# Get started as a developer

> What you can build on Commerce Orbit, where each API lives, how it decides who you are, and your first request.

Source: https://docs.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/developers/get-started/

Commerce Orbit holds a shop's products, stock, prices, carts and orders. The shop's team runs them in the app; your website reads them and takes orders through the APIs below. Payments go from the shopper's browser straight to the shop's own Stripe account, never through your server or ours.

## What you can build

| You want to | Use |
| --- | --- |
| Show products and collections with live prices and stock | The [storefront API](https://docs.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/developers/storefront-api/) (REST) or [GraphQL](https://docs.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/developers/graphql/) |
| Run a cart with discount codes, shipping choices and VAT | The cart endpoints in the storefront API |
| Take payment on your own website | Checkout in the storefront API, with Stripe's Payment Element. See [Checkout with Stripe](https://docs.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/developers/checkout-with-stripe/). |
| Show an order and its tracking after checkout | The order endpoint in the storefront API |
| Preview draft products on a staging website | An [API key](https://docs.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/developers/api-keys/) that reads drafts, from your server |
| Let an AI assistant look up products and orders | The [MCP server](https://docs.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/developers/mcp/) |
| Try requests with the shop's own data | The [API playground](https://docs.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/developers/api-playground/) |

If the website is built in CMS Orbit, editors can put products on pages without code: see [Show your products on your website](https://docs.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/everyone/cms-orbit/). The hosted shop at `https://app.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/shop/{shop address}` needs no code either, and your website can link to its products and cart.

## Addresses

| What | Address |
| --- | --- |
| Storefront API | `https://app.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/api/public/{shop address}` |
| GraphQL | `https://app.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/api/cdn/graphql` |
| MCP server | `https://app.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/mcp` |
| Hosted shop | `https://app.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/shop/{shop address}` |

The shop address is set under **Settings**, such as `northwilds`.

## Who you are

- **Reading** the shop, products and collections needs no key. It returns only what the hosted shop shows anyway.
- **Carts, checkout and orders** need no key either. From a browser, only the shop's **Website** and **Allowed websites** in Settings may call them; a call from your server, without an `Origin` header, always may. An order is only shown to someone who has its number and the email it was placed with.
- **API keys** are optional. A key that starts with `com_pk_` counts your requests; one that starts with `com_sk_` also reads draft products and works only from a server. Admins create them under **API keys**.
- **The MCP server** signs in with OAuth as a person on the team, with that person's role.

## Your first request

List the shop's winter products, in Norwegian and Norwegian kroner:

```bash
curl 'https://app.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/api/public/northwilds/products?tag=winter&locale=nb&currency=NOK'
```

```json
{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "6650f1c2a9e4b3d2c1f0e9b1",
      "slug": "fjell-gtx-boot",
      "title": "Fjell GTX-støvel",
      "price": { "min": 289000, "max": 289000, "currency": "NOK", "compareAt": null },
      "available": true,
      "variants": [{ "id": "v3f9a1c2b7e", "title": "42 / Brown", "sku": "FJELL-GTX-42-BRN", "price": 289000, "available": true, "quantity": 7 }],
      "url": "https://app.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/shop/northwilds/products/fjell-gtx-boot",
      "locale": "nb"
    }
  ]
}
```

The answer is shortened. Amounts are whole minor units: `289000` with `NOK` is 2,890 kr.

The same in GraphQL, from a browser:

```js
const response = await fetch("https://app.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/api/cdn/graphql?organisation=northwilds", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  body: JSON.stringify({ query: '{ products(tag: "winter", locale: "nb", currency: "NOK") { slug title price { min currency } available } }' }),
});
const { data } = await response.json();
```

## From here

1. Open **API playground** under **Developers** in the sidebar and run **Products** with the shop's data.
2. Read the [storefront API](https://docs.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/developers/storefront-api/) for every field, the cart and the order.
3. Ask an Admin to add your website under **Allowed websites** before you call carts from the browser.
4. Read [Checkout with Stripe](https://docs.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/developers/checkout-with-stripe/) to take payment.
5. When something answers with an error, look it up in [Troubleshooting](https://docs.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/developers/troubleshooting/).

Commerce Orbit records what happens to products, stock and orders as [events](https://docs.bifrostorbit.com/commerce/developers/webhooks-and-events/) in Orbit Exchange. It doesn't send webhooks to your own systems yet, and there is no Commerce Orbit SDK: the APIs are plain HTTP and JSON.