Build an app

Open Apps and choose Build an app. Give the app a name and say, in your own words, what it should do: when it runs, what it reads and where it sends things. For example: “When an order is placed, send it to my courier, then mark it shipped with the tracking number.”

Write it asks the assistant to write the app. It is paid for with your AI credits, like the rest of the assistant, whether or not the answer works. Without credits, the dialog says so before anything is made, and Buy credits takes you to your credits; from there, the way back leads to your store’s Apps page.

Your apps are listed under Built by you on the Apps page.

What it does

An app’s page says, for its newest version:

• Runs when: the changes in your store it answers, such as Order placed. A change the app makes itself does not run it again (other apps still hear of it), and a change that changes nothing is no change;
• Can: what it may see and do in your store, such as see your orders, ship them, or add products (without pictures: an app built here reaches only the services under Sends to) and change the ones it added;
• Sends to: the outside services it calls; it can reach no others;
• You enter: the keys it needs from you, such as a courier’s API key. You never put a key in the app itself.

Try it

Try it runs the app with a sample order in a pretend copy of your store. Nothing real is read or changed, and nothing is sent: the outside services answer with sample replies the assistant wrote with the app.

You then see:

• Worked or Failed, and how long it took;
• What it did: every call it made, in order. Your store calls say what it read, and what it would have changed, such as “Would mark order #1001 shipped with tracking …”. Outside calls say they were not sent, or that they were refused because the app does not list that service;
• What it logged: the lines the app wrote while it ran;
• What it answered, when you open it.

Ask for a change

Say what to change and choose Change it. The assistant answers with a new version, also paid for with your AI credits. Earlier versions never change: Code shows any version, and Versions lists what you asked for each one and what changed.

Code

Code shows the app as the assistant wrote it: one JavaScript file. It runs only in Storeloom’s sandbox, which lets it reach your store and the services it lists, and nothing else.

Switch it on

Until you switch it on, an app is Off: it runs only when you try it.

Switch on first asks for the keys the app needs, such as Courier API key. Keys are kept sealed: only the app gets them when it runs, and they are never shown again, only their last four characters. Type a new one to replace it.

Switched on, the page says On and which version runs. The newest version runs for every event under Runs when, such as every Order placed in your store: it reads what it may see, calls only the services under Sends to, and can change what it may change, such as marking an order shipped with its tracking number.

When you ask for a change, the version that is on stays on: Switch on version 2 puts the new version in its place. Switch off stops the app at once; its keys stay saved for the next time.

Runs

Runs lists each time your store’s events ran the app, newest first: Worked, Failed, Skipped (it was switched off, or another version was switched on, before it ran) or Waiting. Open one to see every call it made and what it logged, as when you try it, but with your real store.

An app runs once for each event. If it fails, it is not run again, so nothing it did happens twice: open the run to see why.

Publish to the App Shop

Publish to the App Shop lets other stores install your app. Fill in its listing:

• Name, One line (what it is, under its name), What it does (at least 40 characters) and Category;
• an icon of 1024 × 1024 pixels, the size of Apple’s app icons: PNG or JPEG, with nothing see-through. The App Shop rounds its corners for you.
• Pricing: tick Free, or untick it and type the monthly price in US dollars, from $1 to $1000 (the box takes numbers only). A Free trial is optional: a number, then days or months, up to 90 days or 12 months. Under the boxes you see the price as stores will read it. You get 85 % of each payment; Storeloom keeps 15 %, and pays you monthly (see Earnings). The price is reviewed with the listing.

Apply in the bar at the top saves the listing; Send version 1 for review saves it too.

Send version 1 for review sends the newest version: Storeloom reads its code and what it may do before it appears in the App Shop. While it is in review the listing is locked; Withdraw from review unlocks it. When the reviewer asks for changes, their note shows on the card.

Once approved, the card says In the App Shop and which version stores install. When you change the app, stores keep that version until you send the next one and it is approved. Stores see the price on its page, and a store that installs a paid app pays monthly with its card (see Billing); stores keep the price they installed at.

Apps from the App Shop

An app another store built shows Runs on Storeloom on its App Shop page: when it runs, where it sends things and the keys it asks for. Install app gives your store its own copy, listed under Installed, run by Storeloom on the Apps page. A paid app needs the store’s card first (Settings › Billing); it starts with its free trial, then is charged monthly, and its page shows where the payments stand. Removed and installed again within a month already paid, it is not charged again until that month ends (and there is no second free trial). It is off until you enter its keys and switch it on, and it shows its runs as your own apps do. Only its maker changes its code. Remove deletes your copy, with its keys and runs.

When its maker publishes a newer version and Storeloom approves it, your copy says so: Get the new version adds it as a new version of your copy. The version that is on stays on until you choose Switch on version 2 (or whichever number it is); check What it does first, as a new version may ask for more.

Rename or delete an app

Tap the app’s name at the top of its page to rename it (the pencil beside it shows it can change), type, and press Enter; tap the line under it to change what it is for. Delete removes the app and all its versions, after you confirm.

Who can build apps

Owners and admins build, try, switch on, publish, install and delete apps. Switching on, installing or getting a newer version needs a role that may do everything the app does (an app that reads customers needs a role that sees customers); otherwise Switch on is greyed out and says to ask the owner.