Starting January 1, 2026, you will not be able to create new legacy custom apps. This will not impact any existing apps

Shopify App Store
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1

Hi everyone,
I need some clarification regarding the upcoming change where Shopify will stop allowing new Legacy Custom Apps after January 1, 2026.

My current workflow:
I ask my clients (Shopify merchants) to:

  1. Go to Settings → Apps and sales channels → Develop apps

  2. Create a Custom App (Legacy Custom App)

  3. Enable API scopes like read_products

  4. Install the app

  5. Copy the Admin API access token and share it with me

  6. I then use this token to call the Admin API and fetch their store products

This method works well today.

  1. For new clients after 2026, can I still ask them to use the same approach?

    • Or will the ability to create a custom app from the store admin be completely removed?

    • Will merchants still get access tokens this way?

  2. If this method won’t work for new clients after 2026,
    what is the recommended future-proof approach?
2

You’ll need to create the app through the new dev dashboard, and use something like Using the client credentials grant