Testing your app before submitting

When testing your app, think about what it might look like through the eyes of Shopify merchants of varying skill levels. You should make sure you have accounted for any issues that might occur when a merchant installs your app on their store. Here are some suggestions of what to look for when you test your app:

• Make sure that the installation process is easy to understand and execute:

  • If your app requires code changes, then you should use automated installation resource such as script tags, or assets to insert and remove code snippets.
  • If your app requires the setup of an external service to function, then include this within your documentation. For tips on writing instructions for your app, refer to our help documentation guidelines.

• Verify that your app can appropriately handle issues like 404s, unexpected inputs, and heavy user traffic.

• If your app interacts with or adds something to a merchant’s online store, then test your app with several different Shopify-made themes.

• After you’ve installed your app on a development store, make sure you can uninstall and reinstall that app on the same shop.

When a merchant installs your app, it must first authenticate with the merchant’s shop using OAuth. You can test this by installing your app on a development store. If you don’t have a development store, then you can create one.

1. Log in to your Partner Dashboard.
2. In your Partner Dashboard, click Apps.
3. Click the name of your app to navigate to the App overview page.
4. On the app page, in the Test your app section, click Select store.
5. Select the development store you want to use.
6. Click Install app.

You should now be directed to the OAuth screen. If you don't see the OAuth screen, then you might need to double check your app’s code, as well as the app URLs and redirects.

Before submitting your app, make sure to test your app’s URLs and redirects. Before submitting your app, make sure its App URL and Allowed redirection URL work correctly. If your app does not redirect merchants to the OAuth screen, your app will be rejected.

1. In your Partner Dashboard, click Apps.
2. Click the name of your app.
3. Click App setup.
4. Find the URLs section.
5. Review and test the URLs you provided.

For more information about using OAuth to communicate with Shopify, refer to Getting started with OAuth.

All charges associated with apps submitted to the Shopify App Store must use the Shopify Billing API.

You need to test your app's billing system before you submit your app to the Shopify App Store. To test your app without incurring a real charge, you can have your app create a test charge before you install it on your development store. To have your app create a test charge, you can change your app's charge requests to include "test": true. This will create a test charge when you install the app so that you don't incur a real charge on your account.

Next: Submitting your app - If you've followed all of the requirements to create your app, then you're ready to submit your app for review by the Shopify app review team.