Shopify — Admin & Storefront GraphQL APIs

Work with Shopify stores directly through curl: list products, manage inventory, pull orders, update customers, read metafields. No SDK, no app framework — just the GraphQL endpoint and a custom-app access token.

The REST Admin API is legacy since 2024-04 and only receives security fixes. Use GraphQL Admin for all admin work. Use Storefront GraphQL for read-only customer-facing queries (products, collections, cart).

Prerequisites

1. In Shopify admin: Settings → Apps and sales channels → Develop apps → Create an app.
2. Click Configure Admin API scopes, select what you need (examples below), save.
3. Install app → the Admin API access token appears ONCE. Copy it immediately — Shopify will never show it again. Tokens start with shpat_.
4. Save to ~/.hermes/.env:

   SHOPIFY_ACCESS_TOKEN=shpat_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
   SHOPIFY_STORE_DOMAIN=my-store.myshopify.com
   SHOPIFY_API_VERSION=2026-01
   

Heads up: As of January 1, 2026, new "legacy custom apps" created in the Shopify admin are gone. New setups should use the Dev Dashboard (shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/dev-dashboard). Existing admin-created apps keep working. If the user's shop has no existing custom app and it's after 2026-01-01, direct them to Dev Dashboard instead of the admin flow.

Common scopes by task:

• Products / collections: read_products, write_products
• Inventory: read_inventory, write_inventory, read_locations
• Orders: read_orders, write_orders (30 most recent without read_all_orders)
• Customers: read_customers, write_customers
• Draft orders: read_draft_orders, write_draft_orders
• Fulfillments: read_fulfillments, write_fulfillments
• Metafields / metaobjects: covered by the matching resource scopes

API Basics

• Endpoint: https://$SHOPIFY_STORE_DOMAIN/admin/api/$SHOPIFY_API_VERSION/graphql.json
• Auth header: X-Shopify-Access-Token: $SHOPIFY_ACCESS_TOKEN (NOT Authorization: Bearer)
• Method: always POST, always Content-Type: application/json, body is {"query": "...", "variables": {...}}
• HTTP 200 does not mean success. GraphQL returns errors in a top-level errors array and per-field userErrors. Always check both.
• IDs are GID strings: gid://shopify/Product/10079467700516, gid://shopify/Variant/..., gid://shopify/Order/.... Pass these verbatim — don't strip the prefix.
• Rate limit: calculated via query cost (leaky bucket). Each response has extensions.cost with requestedQueryCost, actualQueryCost, throttleStatus.{currentlyAvailable, maximumAvailable, restoreRate}. Back off when currentlyAvailable drops below your next query's cost. Standard shops = 100 points bucket, 50/s restore; Plus = 1000/100.

Base curl pattern (reusable):

shop_gql() {
  local query="$1"
  local variables="${2:-{}}"
  curl -sS -X POST \
    "https://${SHOPIFY_STORE_DOMAIN}/admin/api/${SHOPIFY_API_VERSION:-2026-01}/graphql.json" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "X-Shopify-Access-Token: ${SHOPIFY_ACCESS_TOKEN}" \
    --data "$(jq -nc --arg q "$query" --argjson v "$variables" '{query: $q, variables: $v}')"
}

Pipe through jq for readable output. -sS keeps errors visible but hides the progress bar.

Discovery

Shop info + current API version

shop_gql '{ shop { name myshopifyDomain primaryDomain { url } currencyCode plan { displayName } } }' | jq

List all supported API versions

shop_gql '{ publicApiVersions { handle supported } }' | jq '.data.publicApiVersions[] | select(.supported)'

Products

Search products (first 20 matching query)

shop_gql '
query($q: String!) {
  products(first: 20, query: $q) {
    edges { node { id title handle status totalInventory variants(first: 5) { edges { node { id sku price inventoryQuantity } } } } }
    pageInfo { hasNextPage endCursor }
  }
}' '{"q":"hoodie status:active"}' | jq

Query syntax supports title:, sku:, vendor:, product_type:, status:active, tag:, created_at:>2025-01-01. Full grammar: https://shopify.dev/docs/api/usage/search-syntax

Paginate products (cursor)

shop_gql '
query($cursor: String) {
  products(first: 100, after: $cursor) {
    edges { cursor node { id handle } }
    pageInfo { hasNextPage endCursor }
  }
}' '{"cursor":null}'
# subsequent calls: pass the previous endCursor

Get a product with variants + metafields

shop_gql '
query($id: ID!) {
  product(id: $id) {
    id title handle descriptionHtml tags status
    variants(first: 20) { edges { node { id sku price compareAtPrice inventoryQuantity selectedOptions { name value } } } }
    metafields(first: 20) { edges { node { namespace key type value } } }
  }
}' '{"id":"gid://shopify/Product/10079467700516"}' | jq

Create a product with one variant

shop_gql '
mutation($input: ProductCreateInput!) {
  productCreate(product: $input) {
    product { id handle }
    userErrors { field message }
  }
}' '{"input":{"title":"Test Hoodie","status":"DRAFT","vendor":"Hermes","productType":"Apparel","tags":["test"]}}'

Variants now have their own mutations in recent versions:

# Add variants after creating the product
shop_gql '
mutation($productId: ID!, $variants: [ProductVariantsBulkInput!]!) {
  productVariantsBulkCreate(productId: $productId, variants: $variants) {
    productVariants { id sku price }
    userErrors { field message }
  }
}' '{"productId":"gid://shopify/Product/...","variants":[{"optionValues":[{"optionName":"Size","name":"M"}],"price":"49.00","inventoryItem":{"sku":"HD-M","tracked":true}}]}'

Update price / SKU

shop_gql '
mutation($productId: ID!, $variants: [ProductVariantsBulkInput!]!) {
  productVariantsBulkUpdate(productId: $productId, variants: $variants) {
    productVariants { id sku price }
    userErrors { field message }
  }
}' '{"productId":"gid://shopify/Product/...","variants":[{"id":"gid://shopify/ProductVariant/...","price":"55.00"}]}'

Orders

List recent orders (last 30 by default without read_all_orders)

shop_gql '
{
  orders(first: 20, reverse: true, query: "financial_status:paid") {
    edges { node {
      id name createdAt displayFinancialStatus displayFulfillmentStatus
      totalPriceSet { shopMoney { amount currencyCode } }
      customer { id displayName email }
      lineItems(first: 10) { edges { node { title quantity sku } } }
    } }
  }
}' | jq

Useful order query filters: financial_status:paid|pending|refunded, fulfillment_status:unfulfilled|fulfilled, created_at:>2025-01-01, tag:gift, email:foo@example.com.

Fetch a single order with shipping address

shop_gql '
query($id: ID!) {
  order(id: $id) {
    id name email
    shippingAddress { name address1 address2 city province country zip phone }
    lineItems(first: 50) { edges { node { title quantity variant { sku } originalUnitPriceSet { shopMoney { amount currencyCode } } } } }
    transactions { id kind status amountSet { shopMoney { amount currencyCode } } }
  }
}' '{"id":"gid://shopify/Order/...."}' | jq

Customers

# Search
shop_gql '
{
  customers(first: 10, query: "email:*@example.com") {
    edges { node { id email displayName numberOfOrders amountSpent { amount currencyCode } } }
  }
}'

# Create
shop_gql '
mutation($input: CustomerInput!) {
  customerCreate(input: $input) {
    customer { id email }
    userErrors { field message }
  }
}' '{"input":{"email":"test@example.com","firstName":"Test","lastName":"User","tags":["api-created"]}}'

Inventory

Inventory lives on inventory items tied to variants, quantities tracked per location.

# Get inventory for a variant across all locations
shop_gql '
query($id: ID!) {
  productVariant(id: $id) {
    id sku
    inventoryItem {
      id tracked
      inventoryLevels(first: 10) {
        edges { node { location { id name } quantities(names: ["available","on_hand","committed"]) { name quantity } } }
      }
    }
  }
}' '{"id":"gid://shopify/ProductVariant/..."}'

Adjust stock (delta) — uses inventoryAdjustQuantities:

shop_gql '
mutation($input: InventoryAdjustQuantitiesInput!) {
  inventoryAdjustQuantities(input: $input) {
    inventoryAdjustmentGroup { reason changes { name delta } }
    userErrors { field message }
  }
}' '{
  "input": {
    "reason": "correction",
    "name": "available",
    "changes": [{"delta": 5, "inventoryItemId": "gid://shopify/InventoryItem/...", "locationId": "gid://shopify/Location/..."}]
  }
}'

Set absolute stock (not delta) — inventorySetQuantities:

shop_gql '
mutation($input: InventorySetQuantitiesInput!) {
  inventorySetQuantities(input: $input) {
    inventoryAdjustmentGroup { id }
    userErrors { field message }
  }
}' '{"input":{"reason":"correction","name":"available","ignoreCompareQuantity":true,"quantities":[{"inventoryItemId":"gid://shopify/InventoryItem/...","locationId":"gid://shopify/Location/...","quantity":100}]}}'

Metafields & Metaobjects

Metafields attach custom data to resources (products, customers, orders, shop).

# Read
shop_gql '
query($id: ID!) {
  product(id: $id) {
    metafields(first: 10, namespace: "custom") {
      edges { node { key type value } }
    }
  }
}' '{"id":"gid://shopify/Product/..."}'

# Write (works for any owner type)
shop_gql '
mutation($metafields: [MetafieldsSetInput!]!) {
  metafieldsSet(metafields: $metafields) {
    metafields { id key namespace }
    userErrors { field message code }
  }
}' '{"metafields":[{"ownerId":"gid://shopify/Product/...","namespace":"custom","key":"care_instructions","type":"multi_line_text_field","value":"Wash cold. Tumble dry low."}]}'

Storefront API (public read-only)

Different endpoint, different token, used for customer-facing apps/hydrogen-style headless setups. Headers differ:

• Endpoint: https://$SHOPIFY_STORE_DOMAIN/api/$SHOPIFY_API_VERSION/graphql.json
• Auth header (public): X-Shopify-Storefront-Access-Token: <public token> — embeddable in browser
• Auth header (private): Shopify-Storefront-Private-Token: <private token> — server-only

curl -sS -X POST \
  "https://${SHOPIFY_STORE_DOMAIN}/api/${SHOPIFY_API_VERSION:-2026-01}/graphql.json" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Shopify-Storefront-Access-Token: ${SHOPIFY_STOREFRONT_TOKEN}" \
  -d '{"query":"{ shop { name } products(first: 5) { edges { node { id title handle } } } }"}' | jq

Bulk Operations

For dumps larger than rate limits allow (full product catalog, all orders for a year):

# 1. Start bulk query
shop_gql '
mutation {
  bulkOperationRunQuery(query: """
    { products { edges { node { id title handle variants { edges { node { sku price } } } } } } }
  """) {
    bulkOperation { id status }
    userErrors { field message }
  }
}'

# 2. Poll status
shop_gql '{ currentBulkOperation { id status errorCode objectCount fileSize url partialDataUrl } }'

# 3. When status=COMPLETED, download the JSONL file
curl -sS "$URL" > products.jsonl

Each JSONL line is a node, and nested connections are emitted as separate lines with __parentId. Reassemble client-side if needed.

Webhooks

Subscribe to events so you don't have to poll:

shop_gql '
mutation($topic: WebhookSubscriptionTopic!, $sub: WebhookSubscriptionInput!) {
  webhookSubscriptionCreate(topic: $topic, webhookSubscription: $sub) {
    webhookSubscription { id topic endpoint { __typename ... on WebhookHttpEndpoint { callbackUrl } } }
    userErrors { field message }
  }
}' '{"topic":"ORDERS_CREATE","sub":{"callbackUrl":"https://example.com/webhook","format":"JSON"}}'

Verify incoming webhook HMAC using the app's client secret (not the access token):

echo -n "$REQUEST_BODY" | openssl dgst -sha256 -hmac "$APP_SECRET" -binary | base64
# Compare to X-Shopify-Hmac-Sha256 header

Pitfalls

• REST endpoints still exist but are frozen. Don't write new integrations against /admin/api/.../products.json. Use GraphQL.
• Token format check. Admin tokens start with shpat_. Storefront public tokens with shpua_. If you have one and the wrong header, every request returns 401 without a useful error body.
• 403 with a valid token = missing scope. Shopify returns {"errors":[{"message":"Access denied for ..."}]}. Re-configure Admin API scopes on the app, then reinstall to regenerate the token.
• userErrors is empty != success. Also check data.<mutation>.<resource> is non-null. Some failures populate neither — inspect the whole response.
• GID vs numeric ID. Legacy REST gave numeric IDs; GraphQL wants full GID strings. To convert: gid://shopify/Product/<numeric>.
• Rate limit surprise. A single products(first: 250) with deep nesting can cost 1000+ points and throttle immediately on a standard-plan shop. Start narrow, read extensions.cost, adjust.
• Pagination order. products(first: N, reverse: true) sorts by id DESC, not created_at. Use sortKey: CREATED_AT, reverse: true for "newest first."
• read_all_orders for historical data. Without it, orders(...) silently caps at the 60-day window. You won't get an error, just fewer results than expected. For Shopify Plus merchants with many orders, request this scope via the app's protected-data settings.
• Currencies are strings. Amounts come back as "49.00" not 49.0. Don't jq tonumber blindly if you care about zero-padding.
• Multi-currency Money fields have shopMoney (store's currency) AND presentmentMoney (customer's). Pick one consistently.

Safety

Mutations in Shopify are real — they create products, charge refunds, cancel orders, ship fulfillments. Before running productDelete, orderCancel, refundCreate, or any bulk mutation: state clearly what the change is, on which shop, and confirm with the user. There is no staging clone of production data unless the user has a separate dev store.