You can build and install applications in sandboxes to extend the functionality of the Kibo Composable Commerce Platform (KCCP) and integrate with external systems. Applications can have multiple versions with behaviors and events specific to each version. Refer to Application Development Best Practices for answers to common development questions and helpful tips.
The rest of this topic guides you through concepts essential to KCCP applications:
Manage an Application
You manage applications in Dev Center. By navigating to Develop > Applications, you can:
- View existing applications.
- Create new applications.
- Install applications to sandboxes.
- Manage application versions.
- Configure behaviors, events, attributes, and capabilities.
- Submit an application for certification.
By clicking on an existing application record, you can also view the Application Key and Shared Secret, which are essential for authenticating your application.
Assign Permissions through Behaviors
One of the most important tasks to complete when developing an application is to to assign appropriate behaviors to the application. For example, if you want your application to update a Customer record, you need to assign it the Customer Update behavior. Without behaviors, an application does not have permissions to read, update, create, or delete any data.
To assign application behaviors, go to Packages > Behaviors within a Dev Center application record. An application can have any number of behaviors based on the functions the application must perform. You can select individual behaviors or apply an entire category of behaviors to the application.
Subscribe Applications to Events
You can subscribe applications to various events. When the specified event occurs, a trigger is routed to a configured endpoint. For example, if you subscribed your application to the product.created event, KCCP triggers a notification to the specified endpoint every time a new product is created in the sandbox where the application is installed.
To add event subscriptions, go to Packages > Events within a Dev Center application record. Refer to Event Subscription for more information.
Install Attributes
To specify the attributes an application should access without having to first create those attributes in Admin , go to Packages > Attributes within a Dev Center application record.
Installing attributes for an application is an advanced use case that may cause conflicts with importing and exporting data using the eCommerce Import-Export Application or similar means. Contact Kibo for detailed instructions on using this feature.
Add a Capability
Capabilities allow you to specify an endpoint URL to integrate with an address validator, order validator, or tax calculator. They provide functionality in exchange for minimal implementation effort, supporting tools such as tax and payment extensibility.
Code Your Application
The following are the essential resources you use to code a custom application:
- Application Development Requirements: this topic specifies the code requirements needed to interface with the platform, such as obtaining an API context and authenticating your application.
- The Kibo Composable Commerce Platform REST API: the primary interface that connects the pieces of the platform together, and the primary tool that allows developers to build custom applications. The API provides a multitude of resources, such as the Customer resource or the Orders resource, that give you access to nearly every aspect of the KCCP experience. Each resource contains unique operations, such as the GetCart or UpdateCart operations, that let you manipulate objects.
- SDKs: When developing your own applications, you can use SDKs to develop in common languages like .NET, Java, and Node.js.
- API Extensions: When developing your own applications, you can use API Extensions to directly manipulate API operations and microservice logic.
Specify a Configuration URL
An application's configuration URL allows you to specify an external endpoint for initial application setup. The endpoint renders a user interface that application users can launch from Admin to configure the basic settings for the application.
To specify a configuration URL, go to Packages > Details within a Dev Center application record.