How to test Product recommendations app extension during development?

[suchintan]

Hi,

I want to build a shopify app with my own product recommendation algorithm. Now I'm trying to test the recommendations API I just built. 

After creating a new shopify app and finishing all steps from the POS recommendations doc, (the three endpoints built in local service, spinning up my local development service (`npm run dev`) and setting up POS product recommendations extension with the correct URL),  I go to the product details page (`{store_name}.myshopify.com/products/{product_name}`). However, I don't see that my recommendations endpoint gets hit at all. I do see this API call `https://{store_name}.myshopify.com/recommendations/products?section_id=template--xxx__product-recomm... from the store preview page though.

Any advice how I could hook up my own recommendation API and test product recommendations extension?

[ShopifyDevSup · Accepted solution]

Hi @suchintan,

The POS product recommendations extension allows merchants to lookup recommendations on the Shopify Point of Sale application's product page, or add a tile to their POS's home screen. That recommendations endpoint should only be used by Shopify when someone looks up a product in the POS.

Are you trying to add your app's functionality to the Shopify web admin, or on a liquid based theme extension for customers to see from the storefront?

[suchintan]

thank you. yeah i figured out that I should develop a theme extension and call my own API.

I really wish that the default storefront product recommendation could be plugged with my API so that I don't have to build the frontend part.