Introduction

Introduction to BareCommerce Core

BareCommerce Core is a headless commerce backend that provides a complete REST API for managing products, orders, customers, and inventory. You bring your own frontend and payment provider.

What is Headless Commerce?

Traditional e-commerce platforms bundle the frontend (storefront) and backend (product management, orders, inventory) together. Headless commerce separates them, giving you complete freedom over your customer experience.

Traditional Platform

  • Fixed storefront templates
  • Limited customization
  • Vendor lock-in
  • One frontend only

Headless (BareCommerce)

  • ✅ Build any frontend you want
  • ✅ Full customization
  • ✅ Use any framework
  • ✅ Multiple frontends (web, mobile, POS)

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     YOUR FRONTENDS                              │
├─────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┤
│   Next.js Web   │   Mobile App    │   POS / Kiosk / Voice       │
│    (React)      │  (React Native) │      (Any platform)         │
└────────┬────────┴────────┬────────┴────────────┬────────────────┘
         │                 │                     │
         │            REST API                   │
         │                 │                     │
         ▼                 ▼                     ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    BARECOMMERCE CORE                            │
│  ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐       │
│  │ Products  │ │  Orders   │ │ Customers │ │ Inventory │       │
│  └───────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘       │
│  ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐       │
│  │Categories │ │   Media   │ │  Webhooks │ │   Pages   │       │
│  └───────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
         │                                       │
         ▼                                       ▼
┌─────────────────────┐               ┌─────────────────────┐
│  YOUR PAYMENT       │               │  YOUR INTEGRATIONS  │
│  PROVIDER           │               │                     │
│  (Stripe, PayPal,   │               │  Analytics, Email,  │
│   Square, etc.)     │               │  Search, Shipping   │
└─────────────────────┘               └─────────────────────┘

What BareCommerce Core Manages

ResourceDescription
ProductsCatalog management with variants, attributes, SKUs, and SEO metadata
OrdersOrder lifecycle, status tracking, fulfillment, and refunds
CustomersCustomer profiles, addresses, and order history
InventoryStock tracking, backorders, and automatic reservation
CategoriesHierarchical product organization with nesting
PagesCMS for about, FAQ, policies, and custom content
MediaImage uploads and CDN delivery
WebhooksEvent subscriptions for real-time integrations

What You Control

Frontend

Build with any technology: Next.js, React, Vue, Svelte, mobile apps, or vanilla JavaScript.

Payments

Choose your payment provider. We don't lock you in or take a cut of transactions.

  • Stripe
  • PayPal
  • Square
  • Any provider you prefer

Hosting

Deploy your frontend anywhere. Your infrastructure, your rules.

  • Vercel
  • AWS
  • Cloudflare
  • Self-hosted

Integrations

Connect any service via our webhooks and APIs.

  • Analytics (GA4, Mixpanel)
  • Email (Resend, SendGrid)
  • Search (Algolia, Elasticsearch)
  • Shipping (ShipStation, EasyPost)

Quick Example

Here's how simple it is to fetch products from the BareCommerce API:

// Fetch products from your BareCommerce store
const response = await fetch(
  'https://api.barecommercecore.com/stores/YOUR_STORE_ID/products',
  {
    headers: {
      'Authorization': 'Bearer sk_live_YOUR_API_KEY',
    },
  }
);
 
const { items, total } = await response.json();
 
// Returns:
// {
//   items: [
//     {
//       id: "prod_abc123",
//       title: "Wireless Headphones",
//       slug: "wireless-headphones",
//       price: "99.99",
//       status: "published",
//       ...
//     }
//   ],
//   total: 42
// }

API Overview

ResourceEndpointsDescription
Products/productsCRUD, variants, import/export
Orders/ordersCreate, update status, refund
Customers/customersProfiles, addresses
Categories/categoriesProduct organization
Media/mediaImage uploads, CDN
Webhooks/webhooksEvent subscriptions
Pages/pagesCMS content

All endpoints are prefixed with /stores/{storeId}/.

Next Steps

  1. API Authentication — Learn how to create API keys and authenticate requests
  2. Create Your First Store — Step-by-step setup guide
  3. Payment Integration — Connect Stripe, PayPal, or Square

Need Help?