shopify-sdk-patterns

Shopify SDK Patterns

Overview

Production-ready patterns for the @shopify/shopify-api library: singleton clients, typed GraphQL operations, session management, cursor-based pagination, and error handling wrappers.

Prerequisites

• @shopify/shopify-api v9+ installed
• Familiarity with Shopify's GraphQL Admin API
• Understanding of async/await and TypeScript generics

Instructions

Step 1: Typed GraphQL Client Wrapper

// src/shopify/client.ts
import "@shopify/shopify-api/adapters/node";
import { shopifyApi, Session, GraphqlClient } from "@shopify/shopify-api";

const shopify = shopifyApi({
  apiKey: process.env.SHOPIFY_API_KEY!,
  apiSecretKey: process.env.SHOPIFY_API_SECRET!,
  hostName: process.env.SHOPIFY_HOST_NAME!,
  apiVersion: "2024-10",
  isCustomStoreApp: !!process.env.SHOPIFY_ACCESS_TOKEN,
  adminApiAccessToken: process.env.SHOPIFY_ACCESS_TOKEN,
});

// Singleton session cache per shop
const sessionCache = new Map<string, Session>();

export function getSession(shop: string): Session {
  if (!sessionCache.has(shop)) {
    const session = shopify.session.customAppSession(shop);
    sessionCache.set(shop, session);
  }
  return sessionCache.get(shop)!;
}

export function getGraphqlClient(shop: string): GraphqlClient {
  return new shopify.clients.Graphql({
    session: getSession(shop),
  });
}

// Typed query helper
export async function shopifyQuery<T = any>(
  shop: string,
  query: string,
  variables?: Record<string, unknown>
): Promise<T> {
  const client = getGraphqlClient(shop);
  const response = await client.request(query, { variables });
  return response.data as T;
}

Step 2: Error Handling with Shopify Error Types

// src/shopify/errors.ts
import { HttpResponseError, GraphqlQueryError } from "@shopify/shopify-api";

export class ShopifyServiceError extends Error {
  constructor(
    message: string,
    public readonly statusCode: number,
    public readonly retryable: boolean,
    public readonly shopifyRequestId?: string,
    public readonly originalError?: Error
  ) {
    super(message);
    this.name = "ShopifyServiceError";
  }
}

export function handleShopifyError(error: unknown): never {
  if (error instanceof HttpResponseError) {
    const retryable = [429, 500, 502, 503, 504].includes(error.response.code);
    throw new ShopifyServiceError(
      `Shopify API ${error.response.code}: ${error.message}`,
      error.response.code,
      retryable,
      error.response.headers?.["x-request-id"] as string,
      error
    );
  }

  if (error instanceof GraphqlQueryError) {
    // GraphQL errors in the response body
    const msg = error.body?.errors
      ?.map((e: any) => e.message)
      .join("; ") || error.message;
    throw new ShopifyServiceError(msg, 200, false, undefined, error);
  }

  throw error;
}

// Safe wrapper
export async function safeShopifyCall<T>(
  operation: () => Promise<T>
): Promise<{ data: T | null; error: ShopifyServiceError | null }> {
  try {
    const data = await operation();
    return { data, error: null };
  } catch (err) {
    try {
      handleShopifyError(err);
    } catch (shopifyErr) {
      return { data: null, error: shopifyErr as ShopifyServiceError };
    }
    return { data: null, error: err as ShopifyServiceError };
  }
}

Step 3: Cursor-Based Pagination

// src/shopify/pagination.ts
// Shopify uses Relay-style cursor pagination for all list queries

interface PageInfo {
  hasNextPage: boolean;
  endCursor: string | null;
}

interface PaginatedResult<T> {
  edges: Array<{ node: T; cursor: string }>;
  pageInfo: PageInfo;
}

export async function* paginateShopify<T>(
  shop: string,
  query: string,
  connectionPath: string, // e.g. "products" or "orders"
  variables: Record<string, unknown> = {},
  pageSize: number = 50
): AsyncGenerator<T[], void, undefined> {
  let cursor: string | null = null;
  let hasNextPage = true;

  while (hasNextPage) {
    const response = await shopifyQuery(shop, query, {
      ...variables,
      first: pageSize,
      after: cursor,
    });

    // Navigate to the connection in the response
    const connection = connectionPath
      .split(".")
      .reduce((obj: any, key) => obj[key], response) as PaginatedResult<T>;

    yield connection.edges.map((e) => e.node);

    hasNextPage = connection.pageInfo.hasNextPage;
    cursor = connection.pageInfo.endCursor;
  }
}

// Usage example:
// for await (const batch of paginateShopify<Product>(
//   "store.myshopify.com",
//   PRODUCTS_QUERY,
//   "products",
//   { query: "status:active" }
// )) {
//   await processProducts(batch);
// }

Step 4: Multi-Tenant Client Factory

// src/shopify/factory.ts
// For apps installed on multiple stores

import { Session, GraphqlClient } from "@shopify/shopify-api";

interface TenantConfig {
  shop: string;
  accessToken: string;
}

class ShopifyClientFactory {
  private clients = new Map<string, GraphqlClient>();

  getClient(config: TenantConfig): GraphqlClient {
    if (!this.clients.has(config.shop)) {
      const session = new Session({
        id: config.shop,
        shop: config.shop,
        state: "",
        isOnline: false,
        accessToken: config.accessToken,
      });

      this.clients.set(
        config.shop,
        new shopify.clients.Graphql({ session })
      );
    }
    return this.clients.get(config.shop)!;
  }

  // Evict when merchant uninstalls
  removeClient(shop: string): void {
    this.clients.delete(shop);
  }
}

export const clientFactory = new ShopifyClientFactory();

Step 5: Response Validation with Zod

// src/shopify/validators.ts
import { z } from "zod";

// Validate Shopify product response shape
const ShopifyMoneySchema = z.object({
  amount: z.string(),
  currencyCode: z.string(),
});

const ShopifyProductSchema = z.object({
  id: z.string().startsWith("gid://shopify/Product/"),
  title: z.string(),
  handle: z.string(),
  status: z.enum(["ACTIVE", "ARCHIVED", "DRAFT"]),
  totalInventory: z.number(),
  variants: z.object({
    edges: z.array(z.object({
      node: z.object({
        id: z.string(),
        title: z.string(),
        price: z.string(),
        sku: z.string().nullable(),
      }),
    })),
  }),
});

export type ShopifyProduct = z.infer<typeof ShopifyProductSchema>;

// Validated fetch
export async function fetchProducts(shop: string): Promise<ShopifyProduct[]> {
  const data = await shopifyQuery(shop, PRODUCTS_QUERY);
  return data.products.edges.map(
    (e: any) => ShopifyProductSchema.parse(e.node)
  );
}

Output

• Type-safe GraphQL client with singleton session management
• Structured error handling that distinguishes retryable from permanent errors
• Cursor-based pagination generator for large datasets
• Multi-tenant client factory for apps serving multiple stores
• Zod validation for API response shape verification

Error Handling

Pattern	Use Case	Benefit
safeShopifyCall	All API calls	Returns {data, error} instead of throwing
handleShopifyError	Error translation	Maps HTTP/GraphQL errors to typed errors
Cursor pagination	Large datasets	Memory-efficient streaming with backpressure
Zod validation	Response parsing	Catches breaking API changes immediately
Client factory	Multi-tenant apps	Isolated sessions per merchant

Examples

Retry with Exponential Backoff

export async function withRetry<T>(
  operation: () => Promise<T>,
  maxRetries = 3,
  baseDelayMs = 1000
): Promise<T> {
  for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++) {
    try {
      return await operation();
    } catch (err) {
      if (err instanceof ShopifyServiceError && err.retryable && attempt < maxRetries) {
        const delay = baseDelayMs * Math.pow(2, attempt - 1) + Math.random() * 500;
        console.warn(`Shopify retry ${attempt}/${maxRetries} in ${delay.toFixed(0)}ms`);
        await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, delay));
        continue;
      }
      throw err;
    }
  }
  throw new Error("Unreachable");
}

Resources

• @shopify/shopify-api Reference
• GraphQL Pagination (Relay Spec)
• Zod Documentation

Next Steps

Apply patterns in shopify-core-workflow-a for real-world product management.