At Shopify, we celebrate builders. That’s why we’re always refining our tools to keep merchants and developers at the bleeding edge of commerce.
Today, we are making GraphQL the definitive API for Shopify. REST Admin API will be marked as legacy, and on April 1, 2025, all new apps submitted to the Shopify App Store will be required to use GraphQL. There are no changes for existing apps, which can continue to use the Admin REST API.
GraphQL unlocks the full potential of Shopify
GraphQL offers a powerful, flexible, and scalable API that meets the needs of modern commerce. Here’s why it stands out:
- Efficient data access: Our Admin API is extensive. The ability to declaratively select and traverse a tree of data makes GraphQL a perfect fit since you can efficiently query and manipulate data across various parts of the platform with a single request.
- Optimized data retrieval: GraphQL minimizes over-fetching by allowing you to specify exactly what data you need in a single query. This improves performance by reducing the number of requests and the amount of data transferred.
- Strongly typed schema: GraphQL provides safer data handling through validation and autocompletion. This enables developers to understand what data is available and how to interact with it, leading to better code quality and fewer runtime errors.
- First class tooling and documentation: With introspection, APIs are self-documenting, allowing developers to query the API for its schema and available types. Tools like GraphiQL (now built into the CLI) and the .dev assistant make exploring and testing GraphQL queries and mutations a breeze.
Building apps and integrations with GraphQL
GraphQL will be the primary way to build with Shopify. We’re excited to share that the Admin GraphQL API is feature complete. The API is highly performant, integrated across the app stack, and offers a strong developer experience.
The definitive API for apps and integrations
Over the past year, we’ve filled the gaps in our GraphQL API. As of today, GraphQL is a true superset of the REST API: use cases that once could only be accomplished in REST can now be achieved with GraphQL. Moreover, GraphQL offers exclusive features, such as support for 2,000 product variants and advanced capabilities such as Metaobjects.
Performance
Over the last 12 months, we’ve made significant strides to improve GraphQL performance. We’ve doubled the rate limits and reduced the cost of queries using connections by 75%, increasing throughput beyond what is possible with REST. We’ve also made targeted improvements to our APIs to improve the latency of requests.
Enhanced developer experience
We’ve given developers the ability to extend Shopify native surfaces (Checkout, POS, and admin) with Shopify extensions. Key tools like Functions, UI extensions, and App Bridge leverage GraphQL as their main API interface. By unifying the developer experience with GraphQL, we provide a cohesive and familiar API environment, allowing developers to apply their expertise across the entirety of the Shopify platform.
We’ve also introduced several tools and resources to help you build with GraphQL:
- .dev assistant: An LLM-powered tool to help you discover and craft GraphQL queries and mutations
- GraphQL integrated into the CLI: Explore and test your GraphQL queries directly against your development stores
- Improved documentation: Comprehensive guides and reference docs.
What’s next and how you can prepare
Moving forward, the REST Admin API will be marked as legacy, and new feature development and improvements will be focused on GraphQL.
By April 1 2025, all new apps will default to GraphQL. Organizations created after this date will only be permitted to use GraphQL for their custom apps. All new public apps submitted to the App Store after this date must only use GraphQL.
There are no changes for existing apps, which can continue to use the Admin REST API. Migration timelines will be announced in 2025*, and ample time will be provided for the transition.
Want to get an early start? Read our migration guide. New to GraphQL? This tutorial will teach you GraphQL and other keys parts of the Shopify app stack.
GraphQL is the future of Shopify’s API strategy. Build high-performing, scalable solutions with GraphQL with our tools, and let’s keep building the future of commerce together.
*The timeline for public app developers to migrate to the new GraphQL product APIs was previously announced and remains February 1, 2025.
