Support intents for ui extensions by vividviolet · Pull Request #7134 · Shopify/cli

vividviolet · 2026-03-31T17:06:16Z

WHY are these changes introduced?

This change modernizes the UI extension asset handling system by replacing the legacy build_manifest approach with a new manifest.json-based system that supports additional asset types including intents.

Related https://github.com/shop/issues-admin-extensibility/issues/2274

WHAT is this pull request doing?

Adds support for intents field in extension point schemas with type, action, schema, name, and description properties
Adds Intents to the AssetIdentifier enum for asset handling
Updates UI extension build pipeline to use include_assets step instead of copy_static_assets, with support for tools, instructions, and intent schemas
Refactors extension payload generation to read from manifest.json instead of build_manifest, enabling better asset tracking with source file timestamps
Implements specialized handling for intents assets that transforms them into extension point-level properties with schema asset references
Updates tests to use the new manifest.json approach and adds comprehensive test coverage for intents, tools, and instructions assets

How to test your changes?

Create a UI extension with intents configuration in the extension points
Build the extension and verify manifest.json is generated with the correct asset references
Test the dev server payload includes properly formatted intents with schema asset URLs
Verify that tools and instructions assets are correctly handled through the new manifest system
Confirm that asset timestamps reflect source file changes rather than build output timestamps

Measuring impact

How do we know this change was effective? Please choose one:

n/a - this doesn't need measurement, e.g. a linting rule or a bug-fix

Checklist

I've considered possible cross-platform impacts (Mac, Linux, Windows)
I've considered possible documentation changes

vividviolet · 2026-03-31T17:06:41Z

Support assets for admin links app intents #7132
Support intents for ui extensions #7134 👈 (View in Graphite)
Add manifest generation to include_assets build step #7016 : 1 other dependent PR (#7017 )
Refactor extension build process to use modular build steps #6867 : 3 other dependent PRs (#6868 , #6869 , #7027 )
Add client steps implementation to support existing functionalities #6966 : 1 other dependent PR (#6941 )
Create abstract client steps infrastracture to externalize the ap modules client configurations #6965
main

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isaacroldan · 2026-04-09T10:40:01Z

packages/app/src/cli/services/dev/app-events/app-event-watcher.ts

+   * Run client steps that aren't handled by esbuild (e.g. include_assets).
+   * Skips bundle_ui since esbuild already handled it.
+   */
+  private async runPostEsbuildSteps(extension: ExtensionInstance): Promise<void> {


we need to find a better way to do this, @alfonso-noriega it makes sense for dev to execute this missing steps. Wonder how much we gain from having a custom esbuild for dev (in theory is faster because it uses contexts and only rebuilds what changed, not the whole extension)

I have an agent working on this, will have an independent PR solving this on monday morning

Thank you so much Isaac!

This PR should handle this: https://app.graphite.com/github/pr/Shopify/cli/7252

Include built assets in the manifest.json Allow serving static assets from the extensions directory

alfonso-noriega · 2026-04-13T12:26:32Z

packages/app/src/cli/models/extensions/specifications/ui_extension.ts

-      AssetIdentifier.Instructions,
+      'instructions',
    )
    if (missingInstructionsError) {


should we get something similar for schema property in the intents definition? validate that the path is there and it is right?

Oops, this is left over code from when we were not using client steps. I'm thinking this should be moved over to the client steps instead? Maybe we can support a required prop so the steps will throw if the asset is missing?

alfonso-noriega · 2026-04-13T12:30:33Z

packages/app/src/cli/services/dev/extension/server/middlewares.ts

-    return fileServerMiddleware(event, {
-      filePath: joinPath(buildDirectory, assetPath),
-    })
+    // Try the build output directory first (for compiled bundles), then fall back


if everything is working fine, the dev bundle should have the static assets and therfore this won't be needed, right?

We still will need this. The build directory is a local directory not the dev bundle directory. Assets are compiled locally and then copied over to the dev bundle. The Dev Server serves local assets and we create a timestamp for when the files are updated. If we switch to using the dev bundle then I believe the timestamp will be wrong since it re-creates the bundle every time. This will cause unnecessary updates for consumers.

alfonso-noriega · 2026-04-13T13:12:19Z

packages/app/src/cli/models/extensions/specifications/ui_extension.ts

+          type: 'include_assets',
+          config: {
+            generatesAssetsManifest: true,
+            builtAssets: {anchor: 'extension_points[]', groupBy: 'target', key: 'build_manifest'},


I think this should be also part of the inclusions, not on the top level. actually, i am wondering if it wouldn't work as a normal type configKey?

It doesn't work because the toml points to the raw module which we don't want to copy over. We need to the compiled asset copied over and there's no toml reference for that. The bundle_ui step already handles the building and copying. What we're missing is putting an entry for it inside the manifest.json for the generatesAssetsManifest step. If we can update bundle_ui to take ingeneratesAssetsManifestthat would work but right now the manifest.json does a replace only instead of each step adding to it.

alfonso-noriega mentioned this pull request Mar 31, 2026

Add manifest generation to include_assets build step #7016

Merged

5 tasks

This was referenced Mar 31, 2026

Add documentation for include_assets build step with manifest generation #7017

Closed

Support assets for admin links app intents #7132

Draft

vividviolet added the #gsd:49220 label Mar 31, 2026 — with Graphite App

isaacroldan force-pushed the 03-31-support_intents_for_ui_extensions branch from c65984a to bf92dc4 Compare April 1, 2026 08:53

isaacroldan force-pushed the add_manifest_to_include_files_step branch 2 times, most recently from 96d95ba to d8b0d4a Compare April 1, 2026 08:53

isaacroldan force-pushed the 03-31-support_intents_for_ui_extensions branch 2 times, most recently from 6e09feb to 5c1ddf1 Compare April 1, 2026 09:06

isaacroldan changed the base branch from add_manifest_to_include_files_step to graphite-base/7134 April 1, 2026 09:23

isaacroldan force-pushed the graphite-base/7134 branch from d8b0d4a to f042d96 Compare April 1, 2026 09:26

isaacroldan force-pushed the 03-31-support_intents_for_ui_extensions branch from 5c1ddf1 to 06dee38 Compare April 1, 2026 09:26

isaacroldan changed the base branch from graphite-base/7134 to add_manifest_to_include_files_step April 1, 2026 09:26

Base automatically changed from add_manifest_to_include_files_step to main April 1, 2026 10:00

isaacroldan force-pushed the 03-31-support_intents_for_ui_extensions branch from 06dee38 to 40bf3e5 Compare April 1, 2026 10:11

vividviolet force-pushed the 03-31-support_intents_for_ui_extensions branch 4 times, most recently from 8cc6cc8 to cc438ef Compare April 8, 2026 02:06

isaacroldan reviewed Apr 9, 2026

View reviewed changes

vividviolet force-pushed the 03-31-support_intents_for_ui_extensions branch from cc438ef to 91e9fca Compare April 10, 2026 04:53

vividviolet added 2 commits April 10, 2026 01:18

Support intents for ui extensions

5858aba

Fix dev issues with manifest generation and files copying

a6d5ab9

Include built assets in the manifest.json Allow serving static assets from the extensions directory

vividviolet force-pushed the 03-31-support_intents_for_ui_extensions branch from 91e9fca to a6d5ab9 Compare April 10, 2026 05:56

alfonso-noriega requested changes Apr 13, 2026

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Support intents for ui extensions#7134

Support intents for ui extensions#7134
vividviolet wants to merge 2 commits intomainfrom
03-31-support_intents_for_ui_extensions

vividviolet commented Mar 31, 2026 •

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vividviolet commented Mar 31, 2026 •

edited by isaacroldan

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vividviolet commented Mar 31, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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WHY are these changes introduced?

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vividviolet commented Mar 31, 2026 • edited by isaacroldan Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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vividviolet commented Mar 31, 2026 •

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vividviolet commented Mar 31, 2026 •

edited by isaacroldan

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