How building with Prismic is changing, for you and your agents
TL;DR
- Slice Machine keeps working, but it's no longer our recommended way to build with Prismic, and it won't be maintained from here on.
- The new way is the Prismic CLI used with an AI agent, with the new Type Builder as its visual surface in the cloud.
- Your content, pages, and models all carry over, and migrating takes minutes.
- Prefer not to use AI? Both the CLI and the new Type Builder work fully without it.
Building with Prismic is changing. Slice Machine is no longer our recommended way to build, and the new way is the CLI with an AI agent, plus the new Type Builder.
We know Slice Machine is something you loved, and something we championed, so if you're one of its fans, we owe you a reason why. The good news first: you keep the local, code-first workflow you liked, and you gain an AI agent that can build a page, or a whole site, with you. This post covers what's changing and why, and answers every question we could think of.
Before we go further, we want to reassure you. Slice Machine continues to exist; it just won't be maintained anymore. Switching to our new recommended setup leaves your content, documents, pages, and live sites unaffected, and your models carry over. Moving over is essentially a config change: it takes minutes, and most of it is automated.
What's changing
The Prismic CLI, used with an AI agent, is our new recommended way to model content in Prismic. We built it from the ground up to be used by agents first. We shaped it alongside the Prismic skill, so building with an agent is fast and reliable, and follows Prismic's best practices. Your agent can model content and build directly in Prismic, while you stay in charge of design, styling, and review.
Follow that path and you keep your local, code-first workflow: the CLI runs locally, just like Slice Machine. It runs through npx, and the new Type Builder runs in the cloud, so there's nothing to install and nothing to update by hand. New features reach you automatically, so you're always on the latest version.
The new Type Builder is there when you want it: a visual surface in the cloud for inspecting models, making quick edits, or modeling without AI.
Want to see it in action? Here's a short demo of building with the CLI and an AI agent:
Why we're making the change
Two things drive this change.
The first is how developers build now. Building with AI agents is the default, with 84 to 90% adoption across the 2025 Stack Overflow, JetBrains, and DORA developer surveys. That means our job now covers not just the best developer experience, but the best agent experience too. It's the shift we're building Prismic around, and the core of our mission as an agentic web platform.
The second is our obsession with removing friction. A local app was the right fit before AI, but you had to install it and update it by hand. Those steps never bothered anyone before. Now that agents automate so much of the build, small manual steps stand out. So we set out to remove that last bit of friction.
What you gain by switching
This is the part we're most excited about. The CLI turns your AI agent into a building partner. With Claude Code, Cursor, or Codex and the Prismic skill, you can build a page or bring a whole site over much faster than before, while you stay in charge of design, styling, and review.
The CLI was built from the ground up for agents, and we shaped it alongside the Prismic skill, so building with an agent is fast, reliable, and follows Prismic's best practices. Your agent models content and builds directly in Prismic, and you review the result in code, the way you always have.
You also stay current without thinking about it. Every new capability comes to the CLI and the new Type Builder first, so your workflow only gets better from here.
Make the switch in minutes
Your content, pages, and models all come with you, and most of the move is automated.
"But I loved Slice Machine..."
We loved it too. That's why we worked hard to keep most of what you value intact, even if we've still got some work to do. Here's what you keep and what genuinely changes.
What you keep. The control you cared about. Your models stay in your project as files, your codebase stays the source of truth, and you review changes in code. TypeScript type generation and the slice simulator keep working too, so the setup you rely on carries over. The CLI is the direct successor to that local, code-first workflow.
What genuinely changes.
- Two former Slice Machine features now run through your agent: turning an image or a Figma design into a slice, and generating code snippets. Without AI, you can do both by hand.
- Editing model JSON, like rich text labels, still works. On the recommended CLI path, your models are already local, so you just edit and push. If you started a model in the new Type Builder, there's one extra step: pull with
npx prismic pull, edit locally, then push back. - Environments still work, with an
--envoption on the CLI and a dropdown in the new Type Builder. What changes is the automation. Slice Machine used to tie this together, so switching your active environment also switched what your development site rendered. Now you pass--envyourself, likenpx prismic pull --env main-staging.
We know that working with environments means being confident you're on the right one. If the manual way doesn't work for you, we have a few ideas to make this experience excellent, and we're actively working on them. We'll share an update as soon as it's ready. And even with this step, we think the switch is worth it for everything you gain by building with an agent.
Prefer not to use AI?
AI is optional. Both the CLI and the new Type Builder work fully without it. The new Type Builder is a full modeling editor with no AI required, and you can run the CLI by hand whenever you need it.
Ready to switch?
We hope so! Moving over takes minutes; most of it is automated, and your project architecture doesn't change. Three steps:
- Push any pending model changes from Slice Machine.
- If you're using AI, install the Prismic skill:
npx skills add --global prismicio/skills - Run
npx prismic init. It swaps the config, pulls your models into the project, and clears out the old Slice Machine packages.
The full walkthrough is in the migration guide in our docs. Slice Machine keeps working, so there's no hard deadline. But everything we build from here goes into the CLI and the new Type Builder, not in Slice Machine. Move sooner, and you stay on the latest, on the same agent-native foundation we're building everything on from here.
Questions you might have
Is Slice Machine going away?
Slice Machine will continue to exist, but it will no longer be maintained. There is no rush to migrate, but moving over sooner is recommended because the CLI and the new Type Builder are compatible with the AI workflow and get all the new capabilities, unlike Slice Machine.
Do I have to migrate now?
No rush. Slice Machine will continue to exist, but it will no longer be maintained. Migrate sooner if you can, since the CLI and the new Type Builder are compatible with the AI workflow and get all new capabilities, unlike Slice Machine.
Why change from Slice Machine at all?
Two reasons. Developers now build with AI agents, so we built the CLI from the ground up to work with them directly. And there's nothing to install or maintain anymore: the CLI runs through npx, and the visual editor lives in the cloud. You still model locally with the CLI, so your workflow stays code-first.
What makes the CLI agent-ready?
A few things:
- Agents can teach themselves how to use it. Every command has a --help flag with details on how to use it.
- The commands follow conventions agents already know. We use prismic push and prismic pull to send and receive models, similar to git push and git pull.
- We provide a tiny skill that points agents to the CLI when working with Prismic, so they reach for it before any other method.
- It's non-interactive. Today, agents get stuck when a CLI asks for user input, so we made the CLI fully accessible through parameters and options.
- And the output guides the agent toward the next action when needed. After initializing a project, for example, we tell them: "Run prismic type create <name> to create a content type."
This makes sure that an agent can discover, run, and chain Prismic commands on its own, without getting stuck or waiting on you.
Will my content or live sites be affected?
No. Your content, documents, pages, and live sites are unaffected. Your models carry over, and your project architecture does not change.
I loved Slice Machine's local, code-first workflow. What's my equivalent?
The CLI, ideally with your AI agent. You keep local models, review in code, and push to Prismic, and the new Type Builder is optional. If you'd rather not use AI, you can still run the CLI by hand for repo commands and model in the new Type Builder.
Do I even need to open the new Type Builder?
If you're using an AI agent and the CLI, mostly no. You'll model via prompts and review in code, and you're more likely to open the Page Builder to check what editors see than the new Type Builder. The new Type Builder is there for inspection, small edits, and modeling without AI if needed.
Can I still use Slice Machine for new projects?
New projects start on the CLI and the new Type Builder by default, and that's the path we're building on from here. The CLI with your AI agent is agent-native, so AI workflows are fast, there's no local setup (the CLI runs through npx and the new Type Builder runs in the cloud), and you get new features as they ship. If you already have Slice Machine projects, they keep working, and you can move them over whenever you're ready.
Can model JSON still be edited locally?
Yes. Models built with the CLI are already local, so edit the JSON and push. If you're modeling in the cloud with the new Type Builder, pull with npx prismic pull, edit locally, then push it back with the CLI.
How are labels pushed into RichText fields now?
For models built with the CLI, edit the RichText labels in model.json locally, then push. If you're modeling in the cloud with the new Type Builder, pull first with npx prismic pull, edit the labels locally, then push back. The new Type Builder UI does not have a labels editor.
How do environments work in the new workflow?
Environments are supported through the CLI (via an --env option) and in the new Type Builder (via a dropdown like Slice Machine), so you keep the same capability. With the CLI, you pass --env to tell it which environment to pull from or push to (for example, npx prismic pull --env main-staging). What changes is the automation: in Slice Machine, switching your active environment also switched the environment your development website rendered and pushed your local model changes there. A few of those steps are now manual, and it's an area we're actively looking into improving.
I rely on Integration Fields. Can I switch?
Yes. Integration fields work in the new Type Builder the same way they did in Slice Machine: they show up but aren't editable there. You add or change them with the CLI, which supports integration fields, or by editing the JSON files by hand as before. Your existing integration fields keep working, so you can switch.
Can clients or content editors change our content model?
The new Type Builder is visible to users with the Admin role only, so team members or clients without Admin access can't see or change the model.
How should my AI agent structure the types and models in my project?
You don't have to. The CLI manages your models and types for you and drops every file where your framework expects it, just like Slice Machine. Slices go into the folder that fits your framework: slices/ for Next.js and Nuxt (or src/slices/ if you have a src folder), and src/lib/slices/ for SvelteKit. A Hero slice in Next.js, for example, generates the component (slices/Hero/index.tsx), the model (slices/Hero/model.json), and a global types file with all your models (prismicio-types.d.ts). Page types and custom types go into the root-level customtypes directory, one JSON file each, plus a page file for your framework's routing. So there's nothing to manage. The CLI handles it.
Can I reuse slices across multiple projects?
Yes. Your slices and custom types live in your project as code, so you can carry them from one project into another instead of rebuilding them. If you're using an AI agent, ask it to port the slices you want into your new project, and it rewrites the code to fit that project's conventions as it goes. Without an agent, and as long as the projects share the same tech stack, you can copy the slice and custom type directories straight across, and the CLI picks them up automatically.
Do I have to use AI with the new Type Builder and the CLI?
No, AI is never required, and both the CLI and the new Type Builder work fully without it. That said, the whole workflow is faster with an AI agent. A couple of things that were standalone features in Slice Machine, turning an image or Figma design into a slice and generating code snippets, are now handled by the agent rather than as separate features. Without AI, you can still do them by hand, using the docs for snippets and modeling the content yourself. The Prismic skill is there whenever you want the AI-agent workflow.
Can Custom Type Builder (legacy) customers switch to the new Type Builder?
Not yet. Legacy Custom Type Builder users aren't supported in the new Type Builder yet. A dedicated migration path is coming as a separate effort, and we'll communicate it ahead of time.
I have another question or feedback
We'd love to hear it. Post it in our community forum, or share it right inside the new Type Builder if you're already using it.
