Section blocks not updating using shopify theme dev

Technical Q&A

Topic summary

A developer is experiencing sync issues when using shopify theme dev for local theme development. While file changes show as synced in the terminal (e.g., “Synced » update sections/announcement-bar.liquid”), the customization components in the Shopify theme editor don’t reflect these updates unless code is pushed or edited directly in the online code editor.

Current Workarounds:

  • Save files locally, then refresh the Shopify theme preview and wait for updates to appear
  • Restart npm run dev after changes (acknowledged as time-consuming)

Status: The issue remains unresolved with no ideal solution identified. Multiple users express frustration with this development workflow, particularly for CSS changes, with one considering reverting to traditional stylesheet editing with data attributes instead of relying on the live sync feature.

Summarized with AI on October 25. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

I have been trying to find a way to preview changes to the section blocks after I save the files locally. When using

shopify theme dev

I get

  • 20:46:24 Synced » update sections/announcement-bar.liquid

but the actual customization components don’t updated unless I either push the code or use the code editor on the website. Is there a way to do this? It makes tinkering with the customization features hard.

When I say customization components I mean when I go to my store and click themes and scroll down to my development duplicate and click customize those components do not sync with the changes I make locally on my machine. I figured since its constantly in sync with that copy of the store the changes should be there no? Id really appreciate the help.

1 Like
2

Hi @dylancam90

It does takes a while to update. What I usually do is when I save the file in my IDE. I go to the Shopify theme, and refresh it. Wait for awhile, and preview the theme.

Other option is to run npm run dev again. I know it is time consuming but I don’t think there is a better way. I would surely glad to hear if there is any

3

This is a terrible dev experience. It’s driving me crazy. If every time I change something in css I’ve to wait X amount of time, then I prefer to go back to css files and style the stylesheet completely. I will just use data attrbutes.