How to create a BigCommerce API account for Zendesk

To connect BigCommerce to Zendesk, create a store-level API account in the BigCommerce control panel under Settings > Store-level API accounts > Create API account, choose V2/V3 API token, and set Orders to modify (or read-only for viewing), plus Customers, Products and Channel listings read-only. Click Save, copy the Access token and API path that BigCommerce shows once, then paste both into Trolleywell's settings in Zendesk.

Steps

1. Open the API accounts page. In the BigCommerce control panel, go to Settings > Store-level API accounts and click Create API account.
2. Choose the token type V2/V3 API token and name it "Trolleywell for Zendesk".
3. Set the OAuth scopes from the table below. Leave every other scope at None.
4. Click Save. BigCommerce shows the Access token and the API path (like https://api.bigcommerce.com/stores/abc123/v3/) once, and downloads them as a text file.
5. Paste them into Zendesk. In Trolleywell's settings, paste the API path into Store hash or API path and the token into Access token. Optionally set Store name, shown in the sidebar and in ticket notes.
6. Delete the downloaded text file once the token is in Zendesk.
7. Test it. Open a ticket from someone who has ordered. Their orders should appear in the sidebar.

Which scopes to set

Start with Orders read-only if you only want agents to see orders. If a scope is missing later, the sidebar names it. Edit the same API account in BigCommerce to add it; the token stays the same.

What the Store hash field accepts

Store hash or API path takes any of these, and Trolleywell reads the store hash (the part after /stores/) from it:

• The full API path, https://api.bigcommerce.com/stores/abc123/v3/
• The bare hash, abc123
• Your control panel address, store-abc123.mybigcommerce.com

Error messages and fixes

Where the token lives

Zendesk stores the access token as a secure setting. It's never sent to agents' browsers, and Zendesk only adds it to requests going to api.bigcommerce.com. Trolleywell installs nothing in BigCommerce and creates nothing in your store.

More than one store

Fill in the store hash and token of another BigCommerce store under store 2 or 3 to turn it on. Each store needs its own API account. Brands for this store lists the Zendesk brand ids whose tickets open it first.

What it costs

Trolleywell for BigCommerce is $9 per agent per month on the Standard plan, billed monthly by Zendesk, with a 14-day free trial and a card at install. See the Trolleywell documentation for every setting, and BigCommerce's article on store API accounts.