Theme Blocks and Liquid’s New Block and Partial Tags
Shopify theme architecture has been moving in one direction for a while: smaller, reusable pieces that merchants can rearrange in the theme editor without calling a developer. Theme blocks are the current stage of that journey. In July 2026 Shopify also put a developer preview in front of theme builders that goes a step further. This article separates what you can rely on today from what is still experimental.
Theme blocks: the stable part
Historically, blocks belonged to one section. A block defined inside a slideshow section could only be used in that slideshow. Theme blocks change this. They are Liquid files stored in a blocks folder at the theme root, each with its own markup and its own schema. Because they belong to the theme rather than to a single section, the same block can appear in many sections, and blocks can be nested inside other blocks.
A few practical rules from Shopify’s documentation:
- A block needs at least one preset before it shows up in the editor’s block picker.
- A section either defines its own blocks or accepts theme blocks. It cannot do both.
- To accept theme blocks, a section renders them with the content_for tag and lists the wildcard theme entry in its schema.
- Targeting lets you restrict which blocks can be added where, which keeps merchants from building layouts that break.
- Blocks can read their own block object, their parent section and global objects, but they do not receive variables the way a snippet does.
Shopify’s merchant-facing help page adds some numbers that are useful when planning a design: up to 25 sections and 1,250 blocks per template, and nesting that can reach eight levels. The number of blocks per section is up to the theme designer.
Designing blocks that stay usable
Shopify’s theme best-practice guidance warns against going too granular. Splitting every little attribute into its own block adds code and makes the editor sidebar harder to read. Related details, such as an author name, a date and a comment count, are usually better as one block or as settings. The same guidance suggests grouping hierarchical elements, for instance a single block that controls cart line items.
For small stores this translates into a simple test. If a merchant would never want to move, hide or repeat an element on its own, it probably should not be a block.
The July 2026 developer preview
On 21 July 2026 Shopify’s changelog announced the Liquid July ’26 developer preview. It introduces two tags:
- The block tag renders a reusable theme block directly from a template. You name the block, pass its inputs and supply body content, in a way that resembles the familiar render tag.
- The partial tag defines a named region of server-rendered HTML that JavaScript can refresh without reloading the whole page.
The idea is that the structure of a page can live in a single Liquid template instead of being spread across a JSON template, section files and snippets. Shopify describes this as easier to read and edit for developers and for coding agents alike. Alongside it, Theme Check 3.28.0 adds rules for these Liquid-first themes, flagging things like syntax errors, excessive complexity, oversized files, invalid schemas and mismatches between block arguments and their documentation declarations.
To try it, you need a development store with the preview enabled. Shopify points to a release candidate of its skeleton theme as a starting point, or you can add the tags to your own theme.
What not to do yet
Three cautions apply.
- It is a preview. Behaviour may change, and the changelog does not give a date for general availability. Do not rebuild a live store around it.
- Nothing is being taken away. Shopify says existing themes with sections, theme settings and JSON templates continue to work; the new model is added alongside them.
- Interpretations are opinions. A commentary from the agency On Tap Group argues that single-file pages will make themes faster to build and cheaper to maintain, and that the partial tag resembles partial hydration in frameworks such as Astro. Those are the author’s views, not Shopify statements, though they are a reasonable way to think about the direction.
A practical path for store owners and developers
If you own a store, the takeaway is modest. Choose themes built on theme blocks, because they give you more freedom in the editor and fewer requests for custom development. Ask your developer whether the theme you are buying or commissioning uses a blocks folder, as Shopify’s help page recommends checking.
If you build themes, spend an afternoon on a development store with the preview enabled. Port one small page, such as an about page or a landing page, and compare it with the equivalent JSON-and-sections setup. Keep your production themes on the stable architecture until the tags are generally available.
If you want a ready-made starting point, browse our themes; if a particular store needs custom sections or blocks, see our services.