Spree Commerce Platform Help
Step 1 — Gather context
If references/learnings.md exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.
Figure out what the user actually needs before diving in:
- Goal — building/debugging an API integration, reacting to a commerce event via webhooks, using the AI-agent tooling (agent skills / docs MCP / Admin API CLI), upgrading a Spree version without breaking customizations, self-hosting, choosing Community vs Enterprise, or a checkout/conversion question?
- Which API — the Store API (
/api/v3/store, customer-facing, publishable key), the Platform API (/api/v2/platform, machine-to-machine, OAuth2), the new Admin API (/api/v3/admin, open-sourced in 5.5, scoped keys), or the legacy Storefront API v2 (/api/v2/storefront)? - Actor / auth — a storefront client (publishable key
pk_xxx+ per-cart order token) or a backend integration (OAuth2 client-credentials →Authorization: Bearer)? - Hosting / edition — self-hosted Community Edition (free, BSD-3, you run Rails + Postgres + Redis/Sidekiq) or Enterprise Edition (custom license, managed hosting, SSO, advanced B2B/marketplace)?
Skip-ahead rule: if the prompt already says what they need, go straight to Step 2.
Step 2 — Route or answer directly
If the question is really a cross-platform strategy, hand off with the exact command:
| If the user wants… | Route to |
|---|---|
| Checkout conversion / order bumps / cart-abandonment tactics across carts | /sales-checkout {question} |
| Whether to use a Merchant of Record for global VAT/sales tax | /sales-merchant-of-record {question} |
| Comparing Spree against another commerce backend | /sales-checkout {question} (platform selection) |
| Post-purchase email / abandoned-cart sequences | /sales-email-marketing {question} |
Otherwise it's a Spree-specific question — answer it here.
Step 3 — Spree platform reference
Read references/platform-guide.md for the full reference — modules and what's API vs webhook vs UI-only, pricing/edition gates, the data model with JSON shapes, and quick-start recipes. For raw auth/endpoint/webhook detail, read references/spree-api-reference.md.
Answer using only the relevant section — don't dump the whole guide.
Step 4 — Actionable guidance
- Pick the right API for the actor. The Store API (
/api/v3/store) is for storefronts — authenticate with a publishable key (pk_xxx, header) plus a per-cart order token; public catalog reads need no key. The Platform API (/api/v2/platform) is for backend/admin work and uses OAuth2 client-credentials. The Admin API (/api/v3/admin, new in 5.5) reads/writes every back-office resource with scoped API keys. Don't try to drive admin work with a publishable key — it can't. - Platform API auth is OAuth2, two steps. Create an OAuth application in Admin → Apps → OAuth Applications, copy the Client ID + Secret, then
POST {store_url}/spree_oauth/tokenwithgrant_type=client_credentials,client_id,client_secret,scope=admin. Send the returned token as `Authorization header uses an OAuth access token from the approved secret store Tokens expire — refresh by requesting a new one. - Spree HAS native outbound webhooks. Register a webhook subscriber via the Platform API (
/api/v2/platform/webhooks/subscribers) with a URL and asubscriptionsarray (['*']for all events, or specific names likeorder.canceled). Each delivery is logged as a Webhook Event (name, response_code, success, request_errors) so you can debug failures. ⚠️ Confirm the current signature/HMAC scheme against live docs before relying on it (see Gotchas). - AI-agent tooling is a first-class surface (5.5+). Spree ships ~25 installable agent skills, a docs MCP server (
https://spreecommerce.org/docs/mcp), an Admin API CLI that lets an agent operate the whole back office, and auto-generatedCLAUDE.md/AGENTS.mdin scaffolded projects. For "how do I build/operate Spree with Claude Code or Cursor", point them at these first — they cut token use vs scanning Rails source. - Upgrades are the #1 historical pain. Pinning to a major and using the automatic upgrade tool (5.5) plus universal (version-agnostic) extensions avoids the classic "upgrade broke my customizations" trap. Keep overrides thin (decorators/overrides, not forks of core).
- Community Edition is free; Enterprise is a quote. Self-host CE for $0 license (you own Rails/Postgres/Redis ops, ~$200–2,000/mo hosting). Enterprise adds SSO, managed hosting, and advanced B2B/marketplace/multi-tenant for a custom 5–6-figure/yr fee. Spree is NOT a Merchant of Record — you own tax remittance.
If you discover a gotcha or fix not in references/learnings.md, append it there with today's date.
Gotchas
Best-effort from research (2026-06) — re-verify edition gates, fees, auth, webhook-signature behavior, and API shapes against live docs at https://spreecommerce.org/docs.
- Don't confuse the APIs. Store API uses a publishable key, Platform API uses OAuth2 client-credentials, Admin API uses scoped API keys. A storefront
pk_xxxcan't perform admin operations, and a 401 usually means you're hitting the wrong API for your token type. - Platform API token comes from
/spree_oauth/token, not a static key. You must first create an OAuth application in the admin, then exchangeclient_id/client_secretfor a Bearer token. Missing the OAuth-app step is the most common "can't authenticate" cause. - Webhook signature scheme — verify before trusting. Spree's webhook docs (Platform API webhook subscribers + "Webhooks 2.0"/Event Bus) were partially JS-rendered during research; the exact signature/HMAC header wasn't captured verbatim. Confirm whether deliveries are signed (and how) against live docs before standing up a public listener, and secure the endpoint with a secret URL/header in the meantime.
- Upgrades historically broke customizations and extensions. Older Spree upgrades were painful and many extensions were version-locked. Spree rewrote extensions to be universal and (5.5) ships an automatic upgrade tool — but heavy forking of core still makes upgrades hard. Keep customizations as thin decorators/overrides.
- Self-hosting needs real Rails ops. CE is a Ruby on Rails app: Postgres + Redis + a Sidekiq worker + MeiliSearch. It's not a one-click host like Shopify — a non-Rails team will need a developer. Budget for upgrades, backups, and scaling.
- The DB schema is large and not self-explanatory. Spree's data model (orders, line items, shipments, variants, stock, promotions) is deep. Use the Platform/Admin API and the shipped agent skills rather than querying the schema directly when you can.
- Not a Merchant of Record. Spree doesn't remit your sales tax/VAT — wire a tax service or sit a MoR upstream. See
/sales-merchant-of-record.
Related skills
/sales-checkout— Checkout-conversion strategy across carts (order bumps, upsells, cart-abandonment recovery) and platform selection./sales-saleor— The Python/Django GraphQL-first open-source headless engine; compare stack + API style (GraphQL vs Spree's REST)./sales-medusa— The Node.js/TypeScript open-source headless engine; another self-hostable backend to compare on stack and webhook model./sales-bagisto— The Laravel/PHP open-source commerce framework; compare if your team is PHP- vs Ruby-oriented./sales-shopify— The leading hosted commerce backend; compare against Spree's open-source/self-hosted model./sales-merchant-of-record— Whether to use a MoR (Paddle, Lemon Squeezy) for global tax instead of self-managing (Spree is not a MoR)./sales-do— Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install:npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do -a claude-code
Examples
Example 1: Get a Platform API token and pull orders (developer/automation)
User: "I'm writing a script to sync Spree orders into our warehouse. How do I authenticate and paginate?"
Approach: Spree's Platform API uses OAuth2 client-credentials, not a static key. First create an OAuth application in Admin → Apps → OAuth Applications and copy the Client ID + Secret. Then POST {store_url}/spree_oauth/token with grant_type=client_credentials, client_id, client_secret, scope=admin; the response's access_token goes in Authorization header uses an OAuth access token from the approved secret store on every request. HitGET /api/v2/platform/ordersand page with the JSON:APIpage[number]/page[size]params, followinglinks.next` until it's null. Tokens expire — catch a 401 and re-request a token. (For an AI agent, the new Admin API CLI can do this without writing the HTTP layer yourself.)
Example 2: Subscribe to an order webhook (developer/automation)
User: "I want Spree to notify my app when an order is canceled. How do I set that up?"
Approach: Use the Platform API to create a webhook subscriber: POST /api/v2/platform/webhooks/subscribers with a JSON:API body containing your url and subscriptions (e.g. ["order.canceled"], or ["*"] for everything). Authenticate with a Platform-API OAuth Bearer token. Deliveries are recorded as Webhook Events (name, response_code, success, request_errors) — query those to debug a failing endpoint. Before exposing the listener publicly, confirm Spree's current signature scheme in the live docs and gate the endpoint with a secret URL/header so you only accept genuine deliveries.
Example 3: Self-host Community Edition vs buy Enterprise
User: "I'm a solo founder. Should I self-host Spree's free edition or pay for Enterprise?"
Approach: The Community Edition is BSD-3 / free — but it's a real Ruby on Rails app needing Postgres + Redis + Sidekiq + MeiliSearch and ongoing ops (upgrades, backups, scaling), so plan ~$200–2,000/mo hosting plus developer time, and expect to keep customizations thin so version upgrades don't break. Enterprise Edition is a custom 5–6-figure/yr license that adds SSO (SAML/OIDC), managed hosting, premium support, and advanced B2B/marketplace/multi-tenant modules — overkill for a solo founder. Recommendation: if you're comfortable running Rails, self-host CE (cheapest, full control) and lean on the shipped agent skills + docs MCP server to move fast; if you don't want to run a Rails stack at all, a hosted backend or drop-in cart is a better fit than Spree.
Troubleshooting
"I can't authenticate to the Platform API / I keep getting 401"
The Platform API doesn't accept a static key or a storefront publishable key. Create an OAuth application in Admin → Apps → OAuth Applications, then exchange its client_id/client_secret at POST {store_url}/spree_oauth/token (grant_type=client_credentials, scope=admin) for an access token, and send it as `Authorization header uses an OAuth access token from the approved secret store A 401 means you're using the wrong token type for the API (publishable key → Store API; OAuth Bearer → Platform API; scoped key → Admin API), the token expired, or the OAuth app wasn't created.
"My Spree upgrade broke my customizations / extensions"
Historically Spree version upgrades were the biggest pain point and some extensions were version-locked. Pin to a major version, use the automatic upgrade tool (5.5+), and switch any version-locked extensions to their universal (version-agnostic) builds. The durable fix is to keep customizations as thin decorators/overrides rather than forking core models/views — forks are what make every upgrade a rewrite. The shipped agent skills document "how to upgrade without breaking customizations" specifically.
"Self-hosting is overwhelming / the store is slow or the schema is confusing"
Community Edition is a full Rails stack — confirm Postgres, Redis, a running Sidekiq worker, and MeiliSearch are all healthy before debugging app behavior; a missing background worker or search service causes most "it's broken/slow" reports. For the opaque data model, prefer the Platform/Admin API and the docs MCP server (https://spreecommerce.org/docs/mcp) + agent skills over reading the schema directly. If you have no Rails capacity at all, that's the signal to consider Enterprise (managed hosting) or a hosted platform instead.
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