Skip to Content
APIs & ToolsTheme Development KitTheme directory structure

Theme Development Kit serves themes from a standard Finqu theme directory. Your project should follow the same layout used in production so that templates, assets, and configuration work as expected.

Directory layout

A typical theme looks like this:

my-theme/
├── assets/            # CSS, JS, images, fonts
├── config/            # Theme configuration (settings schema and data)
├── layout/            # Layout templates (Liquid)
├── locales/           # Translation files (JSON)
├── sections/          # Section templates (Liquid)
├── snippets/          # Reusable template snippets (Liquid)
├── templates/         # Page templates (Liquid)
├── public/            # Static public files
└── finqu.config.json  # Optional Theme Development Kit / project config
  • assets/ — Stylesheets (including .scss.liquid), JavaScript, images, fonts, and other static files. The dev server compiles Sass and processes Liquid inside assets. See the Assets article for details.
  • config/ — Theme configuration: settings_schema.json (structure of theme settings) and settings_data.json (current values). Required for a valid theme. See Settings for schema and customization.
  • layout/ — Layout files such as theme.liquid that wrap page content. See Templates & Layouts for how layouts and templates work together.
  • locales/ — JSON locale files (e.g. en.json) for translations and dynamic copy.
  • sections/ — Section Liquid files that define page building blocks. Sections can contain blocks and are the main structural units of a theme. See Sections and Theme structure.
  • snippets/ — Reusable Liquid fragments included from layouts, templates, or sections.
  • templates/ — Page templates (e.g. frontpage.liquid, product.liquid, cart.liquid) that map URLs to content. Described in Templates & Layouts.
  • public/ — Files served as-is (e.g. robots.txt, favicons).
  • finqu.config.json — Optional project-level config for Theme Development Kit (e.g. port). Not part of the theme payload; see Configuration and features.

Minimum required structure

To run a theme with Theme Development Kit you need at least:

  • layout/theme.liquid — Main layout.
  • config/settings_schema.json and config/settings_data.json — Theme settings definition and values.
  • At least one template in templates/ (e.g. frontpage.liquid).
  • A locale file in locales/ (e.g. en.json) for each language you use.

Optional but common: sections/, snippets/, blocks/ (see Blocks), and assets/ for styles and scripts.

Learn more about Liquid themes

The Liquid theme documentation goes deeper into each directory, required files, and best practices:

  • Theme structure — Directory overview, required files, and configuration.
  • Sections — Building and configuring sections.
  • Blocks — Modular components inside sections.
  • Templates & Layouts — Page templates and layout hierarchy.
  • Assets — Styles, scripts, and referencing assets in Liquid.
  • Settings — Theme, section, and block settings.

For checkout-specific structure (when your plan supports it), see Checkout (Plus).