API Development · Shopify Native

APIs that scale with your commerce stack

Custom Shopify apps, Admin & Storefront API integrations, webhooks, GraphQL services and middleware built for reliability, observability and clean ownership. We design APIs that power headless storefronts, internal tools, partner portals and agentic commerce — without the fragility of one-off scripts.

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API projects shipped
120+
uptime target
99.9%
typical p95 latency
<200ms

48-hour audit

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Send your store URL and current API landscape. We reply with a recorded walkthrough: brittle endpoints, missing error handling, rate-limit risks, security gaps and five high-impact API actions ranked by reliability and product impact. No pitch, no obligation.

  • A recorded walkthrough, sent to your inbox
  • Priorities ranked by impact
  • No pitch, no obligation
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Trusted by 250+ brands across the US, UK, UAE & Europe

01 / CAPABILITIES

Sixteen ways we design and ship production APIs for Shopify.

From Admin and Storefront APIs to custom apps, webhooks, GraphQL services and observability. We build APIs that product and ops teams can rely on.

01

Shopify Admin API

GraphQL and REST integrations for products, orders, customers, inventory, metafields and bulk operations — with rate-limit-aware design.

02

Storefront API & headless

Cart, checkout, product and customer APIs for Hydrogen, Next.js and custom storefronts with caching and edge-friendly patterns.

03

Custom Shopify apps

Embedded admin apps, public App Store apps, theme app extensions and Shopify Functions using Remix, Polaris and modern app architecture.

04

Webhooks & event systems

Reliable webhook receivers, idempotent handlers, ordering, retries and dead-letter queues so events are never lost or double-processed.

05

GraphQL services

Internal and partner-facing GraphQL APIs with clear schemas, auth, pagination and performance budgets for product and ops teams.

06

Shopify Functions

Discount, shipping, payment and cart transform Functions that run at the edge of checkout with typed inputs and deterministic logic.

07

Middleware & BFF layers

Backend-for-frontend services that aggregate Shopify and third-party APIs, enforce auth and keep storefronts thin and fast.

08

Auth, scopes & security

OAuth, session tokens, least-privilege scopes, signed webhooks, secrets management and secure multi-tenant patterns.

09

Bulk operations & jobs

Long-running product, order and customer syncs using Shopify bulk operations, queues and progress tracking without blocking the UI.

10

Partner & public APIs

Documented, versioned APIs for partners, marketplaces and internal tools with clear SLAs and change management.

11

Metafields & metaobjects

Structured data models exposed via Admin and Storefront APIs so custom product, content and config data stays queryable and typed.

12

Agentic & AI-ready APIs

Catalog, inventory and order endpoints structured for ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Copilot and other agents with clear schemas and auth.

13

API migration & refactor

Move off legacy REST, undocumented scripts or brittle middleware onto versioned GraphQL or REST services without downtime.

14

Testing & contract design

Contract tests, OpenAPI/GraphQL schemas, staging environments and CI checks so API changes don’t break consumers.

15

Performance & caching

Edge caching, query cost control, bulk vs real-time trade-offs and p95 latency targets that hold under real traffic.

16

Observability & SLOs

Metrics, logs, traces, error budgets and alerting so APIs stay healthy and ownership is clear when they are not.

02 / PROCESS

How an API development engagement runs.

Every engagement follows the same four stages. You always know what is happening next and how success is measured at each milestone.

  1. Stage 1

    Discovery & contracts

    We map consumers, data domains, volume and failure modes, then lock API contracts, auth model and SLOs before implementation starts.

  2. Stage 2

    Design & architecture

    Schemas, versioning, rate limits, error model, observability and deployment strategy are defined so the API is operable from day one.

  3. Stage 3

    Build, test & ship

    Implementation with contract tests, staging validation, gradual rollout and rollback plans. Documentation and ownership maps ship with the code.

  4. Stage 4

    Observe, iterate & support

    SLOs, alerts and dashboards stay live. We refine based on real usage and offer retainers for ongoing ownership and evolution.

03 / OUR WORK

Recent work from our portfolio.

Live stores, apps and platforms we have built and run. Case studies open on this site; other projects open the live build in a new tab.

View all work

120+

API projects shipped

custom apps, Admin/Storefront integrations and middleware

99.9%

Uptime target

with monitoring, retries and clear ownership of failures

<200ms

Typical p95 latency

for critical read paths under production traffic

100%

Documented handovers

schemas, credentials, runbooks and ownership on every project

04 / PRICING

Transparent pricing. Pick the model that fits your API goals.

Fixed-scope API projects, ongoing retainers, or full-time dedicated teams. Whatever the engagement, you’ll see the price before you sign: no hourly creep, no surprise change orders.

Project

Fixed-scope API project

$8K – $55K

Fixed timeline · Milestone-billed

Best for: Custom apps, Admin/Storefront integrations, webhook systems, GraphQL services

  • Fixed SOW & written contracts
  • Schemas, tests & observability
  • Full documentation & ownership map
  • Easy off-ramp, no lock-in

Retainer

Monthly API partnership

$2.5K – $11K / mo

20–50 hrs/month · Month-to-month

Best for: Ongoing ownership, new endpoints, performance work and incident response

  • Dedicated API lead
  • SLO ownership & alerts
  • Priority fixes & new surfaces
  • Unused hours roll 50% forward

Dedicated team

Full-time API pod

$7K – $20K / mo

1–3 specialists · Embedded with your engineering team

Best for: Complex multi-API programmes, continuous platform work, high volume

  • Senior API specialists full-time
  • Direct Slack & weekly standups
  • Reports to your eng / product lead
  • Signed SLA & continuous ownership

05 / WHY BRANDS STAY

Six reasons brands stay with us for API development.

Most of our API work is repeat business or referral. These are the reasons clients give when we ask why.

Production-first design

Contracts, auth, rate limits, retries and observability are designed up front — not bolted on after the first outage.

Shopify-native depth

We work daily with Admin API, Storefront API, Functions, webhooks and app architecture — not generic REST tutorials.

A dedicated lead on every project

One accountable owner, clear weekly updates, no account-manager telephone game.

Schemas and docs that match reality

OpenAPI/GraphQL schemas, ownership maps and runbooks so the next engineer can extend the API without archaeology.

Transparent, fixed-scope pricing

Written scope and a fixed number before work starts. No surprise line items or hourly creep.

You own the code & credentials

Full repository access, deployment docs and secrets ownership. We stay because the work is good, not because exit is hard.

06 / TECH STACK

What we use for API development.

Native Shopify APIs and app tooling first, modern TypeScript services and GraphQL when you need custom surfaces, and observability baked in from the first commit.

Shopify APIs

  • Admin API (GraphQL/REST)
  • Storefront API
  • Webhooks
  • Shopify Functions
  • Bulk Operations
  • App Bridge

App & service stack

  • Remix
  • Node
  • TypeScript
  • Polaris
  • Hydrogen
  • Next.js
  • GraphQL Yoga / Apollo

Infra & delivery

  • Shopify CLI
  • GitHub Actions
  • serverless / containers
  • queues
  • edge caching

Observability & quality

  • OpenAPI / GraphQL schemas
  • contract tests
  • structured logs
  • metrics
  • tracing
  • SLOs

07 / FAQ

Questions we hear before every API engagement.

Honest answers, including the ones most agencies dodge.

Get a free API audit
How long does a typical API project take?

Focused integrations and webhook systems often land in 4–8 weeks. Custom apps or multi-surface GraphQL platforms usually run 8–16 weeks. Timeline is fixed in the SOW before work starts.

Do you build public App Store apps or only private/custom?

Both. We build private custom apps for a single merchant and public App Store apps with listing, review and multi-tenant architecture when that is the goal.

GraphQL or REST — which do you recommend?

We use GraphQL for Admin API and most new internal surfaces, REST when a consumer or legacy system requires it, and often a mix with a clear BFF or gateway in front.

What does a typical engagement cost?

Projects: $8K–$55K. Monthly retainers: $2.5K–$11K/mo. Dedicated team: $7K–$20K/mo. Every quote is fixed-fee and locked in the SOW.

How do you handle rate limits and high volume?

Rate-limit-aware clients, bulk operations, queues, backoff and caching are designed in from the start. We set realistic SLOs and test under load before go-live.

Do you support APIs after launch?

Yes. Retainers include SLO ownership, alerts, priority fixes and new endpoints as product needs evolve. Most clients keep a retainer after the initial project.