Every Shopify store on Tie needs a small custom app in your store. The app produces the API credentials (a Client ID and secret) that let Tie validate your orders end to end and power your integrations. All of its access is read-only.
You create the app on your side, and it takes a few minutes. Tie also needs the App Developer user ([email protected], with "Manage and install custom apps") so we can see and support the app once it exists, but the app itself is built from your store.
Build the app from your own store's Shopify account. If it is created inside an agency's or an outside developer's Shopify account instead, Shopify blocks the order connection and Tie cannot pull your data, even when every other step is correct. If an agency or developer builds it for you, have them do it from inside your store's own account.
How to create it
In Shopify, click your store name in the top right, then click the
</>icon in that menu. This opens your Dev Dashboard, Shopify's developer area.Click Create an app, choose Start from Dev Dashboard, and name it Tie Integration App.
If it asks for an App URL or a Redirect (Allowed redirection) URL, use Shopify's default App URL
https://shopify.dev/apps/default-app-homeand leave the redirect URL blank. Neither is used here, because Tie connects with the Client ID and secret rather than a login flow from within Shopify.Open Access → Scopes and paste this exact list into the access-scopes field, then save:
read_customers,read_orders,read_draft_orders,read_all_ordersAll four are read-only.
Click Release at the bottom of the page, then Release again on the "Release this new version?" popup. No version name or message is needed. Shopify requires a release before the app can be installed
In the left nav, open Tie Integration App → Overview, then click Install app in the top right. A window opens in your store to install it, and you approve it there. An "app has not been reviewed" warning is expected for a custom app.
Back in the Dev Dashboard, refresh the page. You should now see 1 install.
Open Settings → Credentials and send the Client ID and secret to your Tie contact. See how to send credentials securely.
If Install app says you need a distribution method
If step 6 shows "This app can't be installed yet, the app developer needs to select a distribution method first," the app just needs a distribution method set. This is common and nothing is broken.
On the Overview page, find the Distribution card and click Select distribution method. Choose Custom distribution (not Public distribution) and confirm. Note that this choice cannot be undone. Enter your store's *.myshopify.com domain, leave "Allow multi-store install for one Plus organization" unchecked unless you are a Plus organization installing across several stores, then click Generate link and use that link to install the app.
If you change the scopes later
Changing the scope list on its own is not enough for the change to take effect. After any scope change, click Release to publish a new version, then reinstall the app so the new scopes attach. If you skip this, the app keeps running on its previous scopes.
What each scope lets Tie read
Scope | What it lets Tie read |
| Your orders, so captured events can be matched to real orders |
| Customer records, so captured events can be matched to real customers |
| Draft orders |
| Your full order history, including orders older than the last 60 days |
Sending credentials securely
Send the Client ID and secret through a single-use secret link rather than a plain email or your shared Slack channel. How to send Tie your credentials securely covers the options.
Why Tie needs this
This is about your order data, not the pixel install. The Tie Pixel captures what happens on your storefront, and these read-only credentials let Tie confirm that the captured events match your real orders and customers. That is how we keep your reporting accurate and your integrations trustworthy, and it is why every Shopify store on Tie needs these credentials, even when you install the pixel yourself.
The scopes are read-only. Tie never changes anything in your store through this app.