Your First Workflow

Overview

A workflow is a visual pipeline that defines how your theme code moves from GitHub to your Shopify store(s). This guide walks you through creating your first deployment workflow.

What is a Workflow?

A workflow consists of:

• Blocks: Individual steps (e.g., checkout code, merge content, deploy)
• Connections: How data flows between blocks
• Configuration: Settings for each block (target store, theme ID, etc.)

Creating a Basic Workflow

Depending on your plan, when you load a new workflow, you may see different default blocks. The free plan includes only the basic blocks, while paid plans include additional blocks like backup.

Step 1: Open the Workflow Builder

1. In the Deployify app, click Workflows in the sidebar
2. Click “Create Workflow”

Step 2: Select Your Repository

1. Choose the connected GitHub repository (if more than one is connected)
2. Select the branch you want to deploy from

Step 3: Add Workflow Blocks

A minimal deployment workflow needs:

Checkout Block (Auto-added)

• Pulls your code from GitHub
• No configuration needed

Content Merge Block (Auto-added)

• Merges live Shopify theme customizations with your repository code
• Configuration:
  • Store handle: Your store’s myshopify.com domain (e.g., mystore.myshopify.com)
  • Theme ID: The theme to merge from

Deploy Block (Auto-added)

• Pushes the merged code to Shopify
• Configuration:
  • Store handle: Target store
  • Theme ID: Target theme (can be existing or new)

Caution

On paid plans, the default workflow includes the backup block. If on the free plan be sure to backup your target theme(s) before deploying.

Step 4: Save and Test

1. Click “Save Workflow”
2. Give your workflow a name (e.g., “development-deploy”)
3. Click “Run Now” to test manually

Understanding Workflow Execution

When you run a workflow:

1. Checkout: Fetches latest code from GitHub
2. Backup: Creates a backup of the target theme (only on paid plans)
3. Content Merge: Combines live Shopify changes with your repo
4. Deploy: Pushes result to target store/theme
5. Logs: Real-time execution logs appear in the panel

Automatic Deployment (Push-to-Deploy)

Enable automatic deployment on every Git push:

1. Open your workflow
2. Toggle “Auto-deploy on push” and Save your workflow

Now every push to your selected branch triggers the workflow automatically.

Troubleshooting

“Failed to save workflow”

• Ensure all required block configurations are filled
• Check that store handles are valid myshopify.com domains
• Verify theme IDs are numeric (found in Shopify admin URL)

“Deployment failed”

• Check execution logs for specific error messages
• Common issues: invalid store credentials, theme ID doesn’t exist