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Features

The Features action set enables you to get a list of features are available in the current app context, and to request features that are not currently available.

You can use the features action in the following ways:

  1. Plain JavaScript
  2. React hooks

Anchor to Plain JavaScriptPlain JavaScript

Using the plain JavaScript approach, there are two ways to work with features.

  • Check feature availability with App.featuresAvailable()
  • Dispatch a feature request action for a specific feature

Anchor to Example codeExample code

Import the createApp function from @shopify/app-bridge and the Features from @shopify/app-bridge/actions. Then use the createApp function to create an app.

Note

In the following example, config is a valid App Bridge configuration object. Learn more about configuring App Bridge.

import createApp from '@shopify/app-bridge';
import {Features, Group, Scanner} from '@shopify/app-bridge/actions';

const app = createApp(config);

Anchor to Subscribe to feature availability updatesSubscribe to feature availability updates

app.subscribe(Features.Action.UPDATE, function () {
// This callback is a reminder that a feature's availability has
// changed.
// Call `app.featuresAvailable()` to get all available features
});

Anchor to App.featuresAvailable()App.featuresAvailable()

Calling app.featuresAvailable() returns a promise that evaluates to the entire set of available features for the app. An object containing groups, the actions within each group, and the permissions for each action (Dispatch and Subscribe), represents the feature set.

It will look like this:

{
cart: {
dispatch: true,
subscribe: true,
}
...
}

If Dispatch is equal to true, then you will be able to send that type of action within your app. Likewise if Subscribe is equal to true, then you will be able to subscribe to dispatches of that type of action.

If a group is not present in the state then it can be assumed that all actions contained in that group are also not available.

app.featuresAvailable().then(function (state) {
/* All actions will be in the state object:
{
Cart: {...},
Button: {...},
Modal: {...},
...
Scanner: {...},
Share: {...}
} */
});

If you want to limit your resulting state to a subset of groups, then pass in a group parameter.

app.featuresAvailable(Group.Cart).then(function (state) {
// state will contain only Cart actions
/*
{
Cart: {
FETCH: {
Dispatch: false,
Subscribe: false
},
REMOVE_LINE_ITEM_PROPERTIES: {
Dispatch: false,
Subscribe: false
}
...
}
} */
});

Multiple group filters are also supported by using ...rest parameters.

app.featuresAvailable(Group.Cart, Group.Button, Group.Modal).then(function (state) {
// state will contain only Cart, Button, and Modal actions
/*
{
Cart: {...},
Button: {...},
Modal: {...}
} */
});

Anchor to CartCart

If you experience feature availability errors while trying to access Cart actions on Point of Sale, try wrapping that code in a subscription to Features.Action.UPDATE.

// Subscribe to the features update action as early as possible
const unsubscribe = app.subscribe(Features.Action.UPDATE, function () {
app.featuresAvailable(Group.Cart).then((features) => {
const hasFetchCart = features.Cart[Cart.Action.FETCH];
if (hasFetchCart) {
unsubscribe();
// Do something
}
});
});

Anchor to Features Update actionFeatures Update action

GroupFeatures
ActionUPDATE
Action TypeAPP::FEATURES::UPDATE
DescriptionDispatches when a feature's available state changes.

Anchor to ResponseResponse

KeyTypeDescription
MainObjectThe availability state of the features in the main context.
ModalObjectThe availability state of the features in the modal context.

Anchor to Features Request actionFeatures Request action

GroupFeatures
ActionREQUEST
Action TypeAPP::FEATURES::REQUEST
DescriptionRequests for a feature to be enabled. May result in an authorization dialog to appear, depending on the platform it is dispatched on.

If an action is not available when you call app.featuresAvailable(), then you can use the APP::FEATURES::REQUEST action to request either a group of actions or a single action inside a group to be enabled. This is particularly useful when the app is running on a mobile device and requesting a hardware feature, such as the scanner, that needs authorization from the user.

The workflow for enabling a feature includes two parts: subscribing to APP::FEATURES::REQUEST::UPDATE and dispatching APP::FEATURES::REQUEST. APP::FEATURES::REQUEST is the input and APP::FEATURES::REQUEST::UPDATE is the output.

Requesting Camera Scanner actions:

var features = Features.create(app);
features.subscribe(Features.Action.REQUEST_UPDATE, function (payload) {
if (payload.feature[Scanner.Action.OPEN_CAMERA]) {
var Dispatch = payload.feature[Scanner.Action.OPEN_CAMERA].Dispatch;
console.log("Camera Scanner has been ".concat(Dispatch ? "enabled" : "disabled"));
}
});
features.dispatch(Features.Action.REQUEST, {
feature: Group.Scanner,
action: Scanner.Action.OPEN_CAMERA
});

Anchor to RequestRequest

KeyTypeDescription
featureStringThe feature group that you would like to enable.
actionString?An optional action within the group to enable. All actions within the group will be enabled if an action is not specified.

Anchor to Features Request Update actionFeatures Request Update action

GroupFeatures
ActionUPDATE
Action TypeAPP::FEATURES::UPDATE
DescriptionDispatches with the result of a features request action.

Anchor to ResponseResponse

KeyTypeDescription
featureObjectThe new state of the requested feature.

Anchor to Application contextApplication context

Shopify App Bridge applications can be opened in different places. We refer to each of these places as a context. Each context makes a set of features available to the application. Different contexts can provide different feature sets.

For instance, the Modal context has a different set of features available than the Main context.

Note

Note: The Main context is the default when running an embedded app using Shopify App Bridge. The context cannot be set externally, since it's determined automatically.

To check which context an application is in, you can use app.getState(). Read more about app.getState.

app.getState('context').then(function (context) {
console.log('Context is: ', context); // Context is: Main
});

Anchor to ReactReact

With App Bridge React, you have two hooks that simplify using the feature action set.

Anchor to [object Object], hookuseFeaturesAvailable hook

The useFeaturesAvailable hook accepts a feature name (or a list of feature names) and returns an object with information about its avaiable actions. If the hook receives no arguments, it returns an object with information about all of the features in App Bridge.

Anchor to Example codeExample code

Note

When using the App Bridge React library, you need to wrap all of your App Bridge React code inside of a single App Bridge Provider.

import {useFeaturesAvailable} from '@shopify/app-bridge-react';

function MyComponent {
const {ContextualSaveBar} = useFeaturesAvailable('ContextualSaveBar');

if(ContextualSaveBar.dispatch) {
ContextualSaveBar.dispatch(ContextualSaveBar.Action.SHOW)
}

...
}

Anchor to [object Object], hookuseFeatureRequest hook

The useFeatureRequest hook enables you to request a group of actions, or a single action inside of a group, to be enabled. This is particularly useful when the app is running on a mobile device and requests a hardware feature, such as the scanner, that needs authorization from the user.

Anchor to Example codeExample code

Note

When using the App Bridge React library, you need to wrap all of your App Bridge React code inside of a single App Bridge Provider.

import {Scanner} from '@shopify/app-bridge/actions';
import {useFeatureRequest, useAppBridge} from '@shopify/app-bridge-react';

function MyComponent {
const app = useAppBridge()
const scannerFeature = useFeatureRequest('Scanner');

if(scannerFeature['APP::SCANNER::OPEN::CAMERA'].Dispatch) {
app.dispatch(Scanner.Action.OPEN_CAMERA)
}
}

Anchor to PropsProps

  • The useFeaturesAvailable hook accepts a single feature or a list of features.
  • The useFeatureRequest accepts a single feature.
NameTypeDescriptionRequired
feature"AuthCode", "Button", "ButtonGroup", "Cart", "Client", "ContextualSaveBar", "Error", "Features", "FeedbackModal", "Fullscreen", "LeaveConfirmation", "Link", "Menu", "Modal", "Navigation", "Performance", "Pos", "Print", "ResourcePicker", "Scanner", "SessionToken", "Share", "TitleBar", "Toast"Name of the feature to check permissions forNo
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