Setting Up a Magento Integration: the Production-Ready Path

The admin token from chapter 3 was perfect for a QUICK test – for our app, let's now set up the cleaner path: a dedicated Integration in the Magento admin panel. This step is identical regardless of platform to the React web tutorial – feel free to reuse the same integration for both projects.

Why an integration instead of admin login?

Not tied to a person: if an employee's admin password changes, the integration stays untouched.
Restrictable permissions: an integration can be scoped to EXACTLY the resources it needs.
Traceable: a dedicated name in the integration log shows WHICH application is accessing the API.

Creating an integration in the admin panel

Open the Magento admin → System → the "Extensions" section → Integrations.
Click Add New Integration.
Give it a descriptive name, e.g. magento-produkt-explorer-app, and enter your current admin password to confirm.
In the API tab, select the required resources – "Catalog" is enough for this project.
Click Save, then click Activate on your new integration.
Magento shows a confirmation dialog with the permissions to be granted – click Allow.

Achtung: The access token shown is displayed ONLY ONCE! Copy it SOMEWHERE SAFE immediately. If it's lost, you'll have to deactivate and reactivate the integration.

Testing the integration token

TOKEN="YOUR_INTEGRATION_ACCESS_TOKEN"

curl -s https://YOUR-SHOP.com/rest/V1/products?searchCriteria%5BpageSize%5D=2 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"

Tipp: If you already created an integration for magento-produkt-explorer in the React web tutorial, you can use the SAME integration and access token for magento-produkt-explorer-app too – an integration isn't limited to one specific app, it only restricts WHICH Magento resources are reachable.