Adobe Commerce extensibility
Learn about in-process and out-of-process development tools provided by Adobe Commerce
This guide explains how to develop Out-of-Process apps that extend and customize Adobe Commerce. For a more in-depth understanding of extensibility, follow our learning path.
Extensibility, as a concept, reflects the possibility for growth and the ease of extending functionality in a system. When referring to extensibility in Adobe Commerce, we mean the ability of developers to expand, customize, and control their interactions with Adobe Commerce.
The following diagram highlights the main components of the Adobe Commerce extensibility strategy:
Extensibility generally has two variations, in-process extensibility and out-of-process extensibility. In the context of Adobe Commerce, in-process extensibility refers to extended functionality that is located inside or alongside the Adobe Commerce core software. Conversely, out-of-process extensibility refers to extended functionality and services that operate outside the core software.
Out-of-process extensibility can reduce the total cost of ownership by simplifying upgrades and giving developers more control of the timing, coding, and implementation of their systems.
Other benefits of out-of-process extensibility include:
Scalability - Extensions can be scaled separately from the core software, allowing for greater efficiency.
Isolation - An isolated environment means that developers can upgrade or modify their extensions at their discretion without relying on a core release.
Technological Independence - Developers can choose whichever tech stacks and coding languages that fit their needs.
Out-of-process development tools
Adobe Commerce offers the following out-of-process development tools:
API Mesh for Adobe Developer App Builder - Coordinate and combine multiple API, GraphQL, REST, and other sources into a single, queryable GraphQL endpoint.
App Builder - Build and deploy secure and scalable web applications that extend Commerce functionality and integrate with third-party solutions.
Events - Use custom event triggers to interact with other extensible development tools.
Webhooks - Use webhooks to automatically trigger interactions between Commerce and third-party systems.
Admin UI SDK - Customize and enhance the Commerce Admin with new pages and features for your merchants.
Additionally, Marketplace Apps allow you to create and sell custom single-page applications on the Adobe Commerce Marketplace.
Some out-of-process development tools are only available with Adobe Commerce and are not available with Magento Open Source.
In-process development tools
Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source provide the following in-process extensible development tools:
REST - Use REST calls to interact with your Commerce instance on behalf of an administrator, customer, guest, or integration.
GraphQL - Use GraphQL requests to transfer information between the storefront and backend.
PHP Extensions - Develop or modify Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source components.
Marketplace Extensions - Create and sell PHP extensions in the Adobe Commerce Marketplace.
Related information
Is a complete framework that enables enterprise developers to build and deploy custom web applications that extend Adobe Experience Cloud solutions and run on Adobe infrastructure.
API Mesh for Adobe Developer App Builder
Allows developers to integrate private and third-party APIs and other software interfaces with Adobe Commerce and other Adobe products using Adobe IO.
Contributing to this documentation
We encourage you to participate in our open documentation initiative. If you have suggestions, corrections, additions, or deletions for this documentation, check out the source on GitHub, and open a pull request.
