A private app is an app built specifically for your Shopify store (as opposed to a public app, which is built for many stores). With a private app, you can add functionality within your Shopify admin, access your store data directly using the Shopify API, or extend your online store to other platforms using a custom storefront.
There are many different use cases for proprietary applications:
Develop importers to migrate data from Magento or other providers to Shopify.
Integrate your store data with custom solutions you use to manage your orders, products, or inventory outside of Shopify.
Offer products from your Shopify store on a custom storefront, such as a mobile app, website, or video game.
If your store is on the free tier, you can create up to 5 private apps. If your store is on a paid plan, then you can create as many private apps as you need.
Note: The Shopify API License and Terms of Use govern your access to and use of the Shopify API. Please make sure you are familiar with these terms before creating private applications.
Related topics on this page
Generate credentials in the Shopify admin
Changing the Storefront API permissions for a private app
Deleting proprietary apps
Generate credentials in the Shopify admin
To learn more about developing your own apps, see Shopify's developer documentation.
For your private app to authenticate with Shopify, you first need to generate the required credentials from the Shopify admin of the store that you want to connect your app to.
step:
From your Shopify admin, go to Apps.
Click Manage Private Apps.
Click Create New Private App.
In the App Details section, enter a name for your private app and an email address for contact.
If there is an issue with a proprietary app (such as an outage due to an API change), Shopify will contact the developer via an email address.
In the Backend API section, select the areas of your store that you want your app to have access to.
If you want to use the Storefront API, select Allow this app to access your storefront data using the Storefront API.
In the Storefront API Permissions section, select the store data you want to expose to your app.
Four permissions are selected by default: Read products and collections, Read and modify customers, Read and modify checkout information, and Read blogs and posts.
Notice
The Storefront API is a public, unauthenticated API, which means that anyone with access to your store can see all the data you've made public to the app. You should use the Storefront API only if you can accept this risk, and you should grant access only to the types of data that your proprietary application requires.
When you are finished, click Save.
Your application's API key and secret will now be displayed on the screen.
Note: Treat your API key and password like any other password, because anyone who has access to these credentials has full API access to your store.
After you obtain the necessary credentials, the proprietary app can access your store data.
Changing the Storefront API permissions for a private app
If your private app uses the Storefront API, you can change the areas that your app can access in the store by changing your app's permissions.
Note: Changing permissions for a private app may cause the app to stop working.
step:
From your Shopify admin, go to Apps.
Click Manage Private Apps.
Click the name of the app for which you want to change permissions.
In the Storefront API section, under Storefront API permissions, select the store data that you want your app to access.
Four permissions are selected by default: Read products and collections, Read and modify customers, Read and modify checkout information, and Read blogs and posts.
Notice
The Storefront API is a public, unauthenticated API, which means that anyone accessing your store can see all the data you make public to the app. You should use the Storefront API only if you can accept this risk, and you should grant access only to the types of data that your proprietary application requires.
Click Save.
In the You've made changes to the app dialog box, click Save.
Deleting private apps <br/>You can delete private apps that you no longer want to use from the Apps page in your Shopify admin.
step:
From your Shopify admin, go to Apps.
Click Manage Private Apps.
Click the Delete icon next to the app you want to delete.
