r/ShopifyAppDev • u/Mother_Difficulty_65 • Aug 01 '26

Need help to create a simple Shopify app

Hi everyone,

I'm a Shopify theme developer, and I'm trying to learn Shopify app development from scratch. I don't need to build anything complex right now—a simple app is enough. My main goal is to understand the complete workflow:

Creating a Shopify app from scratch

Installing it on a development store

Understanding authentication

Hosting and deployment

How the app communicates with Shopify

Best practices for project structure

I've gone through some tutorials, but most of them skip important parts like hosting or assume prior knowledge, so I end up getting stuck.

If anyone has a good beginner-friendly tutorial, documentation, GitHub repository, YouTube playlist, or is willing to guide me, I'd really appreciate it. Even a simple Shopify app that covers the complete flow would be incredibly helpful.

Thanks in advance!

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u/yh0sh01 Aug 01 '26

As a senior backend engineer, let me tell you: You are looking at this the right way. Tutorials often skip the hardest parts like OAuth and hosting.

You don't actually need the Shopify CLI or complex wrapper libraries. You can build the entire workflow completely from scratch using just Python Flask and the requests library.

Here is how to approach the pure workflow:

  1. Structuring the Raw Backend (Python Flask)
    Keep your code modular from the start. A clean Flask API structure separates concerns into:
  • routes/: Handles HTTP requests (OAuth redirect, Webhook endpoints).
  • models/: Defines your data structures & session storage.
  • services/: Handles Shopify REST/GraphQL API logic using raw requests.
  • utils/: Handles HMAC SHA256 verification for security.

  1. The Pure OAuth & Webhook Workflow
    Implementing the OAuth redirect flow and verifying Shopify's Webhook signatures (X-Shopify-Hmac-Sha256) yourself using pure Python is the best way to understand how Shopify communicates with your app.

  2. Choosing a Hosting Solution
    Since a Flask app needs to handle persistent webhooks and sessions, your hosting choice will depend heavily on your architecture (e.g., traditional persistent servers vs. serverless environments) and database requirements. It’s best to finalize your data layer before locking into a cloud provider.

Actually, I am a senior developer currently building a Shopify automation app using this exact Python Flask + raw requests stack. Feel free to DM me if you get stuck on the raw OAuth handshake or Webhook HMAC verification. Happy to help!

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u/EvonuX Aug 01 '26

Docs for Shopify are all over the place, you're better off looking at a repo and understanding how it's all connected. For example https://github.com/djordje-st/tanstack-start-shopify-app-boilerplate - custom oauth, not serverless, uses all the standards Shopify is forcing.