Building a private or public app on Shopify

The typical need

Shopify lets you extend a store beyond what its native features and marketplace apps offer, through custom apps. Two scenarios come up regularly: a private app, built for the specific needs of a single store with no intention of distributing it; or an app meant to be installed on multiple stores, possibly published on the Shopify marketplace. These two cases share much of the underlying technique, but differ sharply in the requirements to meet.

How I approach this kind of work

For a private app, the technical scope stays focused on the actual needs of the store in question, with direct access to its data through the appropriate Shopify APIs. For an app aimed at multiple stores, the work necessarily includes OAuth authentication to handle installation on third-party stores, receiving and verifying signed webhooks to react to events on each installed store, and meeting Shopify's review requirements if a marketplace listing is the goal.

When the app needs to appear visually in the store — a block on a product page, a section in the cart — I build a theme extension that can be placed from Shopify's visual editor, so the merchant can position it without writing code. I also pay attention to managing the app's full lifecycle: clean uninstallation, Shopify plan changes, and recurring billing if the app's business model calls for it.