Shopify Multi-Environment Setup

Overview

Configure Shopify apps with isolated development, staging, and production environments. Each environment uses a separate Shopify app instance, development store, and credentials.

Prerequisites

Shopify Partner account
Multiple development stores (free to create in Partner Dashboard)
Secret management solution for production (Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, etc.)

Instructions

Step 1: Create Separate App Instances

Create one app per environment in your Partner Dashboard:

Environment	App Name	Store	Purpose
Development	My App (Dev)	dev-store.myshopify.com	Local development
Staging	My App (Staging)	staging-store.myshopify.com	Pre-prod testing
Production	My App	live-store.myshopify.com	Live traffic

Each app gets its own API_KEY, API_SECRET, and ACCESS_TOKEN.

Step 2: Environment Configuration Files

# .env.development (git-ignored)
SHOPIFY_API_KEY=dev_api_key
SHOPIFY_API_SECRET=dev_api_secret
SHOPIFY_STORE=dev-store.myshopify.com
SHOPIFY_ACCESS_TOKEN=shpat_dev_token
SHOPIFY_APP_URL=https://localhost:3000
SHOPIFY_API_VERSION=2024-10
NODE_ENV=development

# .env.staging (git-ignored)
SHOPIFY_API_KEY=staging_api_key
SHOPIFY_API_SECRET=staging_api_secret
SHOPIFY_STORE=staging-store.myshopify.com
SHOPIFY_ACCESS_TOKEN=shpat_staging_token
SHOPIFY_APP_URL=https://staging.your-app.com
SHOPIFY_API_VERSION=2024-10
NODE_ENV=staging

# .env.production (never on disk — use secret manager)
# All values stored in Vault / AWS Secrets Manager / GCP Secret Manager

Step 3: Shopify CLI Configuration Per Environment

# shopify.app.dev.toml — development config
name = "My App (Dev)"
client_id = "dev_api_key"

[access_scopes]
scopes = "read_products,write_products,read_orders,write_orders"

[auth]
redirect_urls = ["https://localhost/auth/callback"]

[webhooks]
api_version = "2024-10"

# Switch between app configs
shopify app config use shopify.app.dev.toml
shopify app dev

shopify app config use shopify.app.toml  # production
shopify app deploy

Step 4: Environment-Aware Configuration

// src/config.ts
interface ShopifyEnvConfig {
  apiKey: string;
  apiSecret: string;
  appUrl: string;
  apiVersion: string;
  scopes: string[];
  environment: "development" | "staging" | "production";
  debug: boolean;
  sessionStorageType: "memory" | "sqlite" | "postgresql";
}

function getConfig(): ShopifyEnvConfig {
  const env = (process.env.NODE_ENV || "development") as ShopifyEnvConfig["environment"];

  const base = {
    apiKey: process.env.SHOPIFY_API_KEY!,
    apiSecret: process.env.SHOPIFY_API_SECRET!,
    appUrl: process.env.SHOPIFY_APP_URL!,
    apiVersion: process.env.SHOPIFY_API_VERSION || "2024-10",
    scopes: (process.env.SHOPIFY_SCOPES || "read_products").split(","),
    environment: env,
  };

  const envOverrides: Record<string, Partial<ShopifyEnvConfig>> = {
    development: {
      debug: true,
      sessionStorageType: "sqlite",
    },
    staging: {
      debug: false,
      sessionStorageType: "postgresql",
    },
    production: {
      debug: false,
      sessionStorageType: "postgresql",
    },
  };

  return { ...base, ...envOverrides[env] } as ShopifyEnvConfig;
}

Step 5: Environment Guards

// Prevent dangerous operations outside production
function requireProduction(operation: string): void {
  if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== "production") {
    console.log(`[DEV] ${operation} — would execute in production`);
    return;
  }
}

function blockInProduction(operation: string): void {
  if (process.env.NODE_ENV === "production") {
    throw new Error(
      `Operation "${operation}" is blocked in production. ` +
      `Use staging or development environment.`
    );
  }
}

// Example: prevent test data seeding in production
async function seedTestProducts() {
  blockInProduction("seedTestProducts");
  // ... seeding logic
}

// Example: ensure billing only runs in production
async function activateBilling(session: Session) {
  requireProduction("activateBilling");
  // ... billing logic
}

Output

Isolated environments with separate app instances
Environment-specific configuration loading
Shopify CLI configured for multi-env workflow
Safety guards preventing cross-environment mistakes

Error Handling

Issue	Cause	Solution
Wrong store in dev	Using prod .env	Verify `SHOPIFY_STORE` in your .env file
OAuth fails on staging	Wrong redirect URL	Update redirect_urls in staging app config
Webhooks not received	URL mismatch	Each environment needs its own webhook URLs
Production guard triggered	Wrong NODE_ENV	Set NODE_ENV correctly in deployment platform

Examples

Development Store Quick Setup

# Create a development store from Partner Dashboard
# Partners > Stores > Add store > Development store

# Install your dev app on the dev store
shopify app dev --store=dev-store.myshopify.com

# Populate test data
shopify populate products --count=25
shopify populate orders --count=10
shopify populate customers --count=20

Resources

Next Steps

For observability setup, see shopify-observability.

shopify-multi-env-setup