Introduction to Building Apps

Using BigCommerce's powerful APIs, SDKs, and toolkits, developers can build apps that are installable on BigCommerce stores. Once approved, apps can be sold (or made available free of charge) to all BigCommerce merchants on the App Marketplace (opens in a new tab). This is the first article in a comprehensive developer's guide to building BigCommerce apps. It provides a brief, high-level introduction for developers new to the platform. If you already have experience developing for BigCommerce, feel free to skip ahead or check out the quick start tutorial.

About BigCommerce apps

Let's first take a look how apps are discovered, displayed, and managed on BigCommerce stores.

Discovery

Approved apps are listed on the App Marketplace (opens in a new tab) for merchants to browse, search, and install.

Management

Apps installed on a store are managed in the store's control panel under Apps > My Apps (opens in a new tab). Here, store users can launch or uninstall the app.

Display

When a merchant launches an app, BigCommerce makes a request to the app's /load callback and displays the app's UI in an iFrame.

Use cases

What can developers do with BigCommerce apps?

Integrate with business systems

Use BigCommerce APIs to integrate stores with business systems such as the following:

• ERP systems (opens in a new tab)
• Order management platforms (opens in a new tab)
• Accounting software (opens in a new tab)
• Shipping and Fulfillment services (opens in a new tab)

Learn more about BigCommerce's APIs.

Connect to sales channels

List products on external sales channels (opens in a new tab) with Channels Toolkit.

Learn more about connecting apps to sales channels..

Add and manage scripts

Create and manage scripts with Scripts API and Script Manager (opens in a new tab).

Learn more about creating scripts.

Create custom widgets

Create widgets (opens in a new tab) for merchants to install and configure.

Learn more about creating widgets.

Getting started

Here's how to get started with BigCommerce development:

1. Create a BigCommerce sandbox store.

2. Apply to be a Partner (opens in a new tab) to get paid for your apps.

3. Create a Developer Portal account (opens in a new tab) to register and submit apps.

4. Join the Developer Community to get help from other BigCommerce developers.

5. Check out the Marketplace (opens in a new tab) to get inspiration on what to build.

Next steps

• Decide which type of app to build

• Start building apps with Node, React, Next.js, and BigDesign

Resources

Sample apps

• Node / React / Next.js (opens in a new tab)
• Python / Flask (opens in a new tab)
• PHP / Silex (opens in a new tab)
• Ruby / Sinatra (opens in a new tab)
• Laravel / React (opens in a new tab)

Tools

• Node API Client (opens in a new tab)
• Python API Client (opens in a new tab)
• PHP API Client (opens in a new tab)
• Ruby API Client (opens in a new tab)
• Ruby OmniAuth Gem (opens in a new tab)
• BigDesign Developer Playground (opens in a new tab)
• Figma UI Kit (opens in a new tab)

Blog posts

• How to Test App Authentication Locally with ngrok (opens in a new tab) (BigCommerce Developer Blog)
• Building a BigCommerce App Using Laravel and React (opens in a new tab) (BigCommerce Developer Blog)
• BigDesign Tutorial (opens in a new tab) (BigCommerce Developer Blog)