Shopify Custom App Installation Error

Shopify Apps
,
1

Server IP address could not be found”

Hi everyone,

I’m currently working on a custom Shopify app built with Node.js + Express, and I’m facing an issue during the app installation step.

What I’ve done so far

  • Created the custom app in Shopify Partner dashboard

  • Configured:

    • App URL

    • Redirect URL

    • API scopes

  • Set up my local Node.js server running on:

    http://localhost:3000

  • Installed and configured ngrok

  • Generated a public HTTPS forwarding URL from ngrok and used it as:

    • App URL

    • Redirect URL

    • Webhook URL

  • Created and released a new app version

  • Tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app

Problem

When I try to install the app, Shopify shows this error:

“Server IP address could not be found.”

Because of this, the app installation does not complete and I’m unable to proceed with OAuth authentication and API usage.

What I want to understand

  • What is the exact cause of this error?

  • Is it related to:

    • ngrok configuration

    • incorrect App URL / Redirect URL

    • local server not running

    • DNS or HTTPS validation

  • Can this be solved without using ngrok (for example via Postman or another method)?

Environment

  • Node.js + Express backend

  • Local development on Windows

  • Using Shopify custom app (not public app)

I would really appreciate any guidance or troubleshooting steps.
Thank you in advance for your help!

1 Like
2

Hey @usman18,

This sounds like a DNS issue to me, basically Shopify isn’t looking in the right place for your app. Make sure your ngrok is tunneling to the correct place “localhost:3000”.

Also, go to your custom app settings in the Shopify Partner dashboard. Take the current HTTPS forwarding URL directly from your active ngrok terminal and update both the “App URL” and all “Redirect URLs” to match it exactly. If you restart ngrok, you must update these URLs in the Partner dashboard again, because you’re most likely generating new URLs with each new server (that can be turned off in your shopify.app.toml file by adding this: automatically_update_urls_on_dev = false).

You can’t really solve this without ngrok or a similar tunneling service (like Cloudflare Tunnel, localtunnel) for local development. Shopify requires a publicly accessible HTTPS URL to initiate the OAuth flow and communicate with your app. Tools like Postman are for making API requests, not for hosting a server that Shopify can redirect to.

Hope that helps!