SHOPIFY·APR 18·11 MIN
Shopify sections vs blocks: when each one wins
A decision rubric for shopify sections vs blocks. Four forks, three recent theme builds, and where each schema shape quietly breaks down at scale.
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Topical cluster
DTC Shopify Infrastructure
The engineering decisions behind a DTC store that scales past the Dawn-theme ceiling. Metafield-driven sections, agent-orchestrated theme builds, headless-or-not decision frameworks, and the tradeoffs nobody writes about until the rebuild is already in flight.
12 postsFor: DTC founders and in-house engineers rebuilding a $2M+ storefront
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SHOPIFY·APR 8·13 MIN
The six-block PDP conversion framework for DTC Shopify
Six blocks in a fixed order for DTC Shopify product pages. The PDP conversion framework most brands past 2M converge on once the theme is rebuilt.
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SHOPIFY·MAR 26·10 MIN
Setting a performance budget for a DTC Shopify theme
The shopify performance budget I set on DTC theme builds: LCP, INP, JS, CSS, images, and fonts with the numbers and why each ceiling matters.
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SHOPIFY·MAR 26·12 MIN
Shopify Admin API rate limits without melting the bucket
A working backoff pattern for Shopify Admin API rate limits: REST + GraphQL cost math, retry-after handling, and where the queue belongs.
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SHOPIFY·MAR 16·8 MIN
Claude Code skills I use for day-to-day Shopify work
Six Claude Code skills I actually use on DTC Shopify theme work: section scaffolds, metafield migrations, CAPI wiring, and rate-limit backoffs.
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SHOPIFY·MAR 13·13 MIN
Shopify cart drawer upsells without breaking CAPI
A field-tested Shopify cart drawer upsell pattern that keeps Meta CAPI dedup intact: shared event_ids, server-side AddToCart, and app-layer guardrails.
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SHOPIFY·FEB 23·10 MIN
A Shopify development loop that pairs with Claude Code agents
A 12-month retrospective on a Shopify dev loop that pairs with agents: what worked, what didn't, and the rhythm I run when an AI writes the first pass.
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SHOPIFY·FEB 3·12 MIN
Migrating legacy Shopify content to metafields
A step-by-step Shopify metafield migration: inventory the legacy content, define the schema, bulk-write via Admin API, and switch the theme without downtime.
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SHOPIFY·JAN 31·9 MIN
Shopify Hydrogen vs Liquid in 2026: honest tradeoffs
An honest decision log on Shopify Hydrogen vs Liquid in 2026: where headless still wins, where Liquid quietly won, and how to pick without regret.
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SHOPIFY·JAN 11·14 MIN
A cross-browser video section for Shopify themes
A shopify video section cross browser walkthrough: the IntersectionObserver pattern that makes Safari, Chrome, and Firefox all behave without third-party deps.
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SHOPIFY·JAN 11·12 MIN
Hitting Core Web Vitals on a DTC Shopify theme
A step-by-step walkthrough for hitting green Shopify Core Web Vitals on DTC: LCP under 2s, CLS near zero, and the third-party script diet that gets you there.
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Why this matters.
Most DTC stores hit a structural ceiling around $2-3M in annual revenue. The symptoms are familiar: page weight creep from a dozen apps, theme code that nobody can read, PDP variants encoded as string handles, and a checkout funnel that breaks every time marketing tries to launch a bundle. The fix is not switching to Hydrogen. The fix is metafield-driven section architecture, a stricter component contract between theme and apps, and a build process that lets one operator ship sections without breaking the cart.
This cluster documents the patterns I use when a $2M+ store comes in for an architecture review or rebuild. Metafield schema design that survives a product-line expansion. Section settings that map cleanly to Shopify's editor without leaking complexity. App removal checklists that find the leftover script tags and snippets a five-second uninstall leaves behind. Decisions about when Hydrogen actually earns its complexity (rare, but not never).
If you run engineering on a Shopify store and you can feel the architecture working against you, start with the hub article, then walk the metafield and theme-cleanup pieces before the next sprint.
Put this to work
Theme architecture, metafields, agent-orchestrated builds, Hydrogen decisions.
> See the Shopify Theme StarterOther clusters
Attribution
Attribution & CAPI
Server-side tracking, dedup, and the math behind DTC attribution.
Healthcare
Healthcare & Compliance
HIPAA-aware Next.js, audit trails, and regulated DTC patterns.
Solo brand
Creative-Tech Solo Brand
The hybrid creative-director-who-codes operating system.
Pricing
Services Business & Pricing
Productizing services, pricing strategy, and the retainer exit.
Lifecycle
Email & Lifecycle Marketing
Klaviyo flow architecture, retention math, and the LTV playbook.
Agents
AI Agent Engineering
Claude Code sub-agents, MCP servers, skills, and the orchestration stack.
Analytics
Analytics & Data Infrastructure
GA4, BigQuery, and the warehouse-first analytics rebuild.
Conversion
Ecommerce Conversion & UX
PDP patterns, cart decisions, checkout extensions, and the CRO stack.
Programmatic SEO
Programmatic SEO & Content Ops
Scaling content without burning author brand authority.
Paid Social
Paid Social Performance
Meta, TikTok, and Google Ads for DTC operators who also own the data.
Brand
Brand Architecture & Design Systems
Visual identity, naming ladders, and design systems that scale with the business.
Shopify Apps
Shopify App Ecosystem
Selecting, configuring, and replacing the third-party stack on Shopify.
Fractional
Fractional Ops & Service Leadership
Running a high-leverage fractional practice without becoming an agency.
Image AI
Local AI Image Generation
Running Flux, Z-Image, and Qwen locally without the cloud-API bill.
Let’s fix
some problems.
Three short steps below. I read all of these, it’s just me on the inbox. Usually you get a real reply within a day, sometimes the same day if I’m at the desk.
or email direct hello@michaeldishmon.com
01 / 03WHAT YOU NEED
$ cat lead.json | mail -s 'new signal' michael
