Need an external page or URL to be under your Shopify store’s domain? You can achieve this with a custom app and zero code using App proxies. App proxies are a feature of Shopify apps that let them show content under a specific URL path, on the same domain as the store.
Why would you need this?
Common use cases include:
- Hosting a specific page that you don’t want to or can’t host on Shopify, such as a blog
- Meeting third-party API requirements that need an endpoint on your domain
- Situations where external services won’t accept webhook URLs from other domains
How it works:
If your site is example.com, then your proxied page would be under example.com/community/blog. Visitors to that URL would see the external page. You can pick the first part of the path from /a/, /apps/, /tools/, or /community/, and freely edit the second part.
How to Set It Up
These are the steps to create your app proxy – you don’t need to be a developer:
Step 1: Set Up Your Development Environment
- Create a Partner account at partners.shopify.com
- Download the Shopify CLI locally
Step 2: Create Your App
- Run
shopify app initin a terminal - Choose an extension-only app when prompted
- Once the app is created, run
shopify app deploy
Step 3: Configure the App Proxy
- Go to the Partner dashboard and find your app
- Navigate to Configuration → App proxy
- Configure the settings:
- Choose your path prefix (one of
/a/,/apps/,/tools/,/community/) - Set your custom subpath
- Enter your external URL
- Choose your path prefix (one of
Step 4: Install the App
- Go to Distribution in the Partner dashboard
- Select Custom distribution
- Install the app to your store
Managing Your Proxy
Once installed, you can visit the app’s settings in Shopify (Settings → Apps) to change the path without editing the app code.
Important Considerations
Link Behavior: If someone clicks a link inside the proxied page, it will point to the external domain. If you don’t want that behavior, you’ll need to update those links to point to your store’s domain instead.
Header Limitations: There are certain HTTP headers that Shopify won’t forward to your external site. This may limit what the external site can do, so test your specific use case thoroughly.
Conclusion
App proxies provide a straightforward way to integrate external content under your Shopify domain without complex development work. The setup process is entirely configuration-based, making it accessible even for non-developers. While there are some limitations around link behavior and HTTP headers, this approach works well for most use cases where you need external content to appear as part of your Shopify store’s domain structure.
