Backend extensions let you customize Wix backend behavior. You can add your own logic, data, and integrations to extend the functionality of Wix business solutions, such as Stores and Bookings, or to add backend features of your own.
When you build with a Wix-managed development path, such as a Wix-managed headless project, your backend code runs in a serverless environment that Wix manages.
Use backend extensions to do the following:
Extend Wix business solutions: Use service plugins to extend a business flow, such as checkout, and schema plugins to add custom fields to business solution data.
Add your own backend features: Use HTTP endpoints to handle HTTP requests and app tools to give Aria, the Wix AI assistant, access to custom 3rd-party tools.
The implementation and support for backend extensions differ across Wix development paths, such as extending websites or building apps. Before you start, check your development path and project type to understand which functionality is available to you.
Wix provides several extensions. Learn how to choose an extension type for the functionality you intend to build.
This reference documents the files, code, and configuration needed to add a backend extension to a Wix CLI project or a Studio Two site. Depending on the extension type, you may need to set up one or more of the following:
This reference documents the files your project generates when you add a backend extension. The files and where they go depend on the extension type. For example, a service plugin has 1 file that configures the plugin, named <plugin-name>.extension.ts, and 1 file that contains your handler code.
This reference documents the code you implement in the extension files. Depending on the extension type, you can implement the following functionality:
Extend a Wix flow: Wix pauses one of its flows at a decision point, such as checkout, and calls your code. Your code can add logic, such as an extra fee, or provide something the flow depends on, such as a shipping rate provider.
React to events: Wix runs your code when something happens on a site, such as when a customer pays for an order or submits a form.
Handle HTTP requests: Serve data to frontend code and integrate with 3rd-party services.
This reference documents the identity your code runs as and the permissions it needs. Depending on your extension, you may need to consider who uses it and how your code calls Wix APIs. For example:
Service plugins and event extensions run without a caller identity, so you must use elevation to call Wix APIs from a handler.
HTTP endpoints have no built-in access control, so anyone who can reach your endpoint can trigger any behavior it performs. If you want to restrict who can call it, you must build your own access control, such as verifying the caller before you run any logic.