Shopify Webhooks Skill

Webhooks are the preferred way to stay in sync with Shopify data. They allow your app to receive real-time notifications when events occur in a shop (e.g., orders/create, app/uninstalled).

1. Verification (CRITICAL)

ALL webhook requests must be verified to ensure they came from Shopify.

HMAC Verification

Shopify includes an X-Shopify-Hmac-Sha256 header in every webhook request. This is a base64-encoded HMAC-SHA256 digest of the request body, using your Client Secret (API Secret Key) as the signing key.

[!IMPORTANT]
Always use the raw request body (Buffer) for verification. Parsed JSON bodies may have subtle differences that cause verification to fail.

Node.js Example (Generic)

const crypto = require('crypto');

function verifyWebhook(rawBody, hmacHeader, apiSecret) {
  const digest = crypto
    .createHmac('sha256', apiSecret)
    .update(rawBody, 'utf8')
    .digest('base64');

  return crypto.timingSafeEqual(
    Buffer.from(digest),
    Buffer.from(hmacHeader)
  );
}

Remix / Shopify App Template (Recommended)

If using @shopify/shopify-app-remix, verification is handled automatically by the authenticate.webhook helper.

/* app/routes/webhooks.tsx */
import { authenticate } from "../shopify.server";

export const action = async ({ request }) => {
  const { topic, shop, session, admin, payload } = await authenticate.webhook(request);

  if (!admin) {
    // The webhook request was not valid.
    return new Response();
  }

  switch (topic) {
    case "APP_UNINSTALLED":
      if (session) {
        await db.session.deleteMany({ where: { shop } });
      }
      break;
    case "ORDERS_CREATE":
      console.log(`Order created: ${payload.id}`);
      break;
  }

  return new Response();
};

2. Registration

App-specific Webhooks (Recommended)

These are configured in shopify.app.toml. They are automatically registered when the app is deployed and are easier to manage. Best for topics that apply to the app in general (e.g., app/uninstalled).

[webhooks]
api_version = "2025-10"

  [[webhooks.subscriptions]]
  topics = [ "app/uninstalled", "orders/create" ]
  uri = "/webhooks"

Shop-specific Webhooks (Advanced)

Use webhookSubscriptionCreate via the Admin API. Best for:

• Per-shop customization.
• Topics not supported by config.
• Dynamic runtime registration.

mutation webhookSubscriptionCreate($topic: WebhookSubscriptionTopic!, $webhookSubscription: WebhookSubscriptionInput!) {
  webhookSubscriptionCreate(topic: $topic, webhookSubscription: $webhookSubscription) {
    userErrors {
      field
      message
    }
    webhookSubscription {
      id
    }
  }
}

3. Mandatory Compliance (GDPR)

Public apps MUST implement specific webhooks to comply with privacy laws. These are configured in the Partner Dashboard (App > Configuration > Privacy compliance), NOT in shopify.app.toml or via API.

• customers/data_request: Request to export customer data.
• customers/redact: Request to delete customer data.
• shop/redact: Request to delete shop data (48 hours after uninstall).

[!WARNING]
Failure to handle these can result in app removal.

4. Best Practices

• Idempotency: Webhooks can be delivered multiple times. Ensure your processing logic is idempotent (e.g., check if an order has already been processed before taking action).
• Response Time: Respond with a 200 OK immediately (within 5 seconds). Perform long-running tasks asynchronously (e.g., using a background queue).
• App Uninstalled: ALWAYS handle app/uninstalled to clean up shop data and cancel subscriptions. This webhook acts as the "offboarding" signal.
• App Uninstalled: ALWAYS handle app/uninstalled to clean up shop data and cancel subscriptions. This webhook acts as the "offboarding" signal.

Common Topics

• APP_UNINSTALLED: App removed. Cleanup required.
• ORDERS_CREATE: New order placed.
• ORDERS_PAID: Order payment status changed to paid.
• PRODUCTS_UPDATE: Product details changed.