Gather the accounts

The custom app, the dev store, and the hosting, ready before the installer.

20 min

Goal: have everything ready before starting the installer.

You’ll need:

• A Shopify Partner account (free to create)
• A payment card for the two Pro signups in step 3
• Your OpenSubs license key (delivered with your purchase)

1. Create the custom app

   The one fatal wrong turn. Create the custom app in the Dev Dashboard, never inside a store’s admin. Store-admin custom apps can’t use the subscription APIs, and no toggle fixes it. Dev Dashboard: every grant is instant.

   • Go to the Shopify Dev Dashboard and click Create app.
   • Enter your app name, such as “OpenSubs”, and click Create.

   

   • Click Settings in the left menu. Copy the Client ID and Client secret, then scroll down to App automation token and create an App Automation Token (deploy-only). Copy that too.

   Keep these three values easily accessible during setup: Client ID, Client secret, and the App Automation Token.

   • Back on the App Overview page, click Select distribution method in the Distribution block and select Custom distribution: this makes the gated API approvals on the next step instant.

   

   • Enter the store domain where the app will be installed and click Generate link.

   

   This field locks in the live production store the app will serve; your dev store installs regardless. With no live store yet, skip Generate link; the approvals on the next step unlock either way.

   • Click API access requests in the left menu and click Request access for both:
     • Read all orders scope
     • Access subscriptions APIs

   Paste this as the data-use justification wherever the form asks why:

   Data-use justification

   We use the Subscriptions APIs to create and manage our store's own subscription contracts (selling plans, recurring billing, customer self-service). Read all orders lets the customer portal show the full order history of a subscription beyond 60 days.
   

   Checkpoint: app created with Custom distribution; Client ID, Client secret, and App Automation Token copied; every access request granted.

2. Create the dev store

   • Go to the Shopify Dev Dashboard and click Stores in the left menu.
   • Click Create store and select the Dev option.

   

   Select Generate test data for store to automatically add placeholder products to your development store for a quicker setup.

   • Note your new store’s .myshopify.com domain; the installer asks for it later.

   Checkpoint: a dev store with test products, domain noted.

3. Create the hosting accounts

   • Sign up for a Pro plan at Supabase.
   • Sign up for a Pro plan at Vercel.

   Why Pro?

   Free Supabase projects can pause after inactivity, taking billing and subscriptions offline. Pro adds more compute, database capacity, and higher usage limits.

   When signing up, don’t create a new project in either; the OpenSubs installer auto-creates this for you.

   Checkpoint: Supabase and Vercel accounts exist. Everything gathered: Client ID, Client secret, App Automation Token, dev store domain, license key nearby. No email or SMS provider needed yet.