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.jsonor.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)
productCreate
mutation productCreate($product: ProductCreateInput!) {
productCreate(product: $product) {
product {
id
title
handle
status
variants(first: 100) {
edges {
node { id title price sku inventoryQuantity }
}
}
}
userErrors { field message }
}
}
Variables:
{
"product": {
"title": "Example T-Shirt",
"descriptionHtml": "<p>Premium cotton tee</p>",
"vendor": "My Brand",
"productType": "T-Shirts",
"tags": ["summer", "cotton"],
"status": "DRAFT",
"options": ["Size", "Colour"],
"variants": [
{
"optionValues": [
{"optionName": "Size", "name": "S"},
{"optionName": "Colour", "name": "Black"}
],
"price": "29.95",
"sku": "TSHIRT-S-BLK",
"inventoryPolicy": "DENY",
"inventoryItem": { "tracked": true }
},
{
"optionValues": [
{"optionName": "Size", "name": "M"},
{"optionName": "Colour", "name": "Black"}
],
"price": "29.95",
"sku": "TSHIRT-M-BLK"
},
{
"optionValues": [
{"optionName": "Size", "name": "L"},
{"optionName": "Colour", "name": "Black"}
],
"price": "29.95",
"sku": "TSHIRT-L-BLK"
}
],
"seo": {
"title": "Example T-Shirt | My Brand",
"description": "Premium cotton tee in multiple sizes"
}
}
}
Curl example:
curl -s https://{store}/admin/api/2025-01/graphql.json \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "X-Shopify-Access-Token: {token}" \
-d '{"query": "mutation productCreate($product: ProductCreateInput!) { productCreate(product: $product) { product { id title } userErrors { field message } } }", "variables": { ... }}'
Batching multiple products: Create products sequentially with a short delay between each to respect rate limits (1,000 cost points/second).
productUpdate
mutation productUpdate($input: ProductInput!) {
productUpdate(input: $input) {
product { id title }
userErrors { field message }
}
}
Variables include id (required) plus any fields to update.
productDelete
mutation productDelete($input: ProductDeleteInput!) {
productDelete(input: $input) {
deletedProductId
userErrors { field message }
}
}
productVariantsBulkCreate
Add variants to an existing product:
mutation productVariantsBulkCreate($productId: ID!, $variants: [ProductVariantsBulkInput!]!) {
productVariantsBulkCreate(productId: $productId, variants: $variants) {
productVariants { id title price }
userErrors { field message }
}
}
productVariantsBulkUpdate
mutation productVariantsBulkUpdate($productId: ID!, $variants: [ProductVariantsBulkInput!]!) {
productVariantsBulkUpdate(productId: $productId, variants: $variants) {
productVariants { id title price }
userErrors { field message }
}
}
Step 3b: Bulk Import via CSV
For 20+ products, generate a CSV and import through Shopify admin.
CSV Column Reference
Required columns:
| Column | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
Handle | URL slug (unique per product) | classic-tshirt |
Title | Product name (first row per product) | Classic T-Shirt |
Body (HTML) | Description in HTML | <p>Premium cotton</p> |
Vendor | Brand or manufacturer | My Brand |
Product Category | Shopify standard taxonomy | Apparel & Accessories > Clothing > Shirts & Tops |
Type | Custom product type | T-Shirts |
Tags | Comma-separated tags | summer, cotton, casual |
Published | Whether product is visible | TRUE or FALSE |
Variant columns:
| Column | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
Option1 Name | First option name | Size |
Option1 Value | First option value | Medium |
Option2 Name | Second option name | Colour |
Option2 Value | Second option value | Black |
Option3 Name | Third option name | Material |
Option3 Value | Third option value | Cotton |
Variant SKU | Stock keeping unit | TSHIRT-M-BLK |
Variant Grams | Weight in grams | 200 |
Variant Inventory Qty | Stock quantity | 50 |
Variant Price | Variant price | 29.95 |
Variant Compare At Price | Original price (for sales) | 39.95 |
Variant Requires Shipping | Physical product | TRUE |
Variant Taxable | Subject to tax | TRUE |
Image columns:
| Column | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
Image Src | Image URL | https://example.com/img.jpg |
Image Position | Display order (1-based) | 1 |
Image Alt Text | Alt text for accessibility | Classic T-Shirt front view |
SEO columns:
| Column | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
SEO Title | Page title tag | `Classic T-Shirt |
SEO Description | Meta description | Premium cotton tee in 5 colours |
Multi-Variant Row Format
The first row has the product title and details. Subsequent rows for the same product have only the Handle and variant-specific columns:
Handle,Title,Body (HTML),Vendor,Type,Tags,Published,Option1 Name,Option1 Value,Variant SKU,Variant Price,Variant Inventory Qty,Image Src
classic-tshirt,Classic T-Shirt,<p>Premium cotton</p>,My Brand,T-Shirts,"summer,cotton",TRUE,Size,Small,TSH-S,29.95,50,https://example.com/tshirt.jpg
classic-tshirt,,,,,,,,Medium,TSH-M,29.95,75,
classic-tshirt,,,,,,,,Large,TSH-L,29.95,60,
CSV Rules
- UTF-8 encoding required
- Maximum 50MB file size
- Handle must be unique per product -- duplicate handles update existing products
- Leave variant columns blank on variant rows for fields that don't change
- Images can be on any row -- they're associated by Handle
Published=TRUEmakes the product immediately visible
Import Steps
- Generate CSV using the column format above
- Use the template from
assets/product-csv-template.csvif available - 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.
stagedUploadsCreate
mutation stagedUploadsCreate($input: [StagedUploadInput!]!) {
stagedUploadsCreate(input: $input) {
stagedTargets {
url
resourceUrl
parameters { name value }
}
userErrors { field message }
}
}
Input per file:
{
"filename": "product-image.jpg