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Shopify Webhook Integration

Shopify webhooks notify your application in real-time when events occur in your Shopify store, including order creation, inventory updates, customer actions, and more. Perfect for order fulfillment, inventory management, and customer engagement automation.

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Quick Start

  1. Get your Unhook URL: https://unhook.sh/wh_YOUR_ID
  2. Configure via Shopify Admin API or Partner Dashboard
  3. Start receiving events locally: unhook listen

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Configuration Methods

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Method 1: Using Shopify Admin API

// Create webhook subscription
const webhook = {
  webhook: {
    topic: 'orders/create',
    address: 'https://unhook.sh/wh_YOUR_ID',
    format: 'json'
  }
};

fetch(`https://${shop}.myshopify.com/admin/api/2024-01/webhooks.json`, {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'X-Shopify-Access-Token': accessToken,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify(webhook)
});

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Method 2: Using GraphQL Admin API

mutation webhookSubscriptionCreate($topic: WebhookSubscriptionTopic!, $webhookSubscription: WebhookSubscriptionInput!) {
  webhookSubscriptionCreate(topic: $topic, webhookSubscription: $webhookSubscription) {
    webhookSubscription {
      id
    }
    userErrors {
      field
      message
    }
  }
}
Variables: 
{
  "topic": "ORDERS_CREATE",
  "webhookSubscription": {
    "callbackUrl": "https://unhook.sh/wh_YOUR_ID",
    "format": "JSON"
  }
}

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Method 3: Using Shopify CLI (Development)

# Install Shopify CLI
npm install -g @shopify/cli

# Create webhook
shopify webhook create \
  --topic=orders/create \
  --address=https://unhook.sh/wh_YOUR_ID

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Webhook Topics

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Order Events

  • orders/create - New order placed
  • orders/updated - Order modified
  • orders/paid - Order payment received
  • orders/cancelled - Order cancelled
  • orders/fulfilled - Order shipped
  • orders/partially_fulfilled - Partial shipment
  • refunds/create - Refund issued
  • transactions/create - Payment transaction

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Product Events

  • products/create - Product added
  • products/update - Product modified
  • products/delete - Product removed
  • inventory_levels/update - Stock level changed
  • inventory_items/create - Inventory item added
  • inventory_items/update - Inventory item modified
  • inventory_items/delete - Inventory item removed

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Customer Events

  • customers/create - New customer registered
  • customers/update - Customer profile updated
  • customers/delete - Customer deleted
  • customers/enable - Customer account activated
  • customers/disable - Customer account deactivated

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Collection Events

  • collections/create - Collection created
  • collections/update - Collection modified
  • collections/delete - Collection removed
  • collection_listings/add - Product added to collection
  • collection_listings/remove - Product removed from collection

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Cart & Checkout Events

  • carts/create - Cart created
  • carts/update - Cart modified
  • checkouts/create - Checkout started
  • checkouts/update - Checkout updated
  • checkouts/delete - Checkout abandoned

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App Events

  • app/uninstalled - App uninstalled
  • shop/update - Shop settings changed
  • themes/publish - Theme published
  • themes/update - Theme modified

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Event Payload Examples

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Order Created

{
  "id": 820982911946154508,
  "admin_graphql_api_id": "gid://shopify/Order/820982911946154508",
  "app_id": null,
  "browser_ip": "192.168.1.1",
  "buyer_accepts_marketing": true,
  "cancel_reason": null,
  "cancelled_at": null,
  "cart_token": "68778783ad298f1c80c3bafcddeea02f",
  "checkout_id": 901414060,
  "checkout_token": "bd5a8aa1ecd019dd3520ff791ee3a24c",
  "confirmed": true,
  "created_at": "2023-11-20T12:00:00-05:00",
  "currency": "USD",
  "current_subtotal_price": "100.00",
  "current_total_price": "110.00",
  "customer": {
    "id": 115310627314723954,
    "email": "customer@example.com",
    "first_name": "John",
    "last_name": "Doe"
  },
  "email": "customer@example.com",
  "financial_status": "paid",
  "fulfillment_status": null,
  "line_items": [
    {
      "id": 866550311766439020,
      "variant_id": 808950810,
      "title": "Example Product",
      "quantity": 1,
      "sku": "EXAMPLE-001",
      "variant_title": "Medium",
      "vendor": "Example Vendor",
      "fulfillment_service": "manual",
      "product_id": 632910392,
      "price": "100.00",
      "price_set": {
        "shop_money": {
          "amount": "100.00",
          "currency_code": "USD"
        }
      }
    }
  ],
  "name": "#1001",
  "number": 1,
  "order_number": 1001,
  "payment_gateway_names": ["stripe"],
  "processed_at": "2023-11-20T12:00:00-05:00",
  "shipping_address": {
    "first_name": "John",
    "last_name": "Doe",
    "address1": "123 Main St",
    "city": "New York",
    "province": "New York",
    "country": "United States",
    "zip": "10001"
  },
  "total_price": "110.00",
  "total_tax": "10.00"
}

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Product Updated

{
  "id": 788032119674292922,
  "title": "Example T-Shirt",
  "body_html": "<p>Comfortable cotton t-shirt</p>",
  "vendor": "Example Vendor",
  "product_type": "Shirts",
  "created_at": "2023-11-01T12:00:00-05:00",
  "handle": "example-t-shirt",
  "updated_at": "2023-11-20T14:30:00-05:00",
  "published_at": "2023-11-01T12:00:00-05:00",
  "status": "active",
  "tags": "cotton, summer, casual",
  "variants": [
    {
      "id": 808950810,
      "product_id": 788032119674292922,
      "title": "Small",
      "price": "19.99",
      "sku": "TSHIRT-S",
      "inventory_quantity": 100,
      "old_inventory_quantity": 95
    }
  ],
  "options": [
    {
      "id": 594680422,
      "product_id": 788032119674292922,
      "name": "Size",
      "position": 1,
      "values": ["Small", "Medium", "Large"]
    }
  ],
  "images": [
    {
      "id": 850703190,
      "product_id": 788032119674292922,
      "src": "https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0001/0001/products/example.jpg"
    }
  ]
}

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Customer Created

{
  "id": 706405506930370084,
  "email": "customer@example.com",
  "accepts_marketing": true,
  "created_at": "2023-11-20T15:00:00-05:00",
  "updated_at": "2023-11-20T15:00:00-05:00",
  "first_name": "Jane",
  "last_name": "Smith",
  "phone": "+1-555-123-4567",
  "verified_email": true,
  "addresses": [
    {
      "id": 1053317181,
      "customer_id": 706405506930370084,
      "first_name": "Jane",
      "last_name": "Smith",
      "address1": "456 Oak St",
      "city": "Los Angeles",
      "province": "California",
      "country": "United States",
      "zip": "90001",
      "default": true
    }
  ],
  "tags": "VIP, newsletter",
  "note": "Preferred customer",
  "state": "enabled",
  "total_spent": "0.00",
  "orders_count": 0
}

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Webhook Verification

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Verify HMAC Signature

Shopify signs all webhooks. Always verify: 
const crypto = require('crypto');

function verifyShopifyWebhook(data, hmacHeader) {
  const hash = crypto
    .createHmac('sha256', process.env.SHOPIFY_WEBHOOK_SECRET)
    .update(data, 'utf8')
    .digest('base64');

  return hash === hmacHeader;
}

// Express middleware
app.post('/webhook', express.raw({type: 'application/json'}), (req, res) => {
  const hmac = req.get('X-Shopify-Hmac-Sha256');

  if (!verifyShopifyWebhook(req.body, hmac)) {
    return res.status(401).send('Unauthorized');
  }

  const topic = req.get('X-Shopify-Topic');
  const shop = req.get('X-Shopify-Shop-Domain');

  const data = JSON.parse(req.body);

  // Process webhook based on topic
  console.log(`Webhook from ${shop}: ${topic}`);

  res.status(200).send('OK');
});

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Additional Headers

Shopify includes useful headers:
  • X-Shopify-Topic - Event type (e.g., ‘orders/create’)
  • X-Shopify-Shop-Domain - Shop domain
  • X-Shopify-API-Version - API version used
  • X-Shopify-Webhook-Id - Unique webhook ID

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Best Practices

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1. Idempotent Processing

Handle duplicate webhooks: 
const processedWebhooks = new Set();

async function processWebhook(webhookId, data) {
  if (processedWebhooks.has(webhookId)) {
    console.log(`Webhook ${webhookId} already processed`);
    return;
  }

  processedWebhooks.add(webhookId);

  // Process the webhook
  await handleWebhookData(data);
}

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2. Quick Response

Respond within 5 seconds: 
app.post('/webhook', async (req, res) => {
  // Verify webhook (as shown above)

  // Respond immediately
  res.status(200).send('OK');

  // Process asynchronously
  setImmediate(async () => {
    try {
      await processWebhookAsync(req.body, req.headers);
    } catch (error) {
      console.error('Webhook processing error:', error);
      // Implement retry logic if needed
    }
  });
});

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3. Mandatory Webhooks

For public apps, implement mandatory webhooks: 
// GDPR mandatory webhooks
const mandatoryWebhooks = [
  { topic: 'customers/redact', path: '/webhooks/customers/redact' },
  { topic: 'shop/redact', path: '/webhooks/shop/redact' },
  { topic: 'customers/data_request', path: '/webhooks/customers/data_request' }
];

// Register during app installation
async function registerMandatoryWebhooks(shop, accessToken) {
  for (const webhook of mandatoryWebhooks) {
    await createWebhook(shop, accessToken, webhook);
  }
}

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4. Error Handling

Implement robust error handling: 
async function handleWebhook(topic, data) {
  try {
    switch (topic) {
      case 'orders/create':
        await handleNewOrder(data);
        break;
      case 'products/update':
        await handleProductUpdate(data);
        break;
      default:
        console.log(`Unhandled webhook topic: ${topic}`);
    }
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(`Error processing ${topic}:`, error);

    // Log to monitoring service
    await logError({
      type: 'webhook_processing_error',
      topic,
      error: error.message,
      data
    });

    // Implement retry if appropriate
    if (shouldRetry(error)) {
      await queueForRetry(topic, data);
    }
  }
}

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Testing Webhooks

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Create Test Notifications

# Using Shopify CLI
shopify webhook trigger --topic=orders/create

# Using API
curl -X POST https://{shop}.myshopify.com/admin/api/2024-01/webhooks/{webhook_id}/notifications.json \
  -H "X-Shopify-Access-Token: {access_token}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json"

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Development Testing

Use ngrok or similar for local testing: 
# Start local server
npm run dev

# In another terminal
ngrok http 3000

# Use ngrok URL for webhook address

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Common Issues

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Webhook Not Received

  • Verify webhook is registered correctly
  • Check webhook notification history in admin
  • Ensure Unhook tunnel is active
  • Verify HMAC secret is correct

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Verification Failures

  • Use raw request body for HMAC calculation
  • Ensure webhook secret matches
  • Check for middleware modifying body

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Missing Topics

  • Some topics require specific API access scopes
  • Check app permissions
  • Verify API version compatibility

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Rate Limits

  • Shopify limits webhook creation (4 per second)
  • Maximum 1000 webhooks per app
  • Consider batching operations

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Environment Variables

# Shopify App Credentials
SHOPIFY_API_KEY=your_api_key
SHOPIFY_API_SECRET=your_api_secret
SHOPIFY_WEBHOOK_SECRET=your_webhook_secret

# Shop Details
SHOPIFY_SHOP_DOMAIN=yourstore.myshopify.com
SHOPIFY_ACCESS_TOKEN=shpat_xxxxxxxxxxxxx

# App URL (for OAuth)
SHOPIFY_APP_URL=https://yourapp.com

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Support

Need help with Shopify webhooks?