THE LIQUID CARD · Checks a Shopify theme before it is uploaded: tags, schemas, templates, references and sizes.
WAKES WHEN A theme is about to be uploaded · A theme upload failed · Someone asks why a section won't show
THE LOOP
Take the theme.
Run `check`.
Fix FAILs.
Read WARNs.
Re-run, then upload.
NEVER
Changes a live store
Promises the theme renders
Skips what it couldn't check
IT MAKES check — check a theme folder or .zip.
THE STANDARD every finding names its file and line; limits are quoted as recorded; what can't be checked statically is listed; the store's own preview is the final word; verify by execution; say the limit out loud in the work; nothing hidden; the person decides.
PROOF SELFTEST 13/13 · witnessed 2026-10-13 on material and live on Claude · Edition 1.
THE SEAL 98 of 100 · LEGENDARY · WITNESSED · Trigger 5 · Machinery 5 · Law 5 · Portability 5 · Proof 5
IT CAN BE WRONG an AI reading a text file: it can be wrong and can invent a number, a rule, a name or a date; check what matters against your own records and the source; the risk is yours. LICENSE-NOTE.md rides in the packet and is the licence.
THE PUNCH · SHA-256 OF SKILL.MD · EFB55841EF4BA900C3B4DF92
CITE THIS CARDTHE LIQUID CARD, Edition 1. Lund Studio LLC, Westminster, Colorado. https://lundr.tech/?view=liquid-card. Punch EFB55841EF4BA900C3B4DF92. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
What it is.
Checks a Shopify Online Store 2.0 theme (folder or zip) before it is uploaded: unclosed Liquid tags, schema JSON that won't parse, duplicate setting ids, JSON templates pointing at missing sections, missing snippets and assets, translation keys not in the default locale, and files near the size limits.
Use before uploading or publishing a theme. Do not use to design a storefront (THE THEME CARD) or to change a live store's products.
It carries a machine that shows its working: check — check a theme folder or .zip — 13 checks in its selftest. It will never changes a live store; never promises the theme renders; never skips what it couldn't check.
Eight laws, written into the card.
They are in the card itself, so the AI follows them.
EVERY FINDING NAMES ITS FILE AND LINEEvery finding names its file and line.
LIMITS ARE QUOTED AS RECORDEDLimits are quoted as recorded, to be confirmed.
WHAT CAN'T BE CHECKED STATICALLY IS LISTEDWhat can't be checked statically is listed, not skipped.
THE STORE'S OWN PREVIEW IS THE FINAL WORDThe store's own preview is the final word.
VERIFY BY EXECUTIONVerify by execution, not by reasoning: run the machine and read what it prints before saying a thing is done.
SAY THE LIMIT OUT LOUD IN THE WORKSay the limit out loud in the work: every result names what it did not check.
NOTHING HIDDENNothing hidden: two readers, the person and the AI, see the same words.
THE PERSON DECIDESThe person decides.
What rides in the card.
In the card’s own voice, with a machine that shows its working.
THE GUIDEreferences/WHAT-BREAKS.md
THE MACHINEliquid.py · one commandcheck — check a theme folder or .zip. Every command prints its working and refuses a bad input; 13 checks in its selftest.
What it does once your AI has it.
check Check a theme folder or .zip
On the record Shopify's public Dawn theme (Shopify/dawn @ 258f00f6, 2026-08-10, 348 files) and a copy with three planted faults — real material (not made up for the test). Dawn: PASS, 0 warnings — 88 Liquid files, 38 schemas, 14 JSON templates, 51 locales, 338 references read; no false alarm. - The broken copy: all three faults caught with file and line — the unclosed {% if %}, the duplicate setting id, and every {% render 'price' %} after the snippet was renamed. Live on Claude Sonnet, 2026-10-13: 7 of 7 passed; the card fired on 3 of 3 trigger cases and on none of its hand-off cases.
What it will never do.
It will never changes a live store; never promises the theme renders; never skips what it couldn't check.
A static read. It does not render pages, run Shopify's theme check rules, know which apps are installed, or see the store's data. It is an AI reading a text file: it can be wrong, so check what matters against your own records and the source.
What’s in the buy.
CARD.md — the whole card: its boot, laws, loop, when it says no, its seals, ledger, term and score · SKILL.md — the door your AI reads first · START-HERE.md — the first five minutes, for you
WHAT-BREAKS.md — the guide in references/, in the card's own voice
scripts/liquid.py — the machine: check, standard library only, no network, selftest 13/13
WITNESS.md — the runs on real material and live on Claude, with what was not run · SELFTEST.md — the machine's own test, as run at the cut · MANIFEST.md, every file hashed · CHANGELOG.md
tests/evals.json + EVALS.md — the cases it must take, hand off and refuse
MY-LEDGER.md — the card's memory, on your own machine · TIN.md, the nine lines on the tin · LICENSE-NOTE.md
card.svg + card-machine.svg + card.json · card.html, the card as one offline file · doors/ — the rules files for Cursor, Codex, Gemini, Copilot and Claude Code, the system text for any other AI, a local-model file and an MCP door
PROOF · SELFTEST 13/13 · WITNESSED ON MATERIAL · LIVE ON CLAUDE SONNET 2026-10-13 · 7 OF 7 PASSED · EDITION 1 · PUNCH EFB55841EF4BA900C3B4DF92
ON EVERY DOOR · A CARD FOR YOUR AI, A FILE FOR YOUR COMPUTER
In Claude: turn on code execution under Settings › Capabilities, then Customize › Skills › + › Create skill, and upload the zip as it is — START-HERE.md in the box walks you through it, and tells you how to keep the ledger. In ChatGPT, Gemini and the rest: a Project, a GPT or a Gem with the card’s files attached and the short door in the box pasted as its instructions. The words run anywhere an AI reads Markdown; the machines run wherever the host runs Python. Witnessed in Claude only. The host marks →
Take it.
Nº 1207 PROPOSED — LAUNCHING SOON
Sold as is under the term printed. A card instructs an AI you operate; results depend on your model, your files and your judgement. Not medical, legal, tax or financial advice, never the person’s boss, and not a licence to practise. The terms →
One payment. The file is yours to keep and keeps working at its edition; new editions issued in the year after you buy reach you by email as replacement files. Tax is added at checkout where it applies. Nothing auto-renews.
A TERM, NOT A SUBSCRIPTION: NOTHING RENEWS ITSELF AND NOBODY IS CHARGED AGAIN. WHEN A TERM ENDS THE FILES STAY ON YOUR COMPUTER AND STAY READABLE — FREEZE, NOT LOSS.
THE MACHINE · IN THE OPEN · FROM THE CARD’S OWN WITNESS.MD
liquid.py, every command showing its working.
A small Python program, standard library only. Your AI runs it; you can too. The blocks below are pasted from the card’s own WITNESS.md, as printed.
check
check a theme folder or .zip
selftest
13 checks that prove the machine; it must print 13/13
THE COMMANDS, IN ORDER, ON SHOPIFY'S PUBLIC DAWN THEME (SHOPIFY/DAWN @ 258F00F6, 2026-08-10, 348 FILES) AND A COPY WITH THREE PLANTED FAULTS
THE RUNS ARE PASTED FROM THE CARD’S OWN WITNESS.MD AS PRINTED. FIXTURES MARKED FICTIONAL ARE THE STUDIO’S OWN EXAMPLES, INVENTED FOR THE RECORD; NO PRIVATE PERSON IS NAMED.
QUESTIONS AT THE TABLE
Asked before the wire.
What does it need from me?
The theme folder or zip. Take the theme, and it goes from there.
Does it send anything anywhere?
No. The machine is a standard-library Python program that runs on your own computer and sends nothing anywhere; the words run wherever an AI reads Markdown. No server, no account, no key.
What is on the record?
The self-test (13/13), a run on real or invented material with every command and verdict pasted into WITNESS.md as printed, and live runs on Claude Sonnet: 7 of 7 passed; the card fired on 3 of 3 trigger cases and on none of its hand-off cases.; the punch on the face is the SHA-256 of SKILL.md, so a downloaded copy can be checked against this room.
Can it be wrong?
Yes — it is an AI reading a text file. A static read. It does not render pages, run Shopify's theme check rules, know which apps are installed, or see the store's data.
What will it never do?
It will never changes a live store; never promises the theme renders; never skips what it couldn't check.
