Dev Program & App Store
A whole new set of tools that lets third-party developers build apps and integrations on the ManyChat platform — from dev versions and publishing to ManyChat's own App Store.
The problem
ManyChat was growing fast and kept adding features, tools and channels — but it couldn’t cover every niche its customers needed and stay focused. The Dev Program had two goals: let developers build apps that add value to the core product, and serve smaller audiences that didn’t fit ManyChat’s main direction.
Dev versions first
The first step was a simple dev version of an app, where code changes appear immediately on every account that has it installed.
Publishing
Next came publication. Once an app is public, clients install the public version, and the developer can keep working without breaking anyone’s automations — dev and public versions are separate.
A failure: triggers
Triggers were meant to start something in ManyChat when an event happened on an external platform — for example, sending a discount after an Amazon purchase. Despite our expectations, the feature didn’t catch on.
Iterating
With the core in place we shipped small improvements, ran experiments and paid down technical debt. One concept was an app creation wizard that lets you build an app of any complexity step by step.
The App Store
To deliver apps cheaply and test the idea, we built the first App Store on Tilda — clunky, but it did the job. It was a big milestone and unlocked features developers had asked for: arrays, automated API permissions, multiple API keys and more.
The Dev Program was a completely new area for me: I learned JSON, APIs and requests, wrote detailed bilingual design specs and joined customer interviews.
Result
A challenging year that was worth it. We built a strong team, added a new section to ManyChat, overhauled the API and prepared for further expansion:
- 40+ active developers
- 90+ public apps
- 6,000+ app installs
- 270+ members in the official Facebook community