Packaging & Submitting

TL;DR: How to build the theme ZIP correctly, and the actual steps for submitting it.

Building the ZIP

Your submission is a ZIP file of the theme’s root directory. This is the same folder structure you’ve been working in all along.

If you have only one preset, zip the standard structure directly. You don’t need a /listings folder. If you have multiple presets, each preset needs its own folder under /listings, containing just the files that differ from the base theme:

/assets
/blocks
/config
/locales
/layout
/listings
  /embiggen              ← one folder per preset, kebab-case
    /templates
      index.json
      product.json
  /canine-gourmand
    /templates
      index.json
    /sections
      header-group.json  ← only include if this preset overrides it
/sections
/snippets
/templates               ← the "base" set every preset falls back to

Don’t copy identical files into every preset folder. Only include what that specific preset overrides. Preset folder names use kebab-case (lowercase words separated by hyphens), because they become part of a URL.

✅ Do	❌ Don’t
Include only files a preset actually overrides in its `/listings` folder	Copy every template file into every preset folder, even unchanged ones
Use kebab-case preset folder names	Use spaces or special characters in preset folder names
Keep a complete “base” set in the root `/templates`/`/sections`	Assume presets don’t need a working fallback if a preset-specific override is missing

A pre-zip sanity pass

Before you zip anything, take one more look for a few mistakes that are easy to make when you’re rushing to finish a submission:

No config/markets.json file included (explicitly disallowed in the zip)
No .git, node_modules, or other development-only folders accidentally included in the zip
No resources specific to your demo store’s admin (custom metafield references, shopify:// URLs) baked into .json files. See Metafields & Metaobjects for more on this.
link_list settings in header/footer default to main-menu/footer, not blank or a demo-specific menu handle
Every resource-based setting default (a product, a metaobject) actually exists on a fresh store, not just your demo store

Submitting

Log in to your Partner Dashboard.
Sidebar → Themes → Submit a theme.
Upload your theme ZIP.
Check the box agreeing to the Shopify Partner Agreement.
Fill out the Theme submission form, adding listing info for your theme and every preset.
Submit.

You can upload a revised ZIP (using Upload new zip) any time before Shopify’s review team actually starts reviewing it. Once they start, you can’t make changes until they respond.

Do / Don’t

✅ Do	❌ Don’t
Run through the pre-zip sanity pass above as an actual checklist, not just a quick mental scan. Items like a leftover `markets.json` file or a demo-specific resource default are easy to miss, and they cause rejections that are completely avoidable.	Including a `config/markets.json` file, which Shopify explicitly asks you not to submit.
Test your ZIP on a completely fresh dev store before submitting. This catches any assumption your code makes that only holds true on your demo store.	Setting a resource default (a product ID, a metaobject reference) that only exists on the demo store. This breaks that setting on every fresh install.
Keep the submission ZIP as a build artifact, not something you commit to your main Git history. That way you have an exact record of what you actually submitted, separate from your ongoing development.	Copying every template file into every preset folder instead of only including overrides. This bloats the ZIP and makes it harder for reviewers, and future you, to see what’s actually preset-specific.

Key takeaways

One preset → plain structure. Multiple presets → /listings/<preset-name>/ overrides.
No release-notes.md on your first submission.
No config/markets.json in the zip, ever.
You can replace your ZIP right up until review actually begins, but not after.