# Commerce Apps Overview

A Commerce App is a packaged, installable solution that bundles frontend UI components, backend server-side code, admin configuration, and platform data into a single deployable unit called a Commerce App Package (CAP). Commerce Apps represent the evolution of the Commerce Cloud cartridge model into a marketplace-ready packaging format designed for plug-and-play installation.

This guide is for two audiences who share the same CAP format and install job:

- **ISVs** publish to the [Commerce App Registry](https://github.com/SalesforceCommerceCloud/commerce-apps). Merchants discover those apps in Business Manager and click to install.
- **SIs** build merchant-specific **private** apps. They install from WebDAV (`AppSource=WebDAV`, feature type `CUSTOM_APP`) and don't appear in the Cart & Checkout Hub catalog. See [Develop a Private Commerce App](/docs/commerce/b2c-commerce/guide/private-commerce-apps.md).

For merchants, public Commerce Apps are discoverable in Business Manager. For ISV and SI developers, Commerce Apps can be managed through pro-code CLI solutions with automated local-to-cloud deployments and CI/CD integration. Both paths converge on the same platform framework.

The framework automates the orchestration of back-end extensions (cartridges, hooks) and frontend UI components for Storefront Next, significantly reducing implementation costs and time-to-value across the entire development lifecycle.

![Commerce Apps Framework Architecture](https://a.sfdcstatic.com/developer-website/sfdocs/commerce-cloud/media/b2c-commerce/commerce-apps-framework-architecture.png)

## What Can a Commerce App Contain?

A Commerce App can include any combination of the following:

- **Storefront Next extensions:** React components, React hooks, routes, and data providers that render in UI target locations across the storefront (PDP, PLP, Cart, Checkout, My Account, and so on).

- **Backend cartridges:** Server-side scripts, controllers, and hooks that implement business logic. These include both site cartridges (storefront logic) and BM cartridges (admin functionality).

  - **Domain-specific hook implementations:** Script API implementations that fulfill platform-defined extension point contracts (for example, `sfcc.app.tax.calculate`).

  - **Custom SCAPIs:** Custom API endpoints for headless/API-driven backend functionality.

  - **IMPEX data:** Site-scoped XML for services, jobs, site preferences, custom object definitions, and metadata. Includes both install and uninstall payloads.

- **App configuration:** A `tasksList.json` file that defines the post-install configuration wizard steps a merchant must complete to activate the app.

- **App manifest:** A `commerce-app.json` file that defines the app's identity, version, domain, and publisher information. See [commerce-app.json Schema](/docs/commerce/b2c-commerce/guide/reference.md#commerce-appjson-schema).

Depending on what you build, your app follows one of three architectures: **UI-only** (frontend extensions only), **Backend-only** (extension point hook implementations only), or **Fullstack** (both frontend and backend, with two sub-types: extension points or custom SCAPI). See [The Three Architectures for Commerce Apps](/docs/commerce/b2c-commerce/guide/architecture.md#the-three-architectures-for-commerce-apps) for details.

## How Commerce Apps Differ from Cartridges

Commerce Cloud developers are familiar with cartridges as the primary unit of extensibility. Commerce Apps build on cartridges but add significant new capabilities:

- **Automated installation:** No more manual cartridge uploads, path editing, or IMPEX imports. The platform handles all of this through a single install job.

- **Frontend orchestration:** If your Commerce App includes Storefront Next components, installation can create a pull request that adds them to the merchant's storefront repository. The UI Targets framework then renders these components in the appropriate locations.

- **Domain isolation:** Commerce Apps introduce domain-specific extension points (for example, `sfcc.app.tax.calculate` instead of the shared `dw.order.calculateTax`) that eliminate code conflicts between integrations.

- **State tracking:** The platform tracks installation status, configuration progress, and activation state per-site through the CommerceFeatureState system.

- **Optional registry distribution:** ISVs can publish apps to the centralized [Commerce App Registry](https://github.com/SalesforceCommerceCloud/commerce-apps) for discovery and installation. Private apps use WebDAV instead.

## Quick Start with Claude Code

Use Claude Code's `/scaffold-app` skill to scaffold a new Commerce App in seconds. The skill generates a complete app directory structure with templates for `commerce-app.json`, `tasksList.json`, and starter IMPEX files. Additional skills for IMPEX generation (`/generate-service-impex`, `/generate-site-preferences-impex`), validation (`/validate-app`), and packaging (`/package-app`) are also available. See [Development Environment Setup](/docs/commerce/b2c-commerce/guide/development-environment.md#claude-code-skills) for the full list.

## Commerce App Development Lifecycle

Building a Commerce App follows this lifecycle:

1. [Understand the architecture](/docs/commerce/b2c-commerce/guide/architecture.md): domains, extension points, UI targets, and the three architectures.

2. [Set up your development environment](/docs/commerce/b2c-commerce/guide/development-environment.md) and sandbox.

3. [Build your app](/docs/commerce/b2c-commerce/guide/building-your-app.md): implement extension points, build UI extensions, create IMPEX data.

4. [Package your app](/docs/commerce/b2c-commerce/guide/packaging.md) into a Commerce App Package (CAP) following the required structure.

5. [Test and validate](/docs/commerce/b2c-commerce/guide/testing-validation.md) on a sandbox. ISVs also use the [review checklist](/docs/commerce/b2c-commerce/guide/testing-validation.md#review-checklist) before registry submission.

6. **Distribute:**
   - **ISVs:** [Publish to the App Registry](/docs/commerce/b2c-commerce/guide/submission-review.md) for review and BM discoverability.
   - **SIs:** [Install privately](/docs/commerce/b2c-commerce/guide/private-commerce-apps.md) with `b2c cap install` (WebDAV). Do not open a registry PR.

7. [Maintain](/docs/commerce/b2c-commerce/guide/post-publication.md) the installed app (replication, multi-site, monitoring). Registry versioning applies to ISVs only.