About Our APIs

The BigCommerce suite of APIs empowers you to create apps, automate store processes, and build headless ecommerce solutions.

If you’re new to building BigCommerce apps, we recommend that you start by exploring the App Marketplace to get a feel for what’s possible.

When you’re ready to play with our APIs, check out the API Request Quick Start.

Available APIs

BigCommerce has several APIs that let you manage store data, authenticate customers, make client-side queries for product information, and more.

REST Store Management APIs

BigCommerce’s Store Management and Payment APIs (for example, the Catalog API) allow you to manage transactions, modify store data, and act as store administrator. Example use cases include the following:

• Add and update products in a store
• Update a customer’s order and change the order status
• Create a coupon
• Manage a customer’s store account details

REST Storefront API

The REST Storefront API lets you manage customer carts, checkouts, and order information client-side. Example use cases include the following:

• Add an item with JavaScript to a shopper’s cart from a Stencil storefront
• Programmatically retrieve and display information to a customer about their recent order
• Update the billing address of a checkout
• Clear a customer’s current cart

GraphQL Storefront API

BigCommerce’s GraphQL Storefront API lets you query and mutate products, customers, and carts, then launch a checkout on a headless storefront as well as from a native storefront’s frontend. Example use cases include the following:

• Add additional product data to a Stencil storefront
• Access customer data on the frontend of a site
• Manage shopper’s carts on a headless storefront
• Fetch category and brand details from a store’s frontend

Customer Login API

The Customer Login API lets you programmatically sign customers in to a BigCommerce storefront. Example use cases include the following:

• Sign customers in to a BigCommerce store from a third-party account or a headless storefront
• Enable login using credentials other than email and password, such as a phone number
• Integrate a BigCommerce store with an SSO provider

Current Customer API

BigCommerce’s Current Customer API lets you determine which customer is logged in to a storefront during a session.

• Confirm a customer’s identity in the browser
• Validate a customer’s identity to display specific information to them from an external app

API authentication and context

Make BigCommerce API requests in the context of the storefront, BigCommerce API server, or app server. Each of the following APIs listings links to its section of our Authentication and Example Requests article, which contains the base URL of the API in question.