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Adobe Commerce extensibility

Learn how to create out-of-process extensions for Adobe Commerce using App Builder and App Management.

Extend Adobe Commerce without changing the Commerce core

Adobe Commerce supports out-of-process extensibility: custom business logic, integrations, and user experiences run as applications outside the Commerce application process. These applications communicate with Commerce using supported APIs, events, webhooks, and extension points rather than adding PHP code directly to the Commerce codebase.

Adobe implements this model through Adobe Developer App Builder and Commerce App Management:

• App Builder provides the platform for building secure, scalable Commerce applications. See App development and the App Builder documentation to get started.
• I/O Runtime hosts serverless actions that execute your custom logic.
• Commerce APIs, events, and webhooks** connect your application to Commerce data and behavior.
• Commerce SDKs and libraries provide reusable patterns for authentication, configuration, event handling, and Commerce integration, including the Admin UI SDK and OOPE modules.
• App Management provides the application lifecycle: associate, configure, install, update, and remove Commerce apps.

This separation lets developers create and deploy an app independently from the Commerce release cycle. It also helps isolate custom workloads, reduce upgrade coupling, and make integrations easier to operate and evolve.

Out-of-process and in-process extensibility

Traditional Commerce extensions use an in-process model. PHP modules, plugins, observers, and other customizations run inside the Commerce application process and interact directly with its runtime, services, and database. This model can provide deep control, but it also couples custom code to the Commerce version, PHP runtime, internal APIs, deployment process, and available application resources.

Out-of-process extensibility moves that custom logic outside the Commerce process:

The two models are not interchangeable implementation details. They represent different lifecycle and operating models. For new Commerce apps and modernizing existing customizations, start with App Management and build using the out-of-process extensibility model.

Build with App Management

Use App Management as the foundation for your Commerce extension lifecycle. It establishes how an app is defined, associated with a Commerce instance, configured, installed, updated, and removed.

Start here to:

1. Define the app and its Commerce capabilities.
2. Build the app with App Builder, Commerce SDKs, and supported integration patterns.
3. Connect the app to Commerce through APIs, events, webhooks, or UI extension points.
4. Deploy and associate the app with Commerce.
5. Configure, test, and operate the app across its supported environments. See Observability for monitoring guidance.

When to use a starter kit

Starter kits are opinionated accelerators, not alternate application lifecycle systems. They provide scaffolding, examples, and recommended patterns for common scenarios such as creating an integration and customizing the checkout process.

Choose a starter kit when you want to:

• Quickly explore a common Commerce use case.
• Start from a working reference implementation.
• Adopt a recommended integration or UI pattern.
• Customize an established foundation for your requirements.

Regardless of whether you start from an empty App Builder project or a starter kit, the resulting application follows the App Management lifecycle.

Build with App Management. Start with a starter kit if you need an accelerator.

What's new

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