Shopify Products

Create, update, and bulk-import Shopify products. Produces live products in the store via the GraphQL Admin API or CSV import.

Prerequisites

Admin API access token (use the shopify-setup skill if not configured)
Store URL and API version from shopify.config.json or .dev.vars

Workflow

Step 1: Gather Product Data

Determine what the user wants to create or update:

Product basics: title, description (HTML), product type, vendor, tags
Variants: options (size, colour, material), prices, SKUs, inventory quantities
Images: URLs to upload, or local files
SEO: page title, meta description, URL handle
Organisation: collections, product type, tags

Accept data from:

Direct conversation (user describes products)
Spreadsheet/CSV file (user provides a file)
Website scraping (user provides a URL to extract from)

Step 2: Choose Method

Scenario	Method
1-5 products	GraphQL mutations
6-20 products	GraphQL with batching
20+ products	CSV import via admin
Updates to existing	GraphQL mutations
Inventory adjustments	`inventorySetQuantities` mutation

Step 3a: Create via GraphQL (Recommended)

Single product with variants:

curl -s https://{store}/admin/api/2025-01/graphql.json \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Shopify-Access-Token: {token}" \
  -d '{
    "query": "mutation productCreate($product: ProductCreateInput!) { productCreate(product: $product) { product { id title } userErrors { field message } } }",
    "variables": {
      "product": {
        "title": "Example T-Shirt",
        "descriptionHtml": "<p>Premium cotton tee</p>",
        "vendor": "My Brand",
        "productType": "T-Shirts",
        "tags": ["summer", "cotton"],
        "options": ["Size", "Colour"],
        "variants": [
          {"optionValues": [{"optionName": "Size", "name": "S"}, {"optionName": "Colour", "name": "Black"}], "price": "29.95"},
          {"optionValues": [{"optionName": "Size", "name": "M"}, {"optionName": "Colour", "name": "Black"}], "price": "29.95"},
          {"optionValues": [{"optionName": "Size", "name": "L"}, {"optionName": "Colour", "name": "Black"}], "price": "29.95"}
        ]
      }
    }
  }'

See references/graphql-mutations.md for all mutation patterns.

Batching multiple products: Create products sequentially with a short delay between each to respect rate limits (1,000 cost points/second).

Step 3b: Bulk Import via CSV

For 20+ products, generate a CSV and import through Shopify admin:

Generate CSV using the format in references/csv-format.md
Use the template from assets/product-csv-template.csv
Navigate to https://{store}.myshopify.com/admin/products/import
Upload the CSV file
Review the preview and confirm import

Use browser automation to assist with the upload if needed.

Step 4: Upload Product Images

Images require a two-step process — staged upload then attach:

mutation {
  stagedUploadsCreate(input: [{
    filename: "product-image.jpg"
    mimeType: "image/jpeg"
    httpMethod: POST
    resource: IMAGE
  }]) {
    stagedTargets {
      url
      resourceUrl
      parameters { name value }
    }
  }
}

Then upload to the staged URL, and attach with productCreateMedia.

Shortcut: If images are already hosted at a public URL, pass src directly in the product creation:

{
  "images": [
    { "src": "https://example.com/image.jpg", "alt": "Product front view" }
  ]
}

Step 5: Assign to Collections

After creation, add products to collections:

mutation {
  collectionAddProducts(
    id: "gid://shopify/Collection/123456"
    productIds: ["gid://shopify/Product/789"]
  ) {
    collection { title productsCount }
    userErrors { field message }
  }
}

To find collection IDs:

{
  collections(first: 50) {
    edges {
      node { id title handle }
    }
  }
}

Step 6: Verify

Query back the created products to confirm:

{
  products(first: 10, reverse: true) {
    edges {
      node {
        id title status
        variants(first: 5) { edges { node { title price inventoryQuantity } } }
        images(first: 3) { edges { node { url altText } } }
      }
    }
  }
}

Provide the admin URL for the user to review: https://{store}.myshopify.com/admin/products

Critical Patterns

Product Status

New products default to DRAFT. To make them visible:

{ "status": "ACTIVE" }

Always confirm with the user before setting status to ACTIVE.

Variant Limits

Shopify allows max 100 variants per product and 3 options (e.g. Size, Colour, Material). If you need more, split into separate products.

Inventory Tracking

To set inventory quantities, use inventorySetQuantities after product creation:

mutation {
  inventorySetQuantities(input: {
    reason: "correction"
    name: "available"
    quantities: [{
      inventoryItemId: "gid://shopify/InventoryItem/123"
      locationId: "gid://shopify/Location/456"
      quantity: 50
    }]
  }) {
    inventoryAdjustmentGroup { reason }
    userErrors { field message }
  }
}

Price Formatting

Prices are strings, not numbers. Always quote them: "price": "29.95" not "price": 29.95.

HTML Descriptions

Product descriptions accept HTML. Keep it simple — Shopify's editor handles basic tags:

<p>, <strong>, <em>, <ul>, <ol>, <li>, <h2>-<h6>
<a href="..."> for links
<img> is stripped — use product images instead

Bulk Operations for Large Imports

For 50+ products via API, use Shopify's bulk operation:

mutation {
  bulkOperationRunMutation(
    mutation: "mutation ($input: ProductInput!) { productCreate(input: $input) { product { id } userErrors { message } } }"
    stagedUploadPath: "tmp/bulk-products.jsonl"
  ) {
    bulkOperation { id status }
    userErrors { message }
  }
}

This accepts a JSONL file with one product per line, processed asynchronously.

Asset Files

assets/product-csv-template.csv — Blank CSV template with Shopify import headers

Reference Files

references/graphql-mutations.md — Key GraphQL mutations for product CRUD
references/csv-format.md — Shopify CSV import column format and examples

shopify-products