Managing Apps in the Developer Portal
Create, edit, and submit apps for approval using the Developer Portal (opens in a new tab). In Beginning App Development, we briefly touched on how to create a draft app. In this article, we'll go over how to perform other common app management tasks. To get started, sign in or create an account in the Developer Portal (opens in a new tab).
Store email address constraint
Apps that aren't approved for distribution through the App Marketplace (opens in a new tab) can only be installed on stores owned by the same email address as the developer portal account's email address.
Create an app profile
Creating an app also creates an app API account. To learn more about app API accounts, see the Guide to API Accounts. To create an app, do the following:
Information optional
No app profile fields are mandatory unless you're preparing the app for BigCommerce App Marketplace (opens in a new tab) approval. To learn more about preparing an app for approval, see our App Publishing Guide.
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Sign in or create an account with the Developer Portal (opens in a new tab).
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Click the Create an app button on the right side of the landing page.
- Give your app a name in the What would you like to call your app? dialog. This name is only visible to you. Once complete, click the Create button.
- The app registration dialog appears; click the Technical tab at the top.
- Scroll down to the OAuth scopes section and toggle the necessary OAuth scopes for your app.
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Click the Update & Close button on the registration dialog's lower right corner.
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A new dialog opens, asking if you want to add new OAuth scopes. Click Confirm Update.
You can view the client ID and client secret any time; see the following section on viewing credentials.
View credentials
- To view an app API account's credentials, navigate to the Dev Portal's My Apps dashboard (opens in a new tab) and click the View Client ID padlock icon to the right of the relevant app's listing.
- A dialog box opens to reveal your API account credentials.
To learn more about using an app API account to generate store-specific access tokens, see Implementing the OAuth Flow.
Edit an app profile
- To edit an app, navigate to the Dev Portal's My Apps dashboard (opens in a new tab) and click the Edit App pencil icon to the right of the app you want to edit.
- The edit app dialog opens. It is identical to the app registration dialog.
Marketplace delay
Edits can take up to 24 hours to appear in the App Marketplace (opens in a new tab), but changes are immediately effective and visible in your existing users' store control panels.
Edit technical details
- Once you enter the app dialog, click the Technical tab at the top to edit enabled features, callback URLs, and OAuth scopes.
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To save your change, click the Update & Close button on the edit dialog's lower right corner.
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A new dialog opens, asking if you want to add new OAuth scopes. Click Confirm Update.
- After saving, edits are effective immediately for all app users.
Indicate multi-storefront support
If your app supports stores that sell through multiple storefronts or sales channels, add that information to the app's profile.
- Once you enter the edit app dialog, click the App Supported Features tab at the top.
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Select either Single Storefront or Multi Storefront. This doesn't grant or deny your app access to any APIs; it helps us test and label your app appropriately.
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To save your change, click the Update & Close button on the edit dialog's lower right corner.
To read about designing or modifying your app to support multi-storefront, see Multi-Storefront App Compatibility and Optimization
Submit an app for approval
- Submit apps for App Marketplace (opens in a new tab) approval by navigating to the Dev Portal's My Apps dashboard (opens in a new tab), then finding the app you want approved and clicking the Submit checkmark icon to the right of its listing.
- The registration dialog opens; complete the app's profile.
To learn more about completing app registration fields and submitting apps for approval, consult our App Publishing Guide.
Deleting apps
Deleting an app also deletes its API account. This is a destructive action; you can't recover the app or its API account. Do not delete an app without serious consideration, particularly if it is in production. It is likely to have far-reaching negative impacts on your users' stores.
To learn about mitigating the risks of deleting an app and its API account, see the Guide to API Accounts.
- To delete an app, navigate to the Dev Portal's My Apps dashboard (opens in a new tab) and click the Delete App trash can icon to the right of the app you want to edit.
- The delete app dialog opens to verify whether you truly want to delete the app. Click Delete.
Next steps
Resources
Related articles
- Introduction to Building Apps
- Beginning App Development
- Implementing App OAuth
- App Approval Requirements
- Publishing an App
- Guide to API Accounts
Other resources
- Developer Portal (opens in a new tab) (devtools.bigcommerce.com)
- Partner Portal (opens in a new tab) (partners.bigcommerce.com)
- Technology Partner Program (opens in a new tab) (partners.bigcommerce.com)
- BigCommerce App Marketplace (opens in a new tab) (bigcommerce.com)