Shopify with a custom app

The usual way to connect Shopify is the FlowHunt app from the Shopify App Store (see ecommerce stores). If you don’t want a public app on your store, or your store policy blocks App Store installs, you can connect with a custom app that you create yourself in the Shopify Dev Dashboard.

Once it’s connected, a custom app works the same as an App Store install: the import quote, the order and product backfill, the Eshop reports, link building and the CMS.

Ecommerce integrations are available from the Pro plan, and only workspace administrators can connect them.

Before you start#

• Use the store’s own Shopify organization. The app has to belong to the same Shopify organization as the store. An agency can’t use its own app on a client’s store, so the client has to create the app.
• Card billing. Workspaces billed through Shopify can’t use a custom app. Switch the plan to card billing first.
• Shopify permissions. You need to be able to create apps in the store’s Dev Dashboard (the store owner, or a staff account allowed to develop apps).

Create the app in Shopify#

1. Open App development in the Shopify admin

   In the Shopify admin, click Settings, then Apps, then Develop apps, and click Build apps in Dev Dashboard. You can also go straight to the Shopify Dev Dashboard and log in with the account that owns the store.

   

   

   

   

2. Create the app

   In the Dev Dashboard, open Apps and click Create app. If your organization already has apps, click Create app at the top right and choose Create app manually.

   

   

3. Fill in the app and its scopes

   • App name (1): anything you’ll recognise, for example “AmICited”.
   • App URL (2): https://app.flowhunt.io/. Uncheck Embed app in Shopify admin; the app has no screen of its own inside Shopify.
   • Allowed redirection URL(s): leave empty. AmICited signs in with the app’s Client ID and Client secret, so Shopify never redirects back to it. Leave Use legacy install flow unchecked.
   • Scopes (3, under API access): paste this list. These are the scopes the App Store app asks for, so the custom app gets every AmICited feature except order history older than 60 days (see below):

   textCopy

   read_orders,write_orders,read_products,write_products,read_customers,write_customers,read_inventory,write_inventory,read_locations,write_price_rules,read_content,write_content,read_themes,write_themes,read_locales

   Leave Webhooks API version as it is.

   

   Prefer to tick boxes instead of pasting? Click Select from list above the Scopes field, search for each scope in the list above (1), tick it, and click Done (2).

   

   

4. Create the app

   When the name, URL and scopes are filled in, click Create app at the top right of the form (4 in the form screenshot above). Shopify creates the app and releases its first version.

   

5. Check that the version is active

   Open Versions in the app menu: the first version is marked Active. If you change the scopes later, click Create version so the change takes effect.

   

6. Set the distribution to custom

   A custom app has to be limited to your own store before it can be installed there.

   1. In the app’s Overview, click the Distribution card (Manage custom install link). Shopify opens the Partners Dashboard; if it asks, choose the account you use for the store.
   2. Select Custom distribution (1) and click Select (2). Shopify doesn’t let you change the distribution method afterwards.
   3. Under Store domain, enter your store’s your-store.myshopify.com address (1; see Find your store address below) and click Generate link (2). Allow multi-store install for one Plus organization only matters if your store belongs to a Shopify Plus organization with several stores.

   

   

   

   

7. Install the app on your store

   The app can’t read anything until it is installed on the store.

   1. Open the app’s Overview in the Dev Dashboard and click Install app at the top of the Installs card. In some dashboards this button reads Test app, as in the screenshot below. You can also open the ⋯ menu on the app’s row in the Apps list and choose Install app.
   2. Choose the store you want to connect.
   3. Review the access the app asks for and click Install.

   

   

   

   The screen warns that “This app hasn’t been reviewed”. That’s expected: it’s your own app, not one from the App Store.

8. Copy the Client ID and Client secret

   Open the app’s Settings in the Dev Dashboard. Under Credentials, copy the Client ID and the Client secret (use the copy buttons next to each field). Treat the secret like a password.

   

   

   

Connect it in AmICited#

1. Find your store address

   In the Shopify admin, open Settings. The store address (your-store.myshopify.com) is shown under the store name at the top of the menu.

   

2. Open the Shopify dialog

   Go to Data Sources, under Eshops click Connect Shopify Store, then click Use a custom app instead (1 in the screenshot below).

3. Enter the store and credentials

   Enter the Store address, the Client ID and the Client secret (2), then click Connect store (3).

   

4. Choose the domain and confirm the import

   Map the store to a domain and choose how much order history to import, the same as for an App Store install. Each option shows its projected rows and one-time cost before you confirm.

After that, set up customer data and shop settings the same way as for any store.

How a custom app differs#

Related#