Question: Updating products with external API

Hi Folks,
I’m new to Shopify looking to have my details automatically update based on an external API and I’m curious what the best way to go about this is.

Questions:

  1. Does Shopify already offer a way to do this?
  2. Do I have to build my own app to achieve this?
  3. If I’m creating an app with a cron job that pulls from an external API and posts to a Shopify API, will this require me having any sort of hosting/servers
  4. Which Shopify API would be most appropriate for doing this?
  5. Best resources for achieving this?
  6. If I create an app do I have to make it available to others?
  7. Is creating an app for Shopify overkill? Would it be more efficient to just have a local running on my computer that runs daily?

I apologize if I’m asking in the wrong place or missed something obvious about where I can find this information. Any help is greatly appriciated!

I am unsure if something like Zapier would be sufficient there but you might check if making an app would be overkill.

You could use a custom app.

https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/apps/app-types/custom-apps

Hi @Lovers_Audio ,

These are good questions, i think alot depends on the specific external API.

  1. maybe, try looking at Shopify Flow - Automate everything and get back to business | Shopify App Store which is a shopify app

  2. same answer, depends on the API

  3. Yes, you’ll need a server to host your application

  4. depends on what details you want to update

  5. https://shopify.dev/ there is an assistant in the search you could use

  6. no, it can be a custom app

  7. it might, depends on what is available in the app store https://apps.shopify.com/.
    for this to run on your computer you would still need it to be at least a custom app