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A Simple Analogy: A Restaurant & a Waiter

Imagine you’re dining at a restaurant.
  1. You, the customer, browse the menu and place an order for a cheeseburger and fries (similar to making a request for cart data).
  2. The waiter (API) takes your order and communicates it to the kitchen (just like an API receives your request and sends it to a server).
  3. The kitchen (server) prepares your meal, processing the order and gathering the necessary ingredients (much like how a server retrieves or manipulates cart data).
  4. The waiter (API) then delivers the meal to your table, allowing you to enjoy your food (just as an API returns the requested data and updates your cart).
This analogy provides a simple way to understand how APIs function, especially if you’re new to them. When using Upcart’s API, think of it like ordering at a restaurant—decide what you want the cart to do, and let the API handle the rest. Discover how Upcart’s API can elevate your store by exploring our API documentation.

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How This Relates to Upcart’s API

Upcart’s Public API gives you the flexibility to customize and manage your cart’s functionality, much like providing specific instructions to a waiter. For instance, if you want to test whether Upcart’s API is functioning correctly, you can run a simple script within your custom HTML that logs a message whenever the cart opens: 
<script>  
  window.upcartSubscribeCartOpened(() => {  
    console.log("UpCart API Test - The cart has been opened!");  
  });  
</script>

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Verifying If It’s Working

  1. Open your store and navigate to Upcart Settings → Custom HTML to add the script.
  2. Save your changes and refresh your store.
  3. Open the browser console (F12 or Ctrl + Shift + J on Windows, or Cmd + Option + J on Mac).
  4. Open Upcart’s cart, and you should see the confirmation message appear in the console:
Upcart API Test - The cart has been opened!
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Want to Learn More About APIs?

If you’re interested in diving deeper into APIs and JavaScript, here are some beginner-friendly resources to help you get started. Beginner-Friendly API & JavaScript Learning: Upcart’s API works seamlessly without the need for external tools like Postman—you can use it directly within Upcart’s Custom HTML settings or your Shopify theme code

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Need Assistance?

If you’re new to APIs, no worries! You don’t have to write JavaScript from scratch—simply copy and paste pre-written scripts into Upcart’s Custom HTML settings to customize your cart in minutes. Not sure where to begin? Reach out to a Shopify Expert, or explore our API documentation.