# Overview
The Official Accounts third-party platform (hereinafter "third-party platform") is open to all developers who have completed the developer qualification verification. This provides a set of common solutions for vertical industries, helping Official Account and Mini Program operators (hereinafter "operators") quickly complete business operations. Operators can grant authorization to one or more third-party platforms with a single click, allowing these platforms to perform business operations for them.
Third-party platforms must have the following business features:
Third-party platforms can perform the following business scenarios:
- Provide industry solutions, for example, for e-commerce or tourism industries.
- Optimize features of Official Accounts Platform by using tools to professionally optimize the visual style and layout of articles, or by providing custom CRM user management features or a powerful customer service system.
From a technical perspective, third-party platforms are authorized to use Official Account/Mini Program APIs and then call business APIs to perform various operations on behalf of Official Accounts Platform accounts. Therefore, when a third-party platform calls an API, it must follow the Official Accounts Platform Operation Rules. For details, see the Weixin Official Accounts Platform Operation Rules.
To facilitate management and help Official Accounts Platform operators quickly understand and authorize their API and feature permissions, the Weixin Open Platform groups various API permissions into specialized permission sets. For details, go to the Third-party Platform Permission Set Introduction Page.
# Application and Launch Process
To access a third-party platform for development, following the procedure for application and launch as below:
# 1. Create a third-party platform
When creating a third-party platform, enter the basic information of the platform, the required permissions, and relevant parameters (for the specific parameters, see the description in the information input process) on the Weixin Open Platform. For more details about the necessary information, see the Third-party Platform Application Materials Description.
# 2. Independently develop and test authorized third-party platform
After creating a third-party platform, the third-party developer can test the development and authorization processes of the Official Accounts in the test whitelist entered in Step 1 (you cannot create a new third-party platform for testing). You must also properly process the messages pushed via the dedicated test Official Account. For details, see Access Testing Instructions for Network-wide Release. You cannot apply for network-wide release unless all necessary steps are performed as per the Access Testing Instructions for network-wide Release.
# 3. Apply for network-wide release and launch the platform
After testing the Official Accounts in the test whitelist entered in Step 1, you can apply for network-wide release and wait for approval. After the third-party platform is approved, it is granted login authorization for all the Official Accounts that meet the requirements. In other words, the third-party platform businesses can be launched.
# 4. Make modification after release and overwrite the version released in the current network
If a business of the third-party platform changes, modify the third-party platform first. However, the changes are effective only for the test Official Account. You must submit a request for overwriting the version released to the current network before the changes are published to the public. Note that Official Accounts in use on the current network are not affected during the modification process and can be used as normal.
# Technical Description of the Authorization of Third-party Platforms by Official Accounts
For a better understanding of the authorization process, see the Technical Guide for Authorization Process.
# How do Authorized Third-party Platforms Implement Businesses for their hosted Official Accounts Platform Accounts
For information on how a third-party platform calls APIs and implements businesses for its hosted Official Accounts or Mini Programs, see relevant documents in the "Implementing Businesses on Behalf of Official Accounts" folder or the "Implementing Businesses on Behalf of Mini Programs" folder, respectively.