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Building a Shopify App with the New Shopify Dev Platform — What’s Changed & How to Get Started

The Shopify Dev Platform has evolved, combining modern frameworks, faster tooling, and improved APIs. This guide covers everything from setup to deployment.


⚡ Key Updates

  • Unified App Development with Remix + Hydrogen
  • App Extensions 2.0 for checkout, admin, POS, and more
  • Shopify CLI 3.0: create, run, preview, and deploy apps seamlessly

🛠️ Step-by-Step Setup

Step 1: Prerequisites

Install CLI:

npm install -g @shopify/cli @shopify/app
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Step 2: Create Your App

shopify app create node
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Follow the prompts:

  • Choose app name
  • Select partner org
  • Pick template (Node/Remix/React)

Step 3: Run Locally

shopify app dev
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Spins up a local tunnel (ngrok) and opens your app in a test store with hot reload and OAuth ready.

Step 4: Extend Your App

shopify app generate extension
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Add features like:

  • Checkout UI extensions
  • Admin action buttons
  • POS integrations

Step 5: Deploy

shopify app deploy
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Bundles, registers, and publishes your app and extensions automatically.

🧩 Bonus: Hydrogen + Remix Integration

shopify hydrogen init
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Connects your Hydrogen storefront to your embedded app for shared APIs, authentication, and webhooks.

💡 Pro Tips

  • Use Polaris React for consistent Shopify Admin UI
  • Test webhooks with CLI’s built-in mock feature
  • Store secrets in .env
  • Use GraphQL Admin API for faster, granular data
  • Version control all extensions and templates

Conclusion

The new Shopify Dev Platform unifies app building, extensions, and storefront development.

It means less setup, faster iteration, and more flexibility for developers.

Spin up your first app, explore extensions, and enjoy a smoother dev experience.

Share your thoughts or questions about the new platform in the comments!

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