shopify_api/README.rdoc

= Shopify API

The Shopify API gem allows Ruby developers to programmatically access the admin section of Shopify stores.

The API is implemented as XML over HTTP using all four verbs (GET/POST/PUT/DELETE). Each resource, like Order, Product, or Collection, has its own URL and is manipulated in isolation. In other words, we’ve tried to make the API follow the REST principles as much as possible.


== Usage

=== Requirements

All API usage happens through Shopify applications, created by either shop owners for their own shops, or by Shopify Partners for use by other shop owners:

* Shop owners can create applications for themselves through their own admin (under the Preferences > Applications tab).
* Shopify Partners create applications through their admin: http://app.shopify.com/services/partners 

For more information and detailed documentation about the API visit http://api.shopify.com

=== Getting Started

ShopifyAPI uses ActiveResource to communicate with the REST web service. ActiveResource has to be configured with a fully authorized URL of a particular store first. To obtain that URL you can follow these steps:

1. First create a new application in either the partners admin or your store admin and write down your API_KEY and SHARED_SECRET.

2. You will need to supply two parameters to the Session class before you instantiate it:

    ShopifyAPI::Session.setup({:api_key => API_KEY, :secret => SHARED_SECRET})

3. Create a new Session for a specific shop. That session is not fully valid yet, but it can be used to create a URL that you will redirect your users to:

    session = ShopifyAPI::Session.new("yourshopname.myshopify.com")
    session.valid?  # returns false

4. To access the API shop owners need a "token" from that specific shop. In order to get this token they need to authorize with that shop first. To get this token they should redirect the user to the following URL:

     GET https://SHOP_NAME.myshopify.com/admin/oauth/authorize

with the following parameters:

* client_id – Required – The API key for your app
* scope – Required – The list of required scopes (explained below)
* redirect_uri – Optional – The URL that the merchant will be sent to once authentication is complete. Must be the same host as the Return URL specified in the application settings

5. Once authorized, the shop redirects the owner to the return URL of your application where the "token" gets sent to (it's param name is just "t"). Use that token to instantiate a "valid" session, that is ready to make calls to that particular shop.

    token = params[:t]
    session = ShopifyAPI::Session.new("yourshopname.myshopify.com", token)
    session.valid?  # returns true

6. Now you can activate the session and you're set:

     ActiveResource::Base.activate_session = session

7. Get data from that shop (returns ActiveResource instances):

     shop = ShopifyAPI::Shop.current
     latest_orders = ShopifyAPI::Order.find(:all)

   Alternatively, you can use #temp to initialize a Session and execute a command which also handles temporarily setting ActiveResource::Base.site:

    latest_orders = ShopifyAPI::Session.temp("yourshopname.myshopify.com", token) { ShopifyAPI::Order.find(:all) }

8. Finally, you can also clear the session (for example if you want to work with another shop):

     ShopifyAPI::Base.clear_session


== Copyright

Copyright (c) 2012 "Shopify inc.". See LICENSE for details.