shopify-admin-product-lifecycle-manager

Purpose

Queries products matching a tag, vendor, collection, or status filter and bulk-transitions them to a target status (DRAFT, ACTIVE, or ARCHIVED). Used for seasonal launches (DRAFT → ACTIVE), end-of-season sunsetting (ACTIVE → ARCHIVED), and pre-launch staging (creating as DRAFT, activating on a date).

Prerequisites

Authenticated Shopify CLI session:

shopify store auth --store <domain> --scopes read_products,write_products

API scopes:
```
read_products
```
,
```
write_products
```

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
store	string	yes	—	Store domain (e.g., mystore.myshopify.com)
filter	string	yes	—	Product filter query (e.g., `tag:summer-2026` , `vendor:Nike` , `status:draft` )
target_status	string	yes	—	Target status: `ACTIVE` , `DRAFT` , or `ARCHIVED`
dry_run	bool	no	true	Preview products without executing mutations
format	string	no	human	Output format: `human` or `json`

Safety

⚠️ ARCHIVED products are hidden from all sales channels and cannot be purchased. ACTIVE products are immediately visible to customers. Run with
dry_run: true
to review the product list before committing — especially for ARCHIVED transitions which are hard to reverse in bulk.

Workflow Steps

OPERATION:
```
products
```
— query Inputs:
```
query: <filter>
```
,
```
first: 250
```
, pagination cursor Expected output: Products with
```
id
```
,
```
title
```
,
```
status
```
,
```
tags
```
; paginate until
```
hasNextPage: false
```
Filter to products NOT already in
```
target_status
```
— skip those already correct

OPERATION:

productUpdate

— mutation Inputs:

id: <product_id>

status: <target_status>

Expected output:

product { id, title, status }

userErrors

GraphQL Operations

graphql

# products:query — validated against api_version 2025-01
query ProductsByFilter($query: String!, $after: String) {
  products(first: 250, after: $after, query: $query) {
    edges {
      node {
        id
        title
        status
        vendor
        tags
        publishedAt
      }
    }
    pageInfo {
      hasNextPage
      endCursor
    }
  }
}

graphql

# productUpdate:mutation — validated against api_version 2025-01
mutation ProductUpdateStatus($input: ProductInput!) {
  productUpdate(input: $input) {
    product {
      id
      title
      status
    }
    userErrors {
      field
      message
    }
  }
}

Session Tracking

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

On start, emit:

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  SKILL: Product Lifecycle Manager            ║
║  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>

dry_run: true

, prefix every mutation step with

[DRY RUN]

and do not execute it.

On completion, emit:

For

format: human

(default):

══════════════════════════════════════════════
OUTCOME SUMMARY
  Products matched:    <n>
  Already at target:   <n> (skipped)
  Status updated:      <n>
  Errors:              <n>
  Output:              lifecycle_update_<date>.csv
══════════════════════════════════════════════

For

format: json

, emit:

json

{
  "skill": "product-lifecycle-manager",
  "store": "<domain>",
  "started_at": "<ISO8601>",
  "completed_at": "<ISO8601>",
  "dry_run": true,
  "filter": "<query>",
  "target_status": "ACTIVE",
  "outcome": {
    "matched": 0,
    "skipped_already_correct": 0,
    "updated": 0,
    "errors": 0,
    "output_file": "lifecycle_update_<date>.csv"
  }
}

Output Format

CSV file

lifecycle_update_<YYYY-MM-DD>.csv

with columns:

product_id

title

previous_status

new_status

vendor

tags

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Recovery
`THROTTLED`	API rate limit exceeded	Wait 2 seconds, retry up to 3 times
`userErrors` on productUpdate	Product locked or invalid state	Log error, skip product, continue
No products match filter	Filter too narrow	Exit with 0 matches, suggest broadening filter

Best Practices

Use tags to mark seasonal batches before running (e.g., tag products with
```
launch:2026-05
```
before activating them) so the filter is precise.
ARCHIVED status removes products from all channels including the storefront, POS, and buy buttons — confirm this is the intent before running at scale.
For large catalogs (500+ products), rate limiting will slow execution — the skill retries automatically but large batches may take several minutes.
Pair with
```
product-data-completeness-score
```
before activating DRAFT products to ensure they have all required fields.