> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.recart.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.recart.com/developers/introduction.md). # Introduction Recart is an SMS and email marketing platform for ecommerce stores. This section is for developers who need to integrate with it: to send messages from your own systems, to react to what shoppers do on your storefront, or to install Recart on a store that is not standard Shopify. There are three ways to work with Recart programmatically, and they solve different problems. | Surface | Use it to | Runs | | --------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------- | | REST API | Create subscribers, trigger flows, send messages, sync carts and orders, receive webhooks | Server side | | Client-side SDK | React to opt-in tool events and control popups in the browser | In the storefront | | MCP server | Let an AI assistant read your Recart data | Anywhere an MCP client runs | ## Before you start **Install Recart on your store.** Everything else assumes the Recart script is running and sending events. How you install depends on your stack: * Standard Shopify with a Liquid theme, which needs no code * Headless Shopify, which needs the script plus server-side cart syncing * Any non-Shopify store, which needs the script plus cart and order syncing **Get an API key.** REST API keys are issued by Recart support, not self-serve: "It can be obtained in Recart account after contacting Support." The MCP server is different and self-serve, under Settings, then API & MCP, then Create new key. ## The REST API One production server: ``` https://api.recart.com/app-integrations/2023-12 ``` Authenticate every request with the `X-Recart-API-Key` header. A quick check that your key works: ```bash curl https://api.recart.com/app-integrations/2023-12/accounts \ -H "X-Recart-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" ``` An API key belongs to one account, so that call returns a single entry with its id, name, domain, currency and time zone. Use that id wherever an integration needs to identify the account. ### What you can do Thirty-eight operations, grouped by what you are trying to achieve rather than alphabetically. **Trigger and send.** `Event` creates event sources and submits events, which is how external systems start a Recart flow. `Flow` reads automated and campaign flows and their statistics. `Message` sends a message directly. **Shopper state.** `Cart` and `Order` keep Recart's view of a shopper in step with your store, which is what makes abandonment flows fire correctly. `Abandonment` triggers a cart or browse abandonment explicitly. `Subscriber` and `Subscription` manage who is reachable and on which channel. **Capture and audiences.** `OptinTool` reads popups and their experiments, including A/B test results. `List` reads subscriber lists. **Account and integration.** `Account` identifies the account behind a key. `Webhook` registers endpoints so Recart can notify you, rather than you polling. Webhook payloads are signed. Verify the `X-Recart-Signature` header as an HMAC-SHA256 before trusting a request. There is a worked Express handler in the code examples. ### Two things worth reading before you build **Setting up a subscription flow** walks through collecting SMS subscribers from your own form or checkout: create an event source with type `optin`, create and activate an integration flow in the dashboard, then submit subscriptions against that source. **Triggering a flow with custom events** covers the other case, where you want your own business events to start a flow. One constraint matters and is easy to miss: custom events do not collect consent. They only trigger flows for people who are already SMS subscribers. ## The client-side SDK The storefront script exposes two things. **Events on `window`**, for reacting to what a shopper does with a popup: * `recart:optin-tool:interaction` * `recart:optin-tool:email-captured` * `recart:optin-tool:phone-number-captured` Listen with `window.addEventListener`. The interaction event covers impressions, clicks on either call to action, minimising and closing. **Methods on `window._recart`**, for controlling and inspecting the opt-in tools: `isReady()`, `showOptinTool()`, `getActiveOptinToolInExperiment()`, `isSubscriberIdentified()` and `hasSubscribedToOptinTool()`. ## The MCP server Point an MCP client at `https://mcp.recart.com/mcp` and authenticate with the same `X-Recart-API-Key` header. It covers opt-in tools, their statistics and A/B test results, automated and campaign flows together with their statistics, subscriber statistics, and subscriber sources. It is read-only by design. The assistant cannot create, edit, send or delete anything. ## Versioning Two surfaces, two rules. **The REST API is versioned by date, pinned in the base path**, as in `2023-12`. Additive changes ship into the current version, so an integration keeps working. A breaking change gets a new dated version that runs alongside the old one, and you migrate when you choose. **The client-side script is evergreen.** There is no version to pin. Every store runs the current build, so changes are live for everyone at once. Anything removed is deprecated first, with at least sixty days' notice. ## Staying current Every notable change is recorded in the changelog, and each entry is mirrored to a GitHub release. Subscribe to the feed rather than checking manually: ``` https://github.com/recart/openapi/releases.atom ``` Release tags tell you which surface changed. REST API releases are tagged `api-2023-12.1`, `api-2023-12.2` and so on. Client-side releases are tagged by date, as `websdk-YYYY-MM-DD`. ## Where to go next * Installing on a store, if Recart is not running yet * Setting up a subscription flow, if you are collecting subscribers from your own form * Triggering a flow with custom events, if your own systems should start a flow * The API reference, for the full endpoint and schema detail --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://help.recart.com/developers/introduction.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.