Hello there!
I´m a full on noob when it comes to any kind of coding, so I was happy to have tutorials about how to integrate services (like shipping companies) with my Shopify. Now since the update to Dev Dashboard I´m quite lost as those old tutorials don´t work for me anymore which is a shame as I urgently need a Backerkit connection and can´t do it.
Now another shipping company made pre-tutorial for me to get things going faster, the issue is that I was able to follow their new tutorial until it says “click distribution” since I don´t have that section in my dev dashboard at all for some reason.
I posted 2 screenshots where it shows it´s just missing. Can someone tell me why?
If Backerkit get´s around and says they maybe rush a tutorial for the connection too and I run into the same problem that be quite unhandy x)
Hi @Therbis! The Distribution section you’re seeing in the tutorial is for Partner accounts creating apps that need to be installed on other merchants’ stores. If you’re creating an app through the Dev Dashboard as a merchant (for your own store), you won’t see that option
When merchants create apps via the Dev Dashboard, the app is automatically scoped to your own store only. There’s no distribution step because the app can’t be distributed elsewhere - it’s already tied to your store. This is different from how Partners create custom apps with distribution options that can be installed on client stores.
Your shipping integration should still work fine. The tutorial you’re following was likely written with Partners in mind, so you can skip the Distribution step entirely. Once you’ve created your app version and configured the scopes/settings the shipping company requires, you should be able to proceed with connecting their service.
Sadly it will still not work though, neither on the shipping app or Backerkit where I also tried to couple. The moment I install the app it will only show “error connecting to Shopify".
When I peaked at Reddit I saw a lot of people struggling with the same issues x.x
Glad that helped clear up the Distribution part @Therbis!
For the “error connecting to Shopify” - this might be a compatibility issue with how the third-party service expects to connect. Dev Dashboard apps work differently from the old custom apps that used to be created in the Shopify admin.
With the old flow, you’d just copy a permanent access token from the app settings. Dev Dashboard apps use client credentials (a Client ID and Client Secret from your app’s Settings page) to generate short-lived tokens that expire every 24 hours.
If the shipping company’s tutorial was written for the old custom app setup, it may be expecting a permanent access token that Dev Dashboard apps don’t provide. The third-party service would need to support the client credentials flow to work with the new approach.
Can you check what the tutorial is asking you to paste into their system - is it asking for an “access token” or for “client ID and client secret”?
I´ll lead this info to the people from Backerkit, maybe it´ll help them get things solved.
For my shipping integration it now finally worked, but they changed their tutorial and some steps there, so it wasn´t an issue from my end it seems! Yay
Thanks @Therbis. We were able to get farther, and then started learning more about the distribution methods above. If you contact support, we have some steps to see if we can resolve the Shopify integration. It would help us resolve any outstanding issues.
@Donal-Shopify, we now support client id and client secret, too. It appears, however, that the distribution methods that do not appear (sometimes) are getting in our way. Can I share our doc with you for setup instructions to see if we are missing step(s)?
On the distribution piece, whether the Distribution section appears depends on how the app was created and by whom. If a merchant creates a custom app through their Dev Dashboard, there’s no distribution step at all. The app is automatically scoped to that merchant’s organization, and they just install it directly from the Dev Dashboard. Distribution only shows up when a Partner creates an app through the Partner Dashboard, which is a separate context from the merchant Dev Dashboard.
That likely explains the “sometimes” you’re seeing. If some of your users are creating apps as merchants (via their store’s Dev Dashboard) and others are creating them via a Partner account, only the Partner path surfaces distribution options. For merchant-created custom apps, the workflow is just: create the app, configure scopes, release a version, install it on their store, then share the Client ID and Client Secret with you.
Happy to review your setup doc if you share it here!
Thanks @Donal-Shopify. This is our doc. Step 11 is where I updated based on this thread. We had a customer try it out, skipping step 11 because they are a merchant, but it did not work for them. The steps for a partner dashboard seem to work.
The distribution steps (step 13) only appear when someone creates an app through a Partner account. Merchants creating apps through their own Dev Dashboard never see distribution, which is why it “sometimes” shows and sometimes doesn’t. For merchants, the app is tied to their organization and they install directly.
Go to Home, click Install app, select the store, click Install
Go to Settings, copy the Client ID and Client Secret
Your system then exchanges those for an access token via grant_type=client_credentials. Tokens expire every 24 hours. The client credentials grant guide has the details.
Your scopes and release steps look correct. If the merchant who tested step 14 (direct install) still couldn’t connect, it would help to know the specific error your system returned. The Create apps using the Dev Dashboard tutorial covers the canonical flow.
I’d also suggest considering an unlisted public app longer term. That way BackerKit handles all the configuration and merchants just install via a link, removing the custom app setup burden entirely. See the app distribution docs for more. Hope this helps!
