Skip to main content

About admin UI extensions

UI extensions enable you to seamlessly integrate your app's functionality into the Shopify admin using blocks and actions. These UI extensions enable your app to embed workflows and UX on core admin pages while automatically matching the Shopify admin's look and feel. By giving merchants access to your app's functionality, without the need to navigate away from their current task, these UI extensions help merchants be more efficient and productive.

You can create UI extensions for actions and blocks by using UI Extensions and targeting the appropriate extension target. For the full list of admin pages that you can extend, refer to the extension target reference.


Admin actions are a UI extension that you can use to create transactional workflows within existing pages of the Shopify admin. Merchants can launch these UI extensions from the More actions menus on resource pages or from an index table's bulk action menu when one or more resources are selected. After the UI extensions are launched, they display as modals. After they're closed, the page updates with the changes from the action.

An example admin action UI extension.

Admin print actions are a special form of UI extension designed to let your app print documents from key pages in the Shopify admin. Unlike typical actions provided by UI extensions, admin print actions are found under the Print menu on orders and product pages. Additionally, they contain special APIs to let your app display a preview of a document and print it.

An example admin print action UI extension.

Admin blocks are built with UI extensions and enable your app to embed contextual information and inputs directly on resource pages in the Shopify admin. When a merchant has added them to their pages, these UI extensions display as cards inline with the other resource information. Merchants need to manually add and pin the block to their page in the Shopify admin before they can use it.

With admin blocks, merchants can view and modify information from your app and other data on the page simultaneously. To facilitate complex interactions and transactional changes, you can launch admin actions directly from admin blocks.

An example admin block UI extension on the product page showing created issues.

Follow the getting started tutorials to learn how to build UI extensions that display as admin action and admin blocks. These tutorials are designed to be completed together to illustrate how UI extensions complement one another, and how admin blocks and admin actions can be used together to build features for your app.


Anchor to Developer tools and resourcesDeveloper tools and resources



Was this page helpful?