Shopify Admin Return Initiation

Purpose

Initiates a formal Shopify Return on a delivered order — specifying which line items to return, quantities, and reason. This creates the return record in Shopify's native returns system (distinct from simply issuing a refund). Used by support agents when a customer contacts them to return delivered items. The return record enables tracking, warehouse inspection, and exchange/refund resolution downstream. Note: returnCreate requires the order to be in FULFILLED status. For orders that haven't shipped yet, use cancel-and-restock instead. For already-returned items needing a refund, use refund-and-reorder.

Prerequisites

• shopify auth login --store <domain>
• API scopes: read_orders, write_returns

Parameters

Safety

⚠️ Step 2 executes returnCreate which creates a formal return record and — if notify_customer: true — sends an email to the customer. This is appropriate only after verifying with the customer that a return is expected. Run with dry_run: true to preview the return line items and quantities before committing.

Workflow Steps

1. OPERATION: order — query Inputs: id: <order_id> Expected output: Order name, displayFulfillmentStatus (must be FULFILLED — abort if not), fulfillments with fulfillmentLineItems including id, quantity, discountedTotalSet

2. OPERATION: returnCreate — mutation Inputs: returnInput.orderId, returnInput.returnLineItems array (each with fulfillmentLineItemId, quantity, reason, customerNote) Expected output: return.id, return.status: OPEN, userErrors

GraphQL Operations

# order:query — validated against api_version 2025-01
query OrderForReturn($id: ID!) {
  order(id: $id) {
    id
    name
    displayFulfillmentStatus
    displayFinancialStatus
    customer {
      id
      defaultEmailAddress {
        emailAddress
      }
      firstName
      lastName
    }
    fulfillments {
      id
      status
      fulfillmentLineItems(first: 50) {
        edges {
          node {
            id
            quantity
            lineItem {
              title
              variant {
                id
                sku
              }
            }
            discountedTotalSet {
              shopMoney { amount currencyCode }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

# returnCreate:mutation — validated against api_version 2025-01
mutation ReturnCreate($returnInput: ReturnInput!) {
  returnCreate(returnInput: $returnInput) {
    return {
      id
      status
      order {
        id
        name
      }
    }
    userErrors {
      field
      message
    }
  }
}

Session Tracking

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

On start, emit:

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  SKILL: return-initiation                    ║
║  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):

══════════════════════════════════════════════
OUTCOME SUMMARY
  Order:               <name>
  Return ID:           <id>
  Line items included: <count>
  Return status:       <status>
  Customer notified:   <yes/no>
  Errors:              0
  Output:              none
══════════════════════════════════════════════

For format: json, emit:

{
  "skill": "return-initiation",
  "store": "<domain>",
  "started_at": "<ISO8601>",
  "completed_at": "<ISO8601>",
  "dry_run": false,
  "steps": [
    { "step": 1, "operation": "OrderForReturn", "type": "query", "params_summary": "order <id>", "result_summary": "<status>", "skipped": false },
    { "step": 2, "operation": "ReturnCreate", "type": "mutation", "params_summary": "<n> line items, reason: <reason>", "result_summary": "return <id>", "skipped": false }
  ],
  "outcome": {
    "order_name": "<name>",
    "return_id": "<id>",
    "return_status": "<status>",
    "line_items_count": "<count>",
    "customer_notified": "<true/false>",
    "errors": 0,
    "output_file": null
  }
}

Output Format

No CSV output. The session summary reports the return ID and status. Line items included in the return are listed in the step 2 output.

Error Handling

Best Practices

1. Always run dry_run: true first — confirm the fulfillment line item IDs and quantities before creating the return record.
2. The return-initiation skill creates the return record only — it does not issue a refund. After inspecting the returned item, use refund-and-reorder to process the monetary refund.
3. Set reason per line item when items have different return reasons — this improves your returns analytics in Shopify.
4. For exchanges (not refunds), create the return record here and then use refund-and-reorder with create_replacement: true to generate a replacement draft order.
5. The return status will be OPEN after creation — it moves to IN_PROGRESS when a return label is generated and CLOSED when the refund is processed.