Shopify core workflow a

Shopify Products & Catalog Management

Overview

Primary workflow for Shopify: manage products, variants, collections, and inventory using the GraphQL Admin API. Covers CRUD operations with real API mutations and response shapes.

Prerequisites

• Completed shopify-install-auth setup
• Access scopes: read_products, write_products, read_inventory, write_inventory
• API version 2024-10 or later (ProductInput was split in this version)

Instructions

Step 1: Create a Product

Use productCreate with ProductCreateInput (as of 2024-10, this replaced the old unified ProductInput). Always check userErrors -- Shopify returns 200 even on validation failures.

See Product Create Mutation for the complete mutation, variables, and error handling.

Step 2: Update a Product

Use productUpdate with ProductUpdateInput (separate from create as of 2024-10). Supports metafield updates inline.

See Product Update Mutation for the complete mutation and variables.

Step 3: Query Products with Filtering

Search products using Shopify's query syntax (status:active, product_type:Apparel AND vendor:'My Brand', tag:sale, etc.) with cursor-based pagination.

See Search Products Query for the complete query with pagination and query syntax examples.

Step 4: Manage Variants and Pricing

Create variants in bulk with productVariantsBulkCreate, including pricing, SKU, barcode, option values, and inventory quantities per location.

See Bulk Create Variants for the complete mutation and variables.

Step 5: Manage Collections

Create smart (automated) collections with rule-based product matching using tag, product type, and other column filters.

See Smart Collection Create for the complete mutation and variables.

Output

• Product created with variants and options
• Products queryable with search filters
• Variant pricing and inventory configured
• Smart collections auto-organizing products

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
userErrors: [{code: "TAKEN", field: ["handle"]}]	Duplicate product handle	Use a unique handle or let Shopify auto-generate
userErrors: [{code: "BLANK", field: ["title"]}]	Empty required field	Provide non-empty title
userErrors: [{code: "INVALID"}]	Invalid metafield type	Check type matches Shopify's metafield types
Access denied on productCreate	Missing write_products scope	Request scope in app config
Product not found	Wrong GID format	Must be gid://shopify/Product/1234567890 (numeric ID)

Examples

ProductSet Mutation (Upsert)

// productSet creates OR updates — idempotent by handle
const PRODUCT_SET = `
  mutation productSet($input: ProductSetInput!) {
    productSet(input: $input) {
      product { id title }
      userErrors { field message code }
    }
  }
`;

await client.request(PRODUCT_SET, {
  variables: {
    input: {
      title: "Organic Coffee Beans",
      handle: "organic-coffee-beans", // unique identifier
      productType: "Coffee",
      vendor: "Bean Co",
    },
  },
});

Resources

• productCreate Mutation
• productSet Mutation (Upsert)
• Product Object
• 2024-10 ProductInput Split