API integration questions, answered plainly

An API integration is a piece of software that moves data between two platforms using the interfaces those platforms publish. A record created in one system — an order, an invoice, a customer, a stock movement — appears correctly in the other without anyone re-typing it, and without a spreadsheet in between.

An integration connects two systems that both offer usable, documented APIs. Bridging is what is required when one side does not: a legacy warehouse system, a bespoke database, or a platform whose API is so rate-limited that calling it directly is unsafe. A bridge sits between the two, holds a queue, normalises data formats, retries failures and records every transaction.

It means treating the whole operation rather than a single pair of systems. Ecommerce, finance, warehouse and CRM are aligned on one agreed source of truth for each record type, so that a change in one place propagates everywhere it is needed instead of being reconciled later.

Yes. Taking over an unsupported or undocumented integration is common work. We start by documenting what the existing code actually does, which is often materially different from what it was believed to do.

Yes, but we phase it. The first flow — usually orders to accounting or stock to Shopify — goes live and is proven against your own data before the next begins, so risk is contained and value arrives sooner.

We quote a fixed price against a written specification rather than an hourly rate. A single-direction flow between two well-documented platforms is a small project; bridging a legacy system with no API, or synchronising in both directions with conflict resolution, is a larger one. Discovery is charged separately and credited in full against the build if you proceed.

Two to four weeks for a single-direction integration between two systems, including discovery, build, acceptance testing and supported go-live. Multi-system programmes are phased so that the first flow is live and delivering value before the next begins.

Access to both systems or their sandboxes, one person who genuinely understands how each system is used day to day, and a decision-maker who can sign off the specification. The single biggest cause of delay is waiting for API credentials from a third-party vendor.

We will say so if an integration is the wrong answer — for example where the underlying process should be changed first, or where a supported native connector already does the job properly. Recommending nothing is cheaper for you than building the wrong thing.

Not for back-office data flows. The Admin API, webhooks and bulk operations are available on standard Shopify plans. Plus matters for checkout customisation, scripts and higher API limits, not for connecting Shopify to your ERP or accounts.

You do. Source code, credentials, environment configuration and written documentation are handed over on completion, and there is no licence fee for continuing to use what we have built. You are free to have another developer maintain it.

Most major platforms version their APIs and support each version for a defined period — Shopify, for example, publishes quarterly and supports each version for a year. Integrations under a support agreement are reviewed each release cycle and migrated ahead of deprecation. For handed-over work, the version dependencies are stated in the documentation so your team can plan.

Development takes place against sandbox environments rather than live data wherever the platforms allow it. Credentials are held in a secrets manager, transfers are encrypted in transit, and we work to the minimum API scopes the integration actually requires. We are happy to sign your own data processing agreement.

Failures are alerted rather than silent, and every payload is logged so the affected records can be identified and replayed. Under a support agreement there is a defined response time; without one, the alerting and the logs still allow your own team to act.

Yes. We are regularly subcontracted for the integration element of a wider build, either working with the end client under your brand or staying entirely behind the scenes. Scope, documentation and handover are the same either way.

Yes. Back-office integrations work against the Admin API and are independent of the storefront theme. Only Storefront-API or checkout-level work needs revisiting when the theme changes, and that is called out in the documentation.