shopify-admin-restock-on-return

Purpose

Walks through recently approved or closed returns and restocks inventory for each returnLineItem whose physical item has been received and inspected. Adjusts the available quantity at the return's destination location using inventoryAdjustQuantities with reason restock and a referenceDocumentUri linking to the return record. Use when warehouse processing posts in a separate system from Shopify, or when manual restock has been deferred and needs a clean catch-up run.

Prerequisites

Authenticated Shopify CLI session: shopify store auth --store <domain> --scopes read_returns,write_inventory,read_locations
API scopes: read_returns, read_inventory, write_inventory

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
store	string	yes	—	Store domain (e.g., mystore.myshopify.com)
format	string	no	human	Output format: `human` or `json`
dry_run	bool	no	true	Preview restock plan without executing inventory mutations
days_back	integer	no	14	Lookback window for recently completed returns
return_status	string	no	CLOSED	Only restock returns in this status: `CLOSED`, `OPEN`, or `ANY`
location_id	string	no	—	If set, restock only returns whose inventory destination matches this location GID
restock_only_return_reasons	array	no	—	If set (e.g., `["UNWANTED", "SIZE_TOO_SMALL"]`), restock only items returned for these reasons; `DEFECTIVE` is excluded by default
skip_defective	bool	no	true	Exclude `returnLineItem.returnReason: DEFECTIVE` items from restock

Safety

⚠️ Step 2 executes inventoryAdjustQuantities mutations that immediately add units to the available count at the destination location. Restocking damaged or unsalable inventory inflates available stock and causes oversells. The default is dry_run: true — review the preview CSV to confirm each return line item is genuinely sellable before committing. By default skip_defective: true excludes DEFECTIVE returns. Each restock posts a permanent entry in Shopify's inventory activity log with reason restock.

Workflow Steps

OPERATION: returns — query Inputs: query: "status:<return_status> updated_at:>='<NOW - days_back days>'" (use updated_at:>='...' only when return_status:ANY), first: 250, select id, name, status, closedAt, order { id name }, returnLineItems(first: 50) { quantity, returnReason, fulfillmentLineItem { lineItem { variant { id sku inventoryItem { id tracked } } } } }, reverseFulfillmentOrders(first: 5) { reverseDeliveries(first: 5) { deliverable { ... on ReverseDeliveryShippingDeliverable { label { ... } } } }, location { id name } }, pagination cursor Expected output: Returns with their line items, return reasons, inventory item IDs, and destination location
Build the restock plan: for each returnLineItem not previously restocked, where returnReason is allowed by params and inventoryItem.tracked: true, group by (inventoryItemId, locationId) summing quantity deltas. Skip items where the variant is missing, where tracked: false, or where the return has no destination location.
OPERATION: inventoryAdjustQuantities — mutation Inputs: input.reason: "restock", input.name: "available", input.referenceDocumentUri: "shopify://returns/<return_id>", input.changes: [{ inventoryItemId, locationId, delta: +<quantity> }, ...] Expected output: inventoryAdjustmentGroup.changes with quantityAfterChange per item; userErrors

GraphQL Operations

# returns:query — validated against api_version 2025-01
query ReturnsForRestock($query: String!, $after: String) {
  returns(first: 250, after: $after, query: $query) {
    edges {
      node {
        id
        name
        status
        closedAt
        order { id name }
        returnLineItems(first: 50) {
          edges {
            node {
              id
              quantity
              returnReason
              returnReasonNote
              fulfillmentLineItem {
                lineItem {
                  id
                  title
                  variant {
                    id
                    sku
                    inventoryItem { id tracked }
                  }
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
        reverseFulfillmentOrders(first: 5) {
          edges {
            node {
              id
              reverseDeliveries(first: 5) { edges { node { id } } }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
    pageInfo { hasNextPage endCursor }
  }
}

# inventoryAdjustQuantities:mutation — validated against api_version 2025-01
mutation RestockOnReturn($input: InventoryAdjustQuantitiesInput!) {
  inventoryAdjustQuantities(input: $input) {
    inventoryAdjustmentGroup {
      id
      reason
      referenceDocumentUri
      changes {
        name
        delta
        quantityAfterChange
        item { id sku }
        location { id name }
      }
    }
    userErrors { field message }
  }
}

Session Tracking

Claude MUST emit the following output at each stage. This is mandatory.

On start, emit:

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  SKILL: Restock on Return                    ║
║  Store: <store domain>                       ║
║  Started: <YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM UTC>             ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════╝

After each step, emit:

[N/TOTAL] <QUERY|MUTATION>  <OperationName>
          → Params: <brief summary of key inputs>
          → Result: <count or outcome>

If dry_run: true, prefix every mutation step with [DRY RUN] and do not execute it.

On completion, emit:

For format: human (default):

══════════════════════════════════════════════
RESTOCK ON RETURN
  Returns scanned:        <n>
  Line items eligible:    <n>
  Skipped (defective):    <n>
  Skipped (untracked):    <n>
  Units restocked:        <n>  (or "skipped — dry_run")
  Adjustment groups:      <n>
  Errors:                 <n>
  Output:                 restock_on_return_<date>.csv
══════════════════════════════════════════════

For format: json, emit:

{
  "skill": "restock-on-return",
  "store": "<domain>",
  "started_at": "<ISO8601>",
  "completed_at": "<ISO8601>",
  "dry_run": true,
  "outcome": {
    "returns_scanned": 0,
    "line_items_eligible": 0,
    "skipped_defective": 0,
    "skipped_untracked": 0,
    "units_restocked": 0,
    "adjustment_groups": 0,
    "errors": 0,
    "output_file": "restock_on_return_<date>.csv"
  }
}

Output Format

CSV file restock_on_return_<YYYY-MM-DD>.csv with columns: return_id, return_name, order_name, sku, product_title, quantity_restocked, return_reason, location_name, quantity_after, inventory_item_id, status

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Recovery
`THROTTLED`	API rate limit exceeded	Wait 2 seconds, retry up to 3 times
`inventoryItem.tracked: false`	Tracking disabled on variant	Log and skip; require manual enable
`userErrors` from inventoryAdjustQuantities	Invalid location or item	Verify GIDs match the return's destination
Return has no destination location	No reverse delivery confirmed yet	Skip the return; rerun after delivery is confirmed
Variant deleted	Product removed after sale	Skip line item; log for review

Best Practices

Always run with dry_run: true first and audit the preview CSV — restocking damaged units inflates inventory and causes oversells downstream.
Keep skip_defective: true for normal operations. Set it to false only after explicitly inspecting defective units and confirming they're refurbishable.
Use restock_only_return_reasons: ["UNWANTED", "SIZE_TOO_SMALL", "SIZE_TOO_LARGE", "STYLE", "COLOR"] to focus on reasons that almost always yield resalable inventory.
Set location_id when running per-warehouse — it constrains the run to one site's reverse logistics workflow.
Cross-reference the post-run output with multi-location-inventory-audit to confirm restocked SKUs reconcile cleanly.
For active returns where physical inspection has not occurred, defer restock until status: CLOSED (default) — never restock on OPEN returns based solely on customer claim.