BigCommerce Testing

Before writing code

Fetch live docs:

1. Web-search site:developer.bigcommerce.com testing for testing guidance
2. Web-search bigcommerce stencil theme testing for theme testing patterns
3. Web-search bigcommerce api testing sandbox for sandbox store setup

Testing Environments

Sandbox Stores

BigCommerce provides sandbox/trial stores for testing:

• Free trial stores (limited time)
• Partner sandbox stores (BigCommerce Partner Program)
• Use for: API testing, theme development, app development
• Never test against production stores

Test vs Production Credentials

• Create separate API credentials for test environments
• Use test/sandbox mode for payment gateways (Stripe test keys, PayPal sandbox)
• Use different webhook endpoints for test environments

API Testing

Testing REST API Calls

Use tools like Postman, Insomnia, or curl:

curl -X GET \
  https://api.bigcommerce.com/stores/{hash}/v3/catalog/products \
  -H 'X-Auth-Token: {token}' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json'

Automated API Tests

Write integration tests that exercise the BigCommerce API:

// Jest/Vitest example
describe('Products API', () => {
  it('should create a product', async () => {
    const response = await fetch(`${API_URL}/v3/catalog/products`, {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: { 'X-Auth-Token': TOKEN, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
      body: JSON.stringify([{ name: 'Test Product', type: 'physical', price: 9.99, weight: 1 }]),
    });
    expect(response.status).toBe(200);
    const data = await response.json();
    expect(data.data[0].name).toBe('Test Product');
    // Cleanup: delete the test product
  });
});

Testing Rate Limits

• Monitor X-Rate-Limit-Requests-Left header in tests
• Add delays between rapid API calls
• Test your retry/backoff logic

Testing Pagination

• Create enough test data to exceed one page
• Verify your pagination logic handles pageInfo / meta.pagination correctly
• Test edge cases: empty results, last page, single item

GraphQL Testing

GraphQL Playground

Use GraphQL explorers to test queries:

• Apollo Studio, GraphQL Playground, or graphql-request library
• Storefront API endpoint: https://{store_url}/graphql
• Include Authorization: Bearer {storefront_token} header

Automated GraphQL Tests

describe('GraphQL Storefront', () => {
  it('should fetch products', async () => {
    const query = `{ site { products(first: 5) { edges { node { name entityId } } } } }`;
    const response = await fetch(`${STORE_URL}/graphql`, {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${STOREFRONT_TOKEN}`, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
      body: JSON.stringify({ query }),
    });
    const { data } = await response.json();
    expect(data.site.products.edges.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
  });
});

Stencil Theme Testing

Local Testing with Stencil CLI

stencil start provides a local development server:

• Live reload on template/SCSS/JS changes
• Proxies API data from your BigCommerce store
• Test theme changes locally before pushing

Visual Testing

• Test across theme variations (config.json variations)
• Test responsive layouts at multiple breakpoints
• Verify dynamic content (front matter data injection)
• Test with different product types, category structures

Theme Bundle Validation

stencil bundle validates the theme before upload:

• Checks template syntax
• Validates config.json and schema.json
• Reports errors and warnings

Webhook Testing

Local Webhook Testing

Use tunneling tools for local webhook development:

• ngrok http 3000 — expose local port to public URL
• Register the ngrok URL as webhook destination
• Trigger events in BigCommerce admin (create order, update product)
• Inspect webhook payloads in your local handler

Webhook Replay

Log all webhook payloads during development for replay testing:

• Store raw request body and headers
• Replay recorded payloads in tests
• Test idempotency (replay same webhook multiple times)

E2E Testing

Playwright/Cypress

Test complete user flows against a running BigCommerce store:

// Playwright example
test('complete purchase flow', async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto('/products/test-product');
  await page.click('button:has-text("Add to Cart")');
  await page.goto('/cart');
  await page.click('a:has-text("Proceed to Checkout")');
  // Fill checkout fields...
  await page.click('button:has-text("Place Order")');
  await expect(page.locator('.order-confirmation')).toBeVisible();
});

What to Test E2E

• Product browsing and search
• Add to cart and cart management
• Full checkout flow (with test payment gateway)
• Customer registration and login
• My Account pages (orders, addresses, wishlists)
• Responsive design across viewports

App Testing

OAuth Flow Testing

• Test install callback with valid and invalid auth codes
• Test load callback JWT verification
• Test uninstall callback cleanup
• Test with multiple stores (different store hashes)

Webhook Subscription Testing

• Verify webhook creation via API
• Test webhook handler with sample payloads
• Test retry handling (return non-200 to trigger retry)
• Test deactivation recovery

Best Practices

• Use sandbox stores — never test destructively against production
• Clean up test data after each test run
• Test rate limit handling and backoff logic
• Mock external APIs (payment gateways) in unit tests
• Use real BigCommerce APIs in integration tests
• Test with different store configurations (tax, currency, shipping)
• Use ngrok/tunnels for webhook development
• Validate API responses against expected schemas
• Test error paths — invalid data, missing fields, auth failures

Fetch the BigCommerce developer documentation for current testing guidance, sandbox store setup, and API testing patterns before implementing.