Integration Challenge with Shopify App Installation

Shopify Apps

Topic summary

A development team is building an ERP and inventory management system that needs to integrate with Shopify via a custom app. They’re encountering a critical technical challenge during the app installation workflow.

Core Problem:

  • Customers initiate app installation from within the ERP system (identified by subdomain)
  • When Shopify redirects during installation, the subdomain information is lost
  • Without the subdomain, they cannot identify which customer is installing the app

Additional Constraints:

  • The synchronization settings page exists in their ERP system, not in the Shopify app
  • The app’s purpose is to sync data between the customer’s ERP account and their Shopify store
  • Shopify’s standard flow redirects merchants to the app dashboard after installation, but they need the subdomain for this redirection

Seeking:

  • Guidance on handling subdomain persistence during Shopify’s OAuth/installation flow
  • Examples from others who’ve solved similar customer identification challenges
  • Technical approaches to maintain context between systems during installation
Summarized with AI on November 14. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

We are currently working on an ERP and Inventory management system website and are looking to integrate it with Shopify through an application.

Our recent challenge involves the installation process of the Shopify app. When initiating the app installation by clicking a button within our customer’s account in our system, the installation process from the Shopify store does not complete successfully. The crucial issue at hand is that we identify our customer through their subdomain in our system, and when the installation begins from the Shopify store, we are unaware of the required subdomain.

One of Shopify’s basic requirements is to install the app and then redirect the merchant to the app’s dashboard. However, this is not feasible for us because we need the subdomain for redirection.

In reality, our application aims to synchronize data between our customer’s account in our system and their store on Shopify. Therefore, the purpose of the application is to provide the connection between the two systems. The synchronization settings page is located in our system, and we do not want – or need – to add a settings page in the Shopify app.

Has anyone encountered a similar use case? Are there any guidance and tips for us regarding the mentioned issues? Your assistance and insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,