BigCommerce REST API Development

Before writing code

Fetch live docs:

1. Fetch https://docs.bigcommerce.com/developer/api-reference/rest/admin/management/abandoned-carts for REST API overview
2. Web-search site:developer.bigcommerce.com rest-management for Management API reference
3. Web-search bigcommerce api v3 rate limits pagination for rate limit details

API Architecture

Two API Versions

Version	Base URL	Notes
V2	/stores/{hash}/v2/	Legacy — orders, some customer endpoints
V3	/stores/{hash}/v3/	Modern — most resources, JSON:API-like

V3 is preferred for all new development. V2 is still required for some resources that haven't been migrated.

Base URL

https://api.bigcommerce.com/stores/{store_hash}/v3/

The store_hash is found in the API Path when creating credentials.

Authentication

API Account Tokens

For server-to-server requests:

X-Auth-Token: {access_token}
Content-Type: application/json
Accept: application/json

OAuth Tokens

For apps using the OAuth flow — same header format, token obtained during installation.

Scopes

Tokens have scopes that control access:

• store_v2_products / store_v2_products_read_only
• store_v2_orders / store_v2_orders_read_only
• store_v2_customers / store_v2_customers_read_only
• store_v2_content, store_v2_marketing, store_v2_information
• store_themes_manage, store_cart, store_checkout

Key V3 Endpoints

Catalog

Endpoint	Methods	Description
/v3/catalog/products	GET, POST, PUT, DELETE	Products CRUD
/v3/catalog/products/{id}/variants	GET, POST, PUT, DELETE	Product variants
/v3/catalog/products/{id}/images	GET, POST, PUT, DELETE	Product images
/v3/catalog/categories	GET, POST, PUT, DELETE	Categories
/v3/catalog/brands	GET, POST, PUT, DELETE	Brands
/v3/catalog/products/channel-assignments	GET, PUT	Channel product assignments

Orders (V2 — legacy but current)

Endpoint	Methods	Description
/v2/orders	GET, POST, PUT	Orders
/v2/orders/{id}/products	GET	Order line items
/v2/orders/{id}/shipments	GET, POST, PUT	Shipments
/v2/orders/{id}/shipping_addresses	GET	Shipping addresses

Customers

Endpoint	Methods	Description
/v3/customers	GET, POST, PUT, DELETE	Customers CRUD
/v3/customers/addresses	GET, POST, PUT, DELETE	Customer addresses
/v3/customers/attribute-values	GET, PUT, DELETE	Customer attributes

Other Key Endpoints

Endpoint	Description
/v3/channels	Storefronts/channels
/v3/carts	Server-side cart
/v3/checkouts	Server-side checkout
/v3/payments	Payment processing
/v3/content/widgets	Widgets
/v3/themes	Theme management
/v3/hooks	Webhooks
/v3/storefront/api-token	Storefront API tokens

Pagination

V3 Pagination

Query parameters:

• page — page number (default 1)
• limit — items per page (default 50, max 250)

Response includes meta.pagination:

{
  "data": [...],
  "meta": {
    "pagination": {
      "total": 250,
      "count": 50,
      "per_page": 50,
      "current_page": 1,
      "total_pages": 5
    }
  }
}

V2 Pagination

Uses Link header with rel="next" and rel="previous".

Filtering

V3 Query Parameters

• id:in=1,2,3 — filter by multiple IDs
• name:like=Widget%25 — partial name match
• date_modified:min=2024-01-01 — date range
• include=images,variants — include sub-resources
• sort=name / sort=-date_created — sort ascending/descending
• include_fields=name,price — select specific fields
• exclude_fields=description — exclude specific fields

Rate Limiting

Default Limits

Typically 450 requests per 30-second window (varies by plan):

• Standard: 150 requests/30s
• Plus: 200 requests/30s
• Pro: 400 requests/30s
• Enterprise: 450+ requests/30s

Headers

• X-Rate-Limit-Requests-Left — remaining requests in window
• X-Rate-Limit-Time-Reset-Ms — ms until window resets
• X-Rate-Limit-Requests-Quota — total requests allowed
• HTTP 429 when exceeded — retry after reset

Best Practices for Rate Limits

• Check X-Rate-Limit-Requests-Left before batches
• Implement exponential backoff on 429 responses
• Use batch endpoints where available
• Cache responses that don't change frequently

Batch Operations

Some V3 endpoints support batch operations:

• POST /v3/catalog/products — create multiple products (array)
• PUT /v3/catalog/products — update multiple products (array)
• DELETE /v3/catalog/products?id:in=1,2,3 — delete multiple

Error Handling

Response Format

{
  "status": 422,
  "title": "Unprocessable Entity",
  "type": "https://docs.bigcommerce.com/developer/api-reference/rest/overview",
  "errors": {
    "name": "Product name is required"
  }
}

Common Status Codes

Code	Meaning
200	Success
201	Created
204	No Content (successful delete)
400	Bad Request (invalid parameters)
401	Unauthorized (invalid token)
403	Forbidden (insufficient scope)
404	Not Found
409	Conflict (duplicate resource)
422	Unprocessable Entity (validation error)
429	Rate Limited
500	Internal Server Error

Best Practices

• Use V3 for all new development — V2 only where V3 equivalent doesn't exist
• Include Accept: application/json and Content-Type: application/json headers
• Use include to fetch sub-resources in one request (avoid N+1)
• Use include_fields / exclude_fields to minimize response size
• Implement rate limit handling with exponential backoff
• Use batch endpoints for bulk operations
• Cache read-heavy data that changes infrequently
• Handle 429 responses gracefully — don't retry immediately

Fetch the BigCommerce REST API reference for exact endpoint paths, query parameters, request/response schemas, and current rate limits before implementing.