# Getting started

Before you start building your app, you'll need to perform the steps below.

## Install dependencies

To use this library, you'll need to have at least PHP 7.3 installed in your server.

The library is available on [Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/shopify/shopify-api). You can add it to your project's Composer dependencies with `composer require shopify/shopify-api`.

## Set up the library

The first thing your app will need to do to use this library is to set up your configurations. You can do that by calling the `Shopify\Context::initialize` method, which accepts the following settings:

| Param | Type | Required? | Default | Notes |
| --- | --- | :---: | :---: | --- |
| `apiKey` | `string` | Yes | - | App API key from the Partners dashboard |
| `apiSecretKey` | `string` | Yes | - | App API secret from the Partners dashboard |
| `scopes` | `string \| array` | Yes | - | App scopes |
| `hostName` | `string` | Yes | - | App host name e.g. `my-app.my-domain.ca` |
| `sessionStorage` | `SessionStorage` | Yes | - | Session storage strategy. Read our [notes on session handling](issues.md#notes-on-session-handling) for more information |
| `apiVersion` | `string` | No | `'unstable'` | App API version, defaults to unstable |
| `isEmbeddedApp` | `bool` | No | `true` | Whether the app is an embedded app |
| `isPrivateApp` | `bool` | No | `false` | Whether the app is a private app |
| `userAgentPrefix` | `string` | No | - | Prefix for user agent header sent with a request |
| `logger` | `LoggerInterface` | No | - | App logger, so the library can add its own logs to it. Must implement the [PSR-3](https://www.php-fig.org/psr/psr-3/) `Psr\Log\LoggerInterface` interface from the `psr/log` package |

You should call this method as early as possible in your application, as none of the library's features are available until it is initialized. Below is an example call to `initialize`:

```php
Context::initialize(
    $_ENV['SHOPIFY_API_KEY'],
    $_ENV['SHOPIFY_API_SECRET'],
    $_ENV['SHOPIFY_APP_SCOPES'],
    $_ENV['SHOPIFY_APP_HOST_NAME'],
    new FileSessionStorage('/tmp/php_sessions'),
    '2021-04',
    true,
    false,
);
```

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