How to Create a Shopify App
Step by step, in 2026.

1. What you need first

Before creating a Shopify app, gather a few prerequisites. They're all free or low-cost:

• A Shopify Partner account. Free, at partners.shopify.com. This is where you create apps, get API credentials, and manage listings. As of 2026, creating apps requires a Partner account — the old admin-based custom app creation was closed.
• A development store. Partner accounts include unlimited free development stores for testing. You'll install and test your app here before it touches a real store.
• A hosting environment. Your app's backend needs a public HTTPS server. Railway, Fly, Render, or similar work well. A simple app starts around $5–$20/month to host.
• A way to build it. Either coding skills (plus Shopify CLI) or an AI builder that generates the app for you.

That's the full kit. The Partner account and dev store are free; hosting is a few dollars a month; the build method is your choice.

2. Two ways to create a Shopify app

There are two fundamentally different paths, and which you choose shapes everything that follows.

Path A: Hand-code it

You write the app yourself, typically starting from Shopify CLI, which scaffolds a project with OAuth and App Bridge already configured. You then build your features using the Admin GraphQL API, set up webhooks, integrate the Billing API, and build the admin UI with Polaris. This gives total control but requires real development skill and time — you're responsible for getting OAuth, billing, GDPR webhooks, and rate limits right.

Path B: Generate it with AI

You describe the app in plain language and a Shopify-specific AI builder like Shopivibe generates the full stack — OAuth, App Bridge, Billing API, database, admin UI, GDPR webhooks — as production-ready code you own. This is dramatically faster and handles the parts that commonly break (the five technical requirements). You can still edit the generated code.

3. Step-by-step: the build

Step 1: Create the app in the Partner Dashboard

In your Partner account, create a new app. This generates your Client ID and Client Secret — the credentials your app uses for OAuth and webhook verification. You'll also configure the app's URLs (app URL and redirect URLs) here.

Step 2: Scaffold or generate the project

Hand-coding: use Shopify CLI to scaffold an app, which sets up OAuth, App Bridge, and a starter structure. Generating: describe your app to the AI builder, review the generated spec, and generate the code into a GitHub repository you own.

Step 3: Build the features

This is the actual app logic — the loyalty rules, the subscription management, the B2B pricing, whatever your app does. You read and write store data through the Admin GraphQL API, store app-specific data in your database, and react to store events via webhooks. (See the API guide and webhooks guide for these.)

Step 4: Add billing

If you charge merchants, integrate the Billing API — create the subscription, redirect to the confirmation URL, handle activation. Define your pricing plans to match your App Store listing.

Step 5: Set environment variables and connect

Put your Client ID, Client Secret, database URL, and app URL into your hosting environment's configuration. This connects your deployed app to Shopify's OAuth and your database.

4. What every Shopify app must include

Regardless of path, a functioning Shopify app must have five things. Missing any of them means the app breaks or fails App Store review:

These five are exactly where DIY attempts and generic AI tools fail. A Shopify-specific builder generates all five correctly; if you hand-code, you must implement each one to Shopify's spec. The compliance guide covers the requirements in detail.

5. Testing your app

Never test only in production. Use a development store (free with your Partner account) to validate the full lifecycle before any real merchant touches the app:

• Install flow: install on a fresh dev store and confirm OAuth completes cleanly.
• Core features: walk through every admin screen and every action. Test empty states (a store with no data).
• Webhooks: create test orders and confirm your webhooks fire and process correctly.
• Billing: go through the billing flow and approve a test charge; confirm features unlock only after activation.
• Uninstall/reinstall: uninstall and reinstall — the app should handle a returning merchant cleanly and your shop/redact webhook should fire.

Test on a few fresh stores, not just your main one — issues with first-install and empty states only surface on clean stores, which is exactly what App Store reviewers use.

6. Deploying and going live

Deploy your app's backend to a public HTTPS host. With a platform like Railway, you connect your GitHub repo, set environment variables, and deploy; migrations run and your app goes live at a public URL. Then choose how to distribute:

Custom distribution (fastest)

Generate a custom distribution install link and share it with the merchant(s) who'll use the app. No review, no revenue share, live immediately. Ideal for your own store, a client's store, or early users.

Public App Store listing

Submit the app for App Store review (5–10 business days) with your listing assets. Once approved, any merchant can find and install it. This adds organic discovery but requires passing review and accepting the revenue share. See the publishing guide for the full process.

7. How long it takes

The build step is where the paths diverge most. Hand-coding a mid-complexity app is a multi-week project; generating it is minutes plus a couple of hours of configuration and testing. For a private app on your own store, AI generation gets you live the same day; for App Store listing, the 5–10 day review applies either way.

8. FAQ