Three Ways We Share Context at Shopify Engineering

Summary

Shopify Engineering treats context—the why, what, and how behind development philosophies, approaches, and choices—as essential to company, team, and individual growth. It describes the Development Handbook, which evolved from a 2015 Google Doc into a searchable internal website in 2018, with hundreds of developer-contributed topics maintained through GitHub pull requests, reviews, and Markdown. Dev Talks began as a weekly open stage and became an on-demand recording program after the 2020 shift to Digital by Design, with most presentations lasting 15 to 20 minutes. The Technical Leadership Team’s Shift podcast provides monthly, in-depth discussions of technical decisions, distributed in audio and video with transcripts. The programs continue to evolve while facing content-maintenance and participation challenges.

Context

Shopify Engineering says rapidly changing tools and technologies, fast product delivery, project pivots, and scattered documentation make current, relevant information critical. Much technical knowledge had previously remained in employees’ heads, while developers also needed ways to understand technical decisions, share work, and learn from colleagues across the organization.

Approach / What changed

Shopify shares context through three developer-focused programs: the Development Handbook, Dev Talks, and the Shift podcast. The Handbook uses a searchable internal website, GitHub pull requests and reviews, Markdown, and team ownership; Dev Talks use recorded presentations promoted through email, Slack, and Shopify TV; Shift uses monthly recorded technical conversations offered in audio and video with full transcripts. Leadership supports the programs, while the Developer Context team oversees or promotes them.

Takeaways

• The Development Handbook grew from a 2015 Google Doc into a 2018 internal website containing hundreds of developer-contributed topics, including architecture, development practices, deployment, incident handling, and monitoring.
• After Shopify moved to Digital by Design in 2020, Dev Talks changed from live open-stage presentations to on-demand recordings; most talks are about 15 to 20 minutes long.
• Shift episodes can last up to an hour and are published in audio and video formats with full transcripts, allowing developers to consume technical discussions in partial segments.

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