately
Workflow runs that fail now stop when you tell them to. Cancel runs individually or in bulk while they’re waiting or retrying. The queue clears in about 10 seconds.
This control matters most when integrations break. Say your shipping API goes offline midday. You have 200 orders waiting to fulfill, and each one triggers a workflow that calls that API. Without cancellation, those workflows retry for hours burning through API rate limits and cluttering your run history even after you deactivate the workflow. Now you can clear the queue in seconds, fix the API connection, and reactivate without the backlog of failed attempts still processing.
How to cancel workflow runs
- For a single failing run: Open the workflow’s run history, click the failing run, click “Cancel run.” The run stops within seconds and shows “Canceled” status.
- For bulk cancellations: Open run history, select multiple runs using checkboxes, click “Cancel runs” from the bulk actions menu.
- When deactivating a workflow: Click “Deactivate.” If in-progress runs exist, you’ll see a prompt asking whether to cancel them or let them complete.
- Remember: Canceling is free and doesn’t count against Flow operation limits.
Start automating
Automation used to feel complex, time-consuming, and risky. These updates change that. Open Shopify Flow, describe what you need in plain language, preview it to make sure it works, activate it.
Automation should be accessible to anyone running a business, not just those with time to learn technical tools. Tag your best customers. Get notified when inventory runs low. Send yourself daily summaries of what needs attention. These are basic business operations. The four updates make them easier to automate.
FAQs about Shopify Flow automation
Does Sidekick activate workflows automatically?
No. Sidekick generates the workflow and opens it in the Flow editor for your review. Nothing activates until you click “Activate.” You control when workflows go live.
Does Sidekick work with custom Shopify apps and integrations?
Sidekick can generate workflows using any trigger, condition, or action available in your Flow installation, including those from custom apps. If you’ve installed a third-party app that adds Flow actions (like Klaviyo, ShipStation, or custom integrations), Sidekick can reference them when building workflows. However, complex app-specific logic may require manual refinement after Sidekick generates the initial workflow structure.
What happens to workflows I built before the vertical layout update?
They continue working exactly as before. The layout change is visual only, it doesn’t affect workflow logic, triggers, conditions, or actions. You can switch existing workflows to vertical layout by clicking “Arrange workflow” in the editor. In January 2026, all workflows will automatically update to vertical layout.
Can I cancel a workflow run after it’s already completed some actions?
Yes, but only future actions stop. If a workflow has already sent an email or updated inventory before you click cancel, those actions can’t be undone. Canceling stops any remaining steps from executing. For workflows with multiple actions, check the run details to see which steps completed before the cancel request processed.
