Build an extension-only app
Extension-only apps are made up entirely of extensions, so you can host them on Shopify with no developer-hosted backend. The extension-only template now includes an App Home UI extension by default, which renders the app's main page in App Home.
Extension-only apps can only be installed with custom distribution.
Extension-only apps can only be installed with custom distribution.
Anchor to Create an extension-only appCreate an extension-only app
Create a new app, give it a name, and choose Build an extension-only app.
Terminal
After you've created your app, you can configure your app, generate additional extensions, and deploy your app.
Anchor to App extensions that can be included in an extension-only appApp extensions that can be included in an extension-only app
The following table lists the app extensions that are compatible with extension-only apps.
| Domain | Extension type | Merchant experience | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admin | UI extension | actions and/or blocks | Add custom cards or modals to resource pages in the Shopify admin. |
| App Home | App Home UI extension | App's main page in the Shopify admin | Build a Shopify-hosted landing page for your app, with no backend required. |
| Checkout | UI extension | blocks | Add custom workflows and functionality at defined points in the checkout flow. |
| Shopify Functions | functions | Inject custom code into key areas of the Shopify platform, such as checkout or cart. | |
| Post-purchase UI extension | blocks | Help users increase sales by adding products for purchase after checkout. | |
| Customer accounts | UI extension | actions and/or blocks | Add functionality at defined points in customer accounts. |
| Flow | Flow actions | actions | Connect your app to Shopify Flow so that your app receives data when a workflow action runs. |
| Flow lifecycle events | Not used for merchants | Notifications from Shopify Flow about stores using triggers in enabled workflows. | |
| Flow templates | templates | Create an example workflow that's available in Flow's template library and can be copied into a merchant's store. | |
| Flow triggers | triggers | Connect your app to Shopify Flow so that events that occur in your app can trigger workflows. | |
| POS | UI extensions | actions, blocks, and/or smart grid tiles | Add custom functionality at defined areas in the POS app. |
Anchor to Adding App Home pagesAdding App Home pages
You can add an App Home page to an existing extension-only app through one of two routes: developer-hosted or Shopify-hosted.
Anchor to Option 1: Developer-hosted App Home pageOption 1: Developer-hosted App Home page
If you need public distribution or anything beyond the UI extension runtime, then host your app yourself and update the application_url in your app configuration to your hosted URL.
Anchor to Option 2: Shopify-hosted UI extensionOption 2: Shopify-hosted UI extension
Extension-only apps can include a Shopify-hosted App Home page by using an App Home UI extension. The extension targets admin.app.home.render and runs in the admin extension runtime. There's no backend to host. This option is restricted to custom distribution.
To learn how to build with this option, see App Home UI extensions.
Anchor to Next stepsNext steps
- Learn how to deploy your extensions that you built using Shopify CLI.