Migration guide: JS Buy SDK to Storefront API Client

The JS Buy SDK is deprecated as of January, 2025. We recommend transitioning to the Storefront API Client to leverage the latest cart features and perform more efficient data retrievals.

Key differences

The JS Buy SDK includes helper methods (like fetchByHandle), which fetch a comprehensive list of fields. Conversely, the Storefront API Client returns only the precise data queried for.
Both libraries utilize Shopify’s GraphQL Storefront API. However, the JS Buy SDK presents a RESTful-like response, while the Storefront API Client returns a raw data object directly derived from the Storefront API itself.
For pagination, the JS Buy SDK provides helper methods such as fetchNextPage and automatically fetches all available product images and variant connections by default. The Storefront API Client requires manual pagination.
JS Buy SDK uses the Checkout API for carts, which will stop working once Checkout API reaches end of life on July 1, 2025. The Storefront API Client enables access to globally-deployed Carts, offering improved performance, scalability, and a richer feature set including subscriptions, product bundles, contextual pricing, Shopify Functions and UI extensions.
The imageForSize helper from JS Buy SDK can be substituted with image.url transform parameters from the Storefront API Client.

Migrating

Transitioning from the JS Buy SDK to the Storefront API Client involves a few important steps:

Step 1: Install the new library

Start by installing the @Shopify/storefront-api-client via your preferred package manager:

npm install @shopify/storefront-api-client

Step 2: Initialize the Client

Transition from the old initialization of the JS Buy SDK:

import Client from 'shopify-buy';

const client = Client.buildClient({
  domain: 'your-shop-name.myshopify.com',
  storefrontAccessToken: 'your-storefront-access-token'
});

To the new initialization with the Storefront API Client:

import {createStorefrontApiClient} from '@shopify/storefront-api-client';

const client = createStorefrontApiClient({
  storeDomain: 'your-shop-name.myshopify.com',
  apiVersion: '2024-04',
  publicAccessToken: 'your-storefront-public-access-token',
});

Step 3: Convert helper methods to operations

You'll need to transition from using JS Buy SDK helper methods to a more customized design.

Fetching products

JavaScript Buy SDK: Fetching Products

client.product.fetchAll().then((products) => {
  // Do something with the products
  console.log(products);
});

Storefront API Client: Fetching Products

const operation = `
  query {
    products(first: 10) {
      edges {
        node {
          id
          handle
          title
        }
      }
    }
  }
`;

const {data, errors, extensions} = await client.request(operation);
console.log(data.products);

Note that with the Storefront Client, you'll be crafting GraphQL operations directly, and can therefore customize it according to your needs. Refer to the Storefront API documentation for common operations or see JS Buy SDK query equivalents.

Carts and checkouts

The JS Buy SDK is deprecated. With the Storefront Client, you can use the Cart API to create carts and send customers to checkout. Learn more.

const operation = `mutation createCart($cartInput: CartInput) {
  cartCreate(input: $cartInput) {
    cart {
      id
      checkoutUrl
      lines(first: 10) {
        edges {
          node {
            id
            merchandise {
              ... on ProductVariant {
                id
                title
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
      cost {
        totalAmount {
          amount
          currencyCode
        }
      }
    }
  }
}`;

const {data, errors} = await client.request(operation, {
  variables: {
    "cartInput": {
      "lines": [
        {
          "quantity": 1,
          "merchandiseId": "gid://shopify/ProductVariant/43162292814051"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
})

console.log("Checkout URL: ", data.cartCreate.cart.checkoutUrl);

Pagination

The Storefront API limits how many items can be fetched at once. Results can be paginated using cursors. The JS Buy SDK provides helpers like fetchNextPage, Storefront API Client requires manual pagination:

const productQuery = `query Products ($numProducts: Int!, $afterCursor: String){
  products(first: $numProducts, after: $afterCursor) {
    nodes {
      id
      title
    }
    pageInfo {
      hasNextPage
      endCursor
    }
  }
}`;

async function paginateThroughProducts() {
  let hasNextPage = true, afterCursor = null;

  while (hasNextPage) {
    const {
      data: {products},
      errors,
    } = await client.request(productQuery, {
      variables: {numProducts: 250, afterCursor},
    });

    products.nodes.forEach((product) => {
      console.log(`Product ID: ${product.id}, Name: ${product.title}`);
      // Process each product as needed
    });

    if (products.pageInfo.hasNextPage) {
      afterCursor = products.pageInfo.endCursor;
    } else {
      hasNextPage = false;
    }
  }
}

paginateThroughProducts();

Resizing images

The JS Buy SDK provides a helper method to resize images. The Storefront API client allows you to do this directly in the query instead.

const query = `{
  productByHandle(handle: "snowboard") {
    id
    thumbnail: featuredImage {
      url(transform: {maxWidth: 100, maxHeight: 100})
    }
  }
}`;

const { data, errors } = await client.request(query);
console.log(data.productByHandle.thumbnail.url);

Step 4: Handle Errors

You may encounter network or GraphQL errors. Be prepared to handle these gracefully:

const { data, errors } = await client.request(query)

if (errors) {
  console.error(errors.message);
  return;
}

Step 5: Test Your Implementation

Ensure to test your new implementation thoroughly to verify that all APIs are working properly and the responses are handled correctly.

Equivalent queries

During the migration process, it can be helpful to examine the original queries from the JS Buy SDK. We have archived these queries and their optimized versions here.

Learn more

Check out the Storefront API Client documentation to learn more.

Tutorial: MIGRATION_GUIDE

MIGRATION_GUIDE