// the find
Shopify/shopify-app-template-node
Official Shopify app starter template from Shopify themselves. Express backend + React/Vite frontend, pre-wired with OAuth, GraphQL/REST Admin API access, AppBridge, and Polaris. The target is developers building their first Shopify app who want a working skeleton instead of starting from scratch.
OAuth flow and session management are handled out of the box — the part that trips up most first-timers. Polaris component library is already integrated, so your UI won't look like it was built by someone who has never seen the Shopify admin. i18n is baked in from day one rather than bolted on later. Shopify CLI integration means dev tunneling, environment variable injection, and URL updates are handled for you.
SQLite as the default session store will quietly break the moment you deploy more than one instance — the README acknowledges this but treats it as an afterthought footnote rather than a blocking concern. The frontend is a git submodule (web/frontend is a commit reference), which is a maintenance headache and makes it non-obvious what you can actually change. Last push was March 2026 and Shopify's platform moves fast — there's real risk that AppBridge or API versions referenced here are already behind current recommendations. No testing setup at all: no unit tests, no integration tests, nothing.