Is it mandatory to use Shopify App Bridge?

[Plambir93]

Hello! I currently develop embedded app for Shopify Store. We use https://github.com/gnikyt/laravel-shopify as a backend and have separate frontend React app.
  I read in your requirements https://shopify.dev/apps/store/requirements in clause "10. Embedded apps", that all embedded apps must use Shopify App Bridge. But in our concept - all interactions with Shopify API goes through backend and frontend interacts only with our backend. So, my question - is it mandatory to use Shopify App Bridge in our case? Because we have no need to use it.

[Ugurcan]

If you are creating an embedded app, yes it is mandatory.

You can also create an app which is not embedded to Shopify admin.

[Plambir93]

@Ugurcan Thank you! But what should we do with it, just wrap our app in Provider? Because we have no need in Shopify App Bridge functionality.

[Ugurcan]

@Plambir93 Shopify App Bridge handles the authentication and embedding the app within the Shopify frame. Without App Bridge you app cannot work within the Shopify admin. There is a authentication flow that app needs to follow, in some parts it needs to escape the iframe and then get back in. App Bridge is a library you can use for that purpose.

If you do not need it to work in the admin, consider creating an non-embedded application.

[Plambir93]

@Ugurcan But our frontend app do not interact with Shopify Admin by itself, authentication, billing and other things are executed by our Laravel backend (made on https://github.com/gnikyt/laravel-shopify ). So our backend works with admin, but not our frontend app. Does our frontend still needs to be wrapped with Shopify App Bridge Provider?

[electrodrel]

We have a similar setup: golang backend that deals with authentication and with serving frontend html and vanilla js frontend that communicates with the backend via fetch. I am not sure if/where we should introduce AppBridge. 

[zksumon]

what type of setup do you guys have now?