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Shopify provides a suite of lightweight JavaScript API client packages designed to help you interact with Shopify’s GraphQL and REST APIs. These packages are minimally opinionated and provide essential functionality for authentication, request handling, and type safety.

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Available Packages

The API clients ecosystem consists of the following packages:

Admin API Client

Client for Shopify’s Admin API with GraphQL and REST support

Storefront API Client

Client for Shopify’s Storefront API with streaming support

GraphQL Client

Generic GraphQL client for any Shopify GraphQL API

API Codegen Preset

TypeScript type generation for GraphQL operations

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Architecture

The API clients follow a layered architecture: 
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Admin API Client / Storefront Client   │
│  (Domain-specific functionality)         │
└─────────────────┬───────────────────────┘
                  │
┌─────────────────▼───────────────────────┐
│        GraphQL Client                   │
│  (Core GraphQL functionality)            │
└─────────────────┬───────────────────────┘
                  │
┌─────────────────▼───────────────────────┐
│     Fetch API (Browser/Node.js)         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
  • GraphQL Client: Core client handling GraphQL requests, retries, and streaming
  • Admin/Storefront Clients: Domain-specific clients with API versioning, authentication headers, and URL formatting
  • API Codegen Preset: Development tool for generating TypeScript types from your GraphQL operations

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Key Features

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Type Safety

All clients support TypeScript and can be enhanced with auto-generated types using the API Codegen Preset: 
const {data, errors} = await client.request<ProductQuery>(
  operation,
  {variables: {id: 'gid://shopify/Product/123'}}
);

// data.product is fully typed
console.log(data?.product.title);

​
Automatic Retries

Built-in retry logic for failed requests with configurable retry counts: 
const client = createAdminApiClient({
  storeDomain: 'shop.myshopify.com',
  apiVersion: '2025-01',
  accessToken: 'token',
  retries: 2, // Retry up to 2 times on 429/503 errors
});

​
Flexible Authentication

Support for different authentication methods depending on the API:
  • Admin API: Access tokens via X-Shopify-Access-Token header
  • Storefront API: Public or private access tokens
  • Custom: Provide your own headers for any API

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Stream Support

Storefront and GraphQL clients support streaming responses for operations using the @defer directive: 
const stream = await client.requestStream(deferredQuery, {variables});

for await (const response of stream) {
  console.log(response.data); // Partial data as it arrives
  if (!response.hasNext) break;
}

​
Custom Fetch API

All clients support custom fetch implementations for Node.js or custom networking: 
import {fetch as nodeFetch} from 'node-fetch';

const client = createAdminApiClient({
  // ... other config
  customFetchApi: nodeFetch,
});

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Installation

Install the package you need using your preferred package manager: 
npm install @shopify/admin-api-client

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Quick Start

import {createAdminApiClient} from '@shopify/admin-api-client';

const client = createAdminApiClient({
  storeDomain: 'your-shop.myshopify.com',
  apiVersion: '2025-01',
  accessToken: 'your-access-token',
});

const {data, errors} = await client.request(`
  query {
    shop {
      name
    }
  }
`);

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Common Patterns

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Error Handling

All clients return a consistent error structure: 
const {data, errors} = await client.request(operation);

if (errors) {
  console.error('Network error:', errors.message);
  console.error('Status code:', errors.networkStatusCode);
  
  if (errors.graphQLErrors) {
    console.error('GraphQL errors:', errors.graphQLErrors);
  }
} else {
  // Use data safely
  console.log(data);
}

​
API Versioning

You can override the API version per request: 
const client = createAdminApiClient({
  storeDomain: 'shop.myshopify.com',
  apiVersion: '2025-01',
  accessToken: 'token',
});

// Use a different version for this request
const {data} = await client.request(operation, {
  apiVersion: '2024-10',
});

​
Logging

All clients support custom loggers for debugging: 
const client = createAdminApiClient({
  storeDomain: 'shop.myshopify.com',
  apiVersion: '2025-01',
  accessToken: 'token',
  logger: (logContent) => {
    console.log(logContent.type, logContent.content);
  },
});

​
Next Steps

Admin API Client

Learn about GraphQL and REST endpoints for the Admin API

Storefront API Client

Build customer-facing storefronts with the Storefront API

Type Generation

Auto-generate TypeScript types for your operations

GraphQL Client

Use the low-level GraphQL client for custom APIs

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