Content Merge

Overview

The Content Merge block combines your GitHub repository code with live Shopify theme customisations. This prevents overwriting changes made directly in the Shopify admin (theme editor, content, settings).

When to Use Content Merge

Use it when:

• Your store has active theme customisations (content, sections, settings)
• Multiple people edit the theme (some in code, some in admin)
• You want to preserve Shopify-made changes during deployment

Skip it when:

• Your theme is entirely code-managed
• You’re doing a clean reset/deploy
• You’re deploying to a development or test theme

How It Works

1. Fetches live theme from Shopify (current state with all admin changes)
2. Fetches your code from GitHub (latest commit)
3. Merges intelligently:
   • .liquid files: GitHub version wins (your code)
   • settings_data.json: Merges changes (preserves admin settings)
   • *.json templates: GitHub version wins
   • Assets: GitHub version wins
4. Outputs merged result ready for deployment

Configuration

Setting	Description	Example
Store handle	Your store’s myshopify.com domain	mystore.myshopify.com
Theme ID	Source theme to merge from	123456789

Finding Your Theme ID

1. In Shopify Admin, go to Online Store → Themes
2. Click ”…” on the theme you want to use
3. Click “Edit code”
4. The theme ID is in the URL: .../themes/123456789/...

Workflow Placement

Content Merge typically goes between Checkout and Deploy:

Checkout → Content Merge → Deploy

Or with a backup first:

Checkout → Backup → Content Merge → Deploy

Comparison: Content Merge vs Direct Deploy

Scenario	With Content Merge	Direct Deploy
Admin changed banner text	✅ Preserved	❌ Overwritten
Developer updated header.liquid	✅ Applied	✅ Applied
New section added in admin	✅ Preserved	❌ Overwritten
Clean slate deployment	⚠️ Extra step	✅ Faster

Limitations

• Cannot merge binary assets (images, fonts) — these are replaced
• Large themes (>100MB) may timeout during merge

Troubleshooting

“Content merge failed”

• Verify theme ID is correct and the theme exists
• Check store credentials are valid (reconnect if needed)

“Settings conflict detected”

• This is a warning, not an error
• The merge continues with the prefer-github strategy
• Review your settings_data.json after deploy

Plan Availability

Available on all plans (Free, Starter, Growth, Scale).