Install App to Use API?

[RandySK]

We are setting up an API so we can maintain product and order data from our custom database application.  Shopify wants us to install an 'app'.  Do we need to do this just to use the API?  What is the app?  This is the page we're working with:

https://shopify.dev/tutorials/authenticate-with-oauth?locale=en#step-2-ask-for-permission 

It says it will redirect to Shopify, but that doesn't seem to happen.

Anyone have an idea how we can get started?

Thanks.

[HunkyBill]

Looks to me like you could burn 100 hours of your life away getting to the point where you might be comfortable exchanging a little information from your internal systems to Shopify. Or more. Depends I guess, on your ability and skills. If you wanted to skip the pain, just hire an expert. An expert can have that "app" installed in your shop within an hour, leaving 99 to figure out your internal systems.

Sounds like you should maybe make a decision about where you want to spend your $$.

[RandySK]

Bill,

Thanks.  We were having a hard time finding the appropriate documentation.  It appears we were in the storefront API, when we needed to be in the Admin API.  We found what we needed and we're communicating with Shopify through the API.  We appreciate the help.

[HunkyBill · Accepted solution]

Ha! You're are not the first to miss that little detail. There have been thousands that screw that up! If I had a nickel for every time someone tried to call the /admin API from their front-end store too, why I'd have a Tesla to use as my winter beater car!