---
title: What is Sidekick and how can I use it?
url: https://support.troopthemes.com/faqs/what-is-sidekick-and-how-do-i-use-it/
---

# What is Sidekick and how can I use it with my theme?

**Sidekick** is Shopify's free, built-in AI assistant, included with every plan. It can answer questions, draft content, and inside the theme editor specifically, recommend design choices or write custom blocks for you. It's not a Troop feature, it's part of Shopify itself, but it works well alongside these themes.

## Where to find it

- **In the theme editor**: the icon in the top right of the toolbar, next to the device preview icon. Press `⌘.` (`Ctrl+.` on Windows) to open it from anywhere in the editor.
- **Elsewhere in Shopify admin**: the Sidekick icon in your admin, or go directly to `admin.shopify.com/sidekick`.

## What it's actually good for on a Troop theme

**Design decisions.** Describe your brand or the look you want, and it'll suggest colors, fonts, spacing, or button styles, previewed before anything is applied. Useful as a starting point, or a second opinion when you're stuck between two options.

> "Suggest a warm, earthy color palette for a candle store."

**One-off blocks.** On sections that support it, **Add block** → **Generate** turns a plain-language description into a working block (Liquid, HTML, CSS, and settings), previewed before you keep it. Good for something small a section doesn't already offer, without hiring a developer.

> "Add a block with an icon, a short heading, and a line of text for a shipping promise."

**Content drafting.** Blog posts, newsletter blurbs, FAQ copy, back-in-stock emails, rewriting default theme text in your brand's voice, Sidekick can draft all of these from a short description. Treat the result as a first draft, not final copy.

> "Write a short, warm newsletter blurb offering 10% off the first order."

## What to keep in mind

- It shows a preview and asks for confirmation before changing anything, you're always still in control.
- Generated blocks can have errors or accessibility issues, review before publishing. Shopify support won't debug what it generates, that's on you or a developer.
- Block generation isn't available on the Starter plan, and not every section supports it.

> **Info**
>
> Shopify's guides: [Sidekick overview](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/shopify-admin/productivity-tools/sidekick) and [generating theme blocks](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/themes/customizing-themes/theme-editor/shopify-magic/generate-blocks).

Every settings guide on this site also has its own "Ask Sidekick" section with a prompt tailored to that specific page, look for the icon next to the heading.