Getting started with Catalyst

Learn how to create your Catalyst storefront using One-Click Catalyst. Alternatively, you can follow our Manual installation guide.

To get started, there are a few steps you must go through first.

Requirements

First, you must have an existing BigCommerce store or sandbox. If you don’t have one already, you can create a free trial store (opens in a new tab) or spin up a developer sandbox (opens in a new tab).

Additionally, you must have the following permissions in the BigCommerce store control panel:

• Manage Channels
• Create Channels
• Edit Channels
• Install Applications

Lastly, in order to allow Catalyst to authenticate with your BigCommerce store, you'll need to make sure that your user account on the subject store has been granted the Create store-level API Accounts permission detailed in our documentation on High-Risk Permissions (opens in a new tab). If you are the assigned store owner of the store, you have these permissions implicitly.

Create a Catalyst Storefront

Start by logging into the BigCommerce control panel. Then, navigate to the Channels section, click Create Channel, and select Catalyst as the channel type.

Here you’ll need to fill in some information about your storefront. First, give it a name. Then choose whether or not to use sample data. We recommend using the sample data to start. Lastly, choose your primary language along with any additional languages you plan on supporting.

After you’ve filled in the necessary information, click Create to deploy the storefront. This process takes a few minutes.

Viewing Your Deployed Storefront

Now that your storefront has been fully deployed, you’re able to visit your live store. You can do this by clicking the View storefront button.

Editing Your Deployed Storefront

In addition to viewing your deployed storefront, you can also open the corresponding Makeswift site to start editing and customizing the design and layout of your site. This Makeswift site comes with pre-built content including pages, custom components, theming options, and more.

To explore and start editing your site, click Edit in Makeswift.

Next Steps

After exploring your site in Makeswift, there are two primary next steps:

1. Run locally to do custom development
2. Deploy your site to your own hosting provider

Running locally to do custom development is not required but it does enable full customization and control over your storefront. If you're interested in this, you can follow our Local development documentation to get started.

If you're not interested in doing any custom development and are happy with what's provided out of the box, you can go directly to our Deploying guide for next steps.