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Start customizing your marketplace

When you want to start customizing your marketplace, there are some general topics that require your attention. Learn what to take into consideration when starting custom development

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When you start customizing your marketplace with code, you may want to continue working on the same web template that powers your hosted marketplace, or you may want to develop a fully custom application. Both options are possible, and there are some considerations for both approaches.

General custom development guidelines

Whichever custom development approach you choose, here are some key points that apply to all custom development.

Get familiar with the Sharetribe APIs

Your marketplace basic functions are available through the Marketplace API.

Your no-code configurations are available through the public Asset Delivery API.

Capabilities for creating custom integrations and data analytics are available server-side through Integration API.

Authentication to Marketplace API and Integration API happens through the Authentication API.

Access to the Sharetribe APIs in the live environment is available in the Extend plan.

The Marketplace API, Asset Delivery API, and Integration API are also accessible through JavaScript SDKs.

Get familiar with Sharetribe environments

Your marketplace has three environments – Test, Dev, and (eventually) Live. We recommend that you only do development work in Dev, and keep Test and Live identical in terms of code.

Each marketplace environment connects to the corresponding client app through a Marketplace API application, i.e. a client id and a client secret. This means that when you call the Marketplace API or Asset Delivery API, the correct marketplace environment is determined by the client id set in your app.

Get familiar with hosting your application

When you custom develop your marketplace, you also need to host your own application. When starting your custom development, it is enough to host your custom client application for the Dev environment. This makes it possible for several people to test and validate the features you are developing. In addition, some custom features, such as third-party integrations, may require a hosted environment to work properly.

When you want to publish your code, you will also need to host a client application for the Test and Live environments. Hosting your custom client app for Test environment allows operators to view their no-code changes alongside the custom developed features, so it is important to keep Test and Live client applications identical.

Once you have deployed your marketplace application to a hosting service, you can change the Marketplace URL in your Console > Build > General view to point to the URL of your custom client. That way, the Sharetribe backend uses the correct URL for e.g. adding links to emails sent through the Sharetribe backend.

Custom developing with the Sharetribe Web Template

If you want to continue developing your marketplace based on the Sharetribe-hosted client app, you can use the Sharetribe Web Template as your starting point. Sharetribe Web Template is an open-source version of the code that powers your Sharetribe-hosted marketplace.

The template uses the Sharetribe SDK to connect to the Marketplace API and Asset Delivery API. The SDK also handles authentication towards Marketplace API, and shares the user's login between the browser and the server.

To get started with the template, you need to clone the Sharetribe Web Template repository and set it up with your marketplace client id and secret. The template uses your no-code configurations, fetched with the SDK, to render a marketplace that looks similar to your Sharetribe-hosted marketplace. You can then continue to custom develop features in your cloned codebase.

The Sharetribe Web Template repository contains the starting point for your development work. To maintain version control of your own development work, you need to create your own remote repository for your cloned version of the template.

The tutorial guides you through some common features that you can modify in the Sharetribe Web Template to custom develop your marketplace. We recommend that you check it through for an overview on the different customizations that are possible with the Sharetribe Developer Platform.

To share your changes online, you will need to deploy the template. Note that to deploy the template, for any marketplace environment (Dev, Test, or Live), your deployment service needs to be able to run a Node.js server.

Custom developing with your own client application

You can also create a fully custom client application for your marketplace. The headless architecture of the Sharetribe Developer Platform allows you to build fully custom. You might want to build a mobile application, integrate Sharetribe marketplace functionalities to your existing website infrastructure, or simply develop with the stack of your choice.

Do note that currently we only have SDKs available for Javascript.

We currently do not have a tutorial focusing on non-Sharetribe Web Template development. However, we recommend that you check through the template tutorial for an overview on what customizations are possible with the Sharetribe Developer Platform.

When deciding on the stack for your custom client application, it is good to note that to fully use the features of the Sharetribe Developer Platform, you need some kind of a server environment. The server is necessary for features that require a trusted non-browser context for security reasons.

Features requiring a server include:

  • using SSO and identity providers
  • Integration API – it provides full access to your marketplace, so it must never be used from a browser environment
  • privileged transitions, including custom pricing
  • logging in as a user from Console

Can't find what you're looking for?

Reach out to our support team by email, or consult the Sharetribe Developer Community at Sharetribe Developers Slack Channel. You can also contact our support team through the chat widget in Flex Console.