Dead Stock Identifier
Read-only: cross-references inventory levels with order velocity to flag items with positive stock but zero sales in N days.
shopify-admin-dead-stock-identifier
Purpose
Identifies SKUs that have positive inventory on hand but have not sold any units in a configurable lookback window. Dead stock ties up capital, warehouse space, and carrying costs. Read-only — no mutations. Provides the data foundation for a markdown or clearance decision.
Prerequisites
shopify store auth --store --scopes read_products,read_orders,read_inventory read_products, read_orders, read_inventoryParameters
| Parameter | Type | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| store | string | yes | — | Store domain (e.g., mystore.myshopify.com) |
| days_back | integer | no | 90 | Sales lookback window — SKUs with no sales in this period are flagged |
| min_quantity | integer | no | 1 | Minimum on-hand quantity to include (exclude truly zero-stock) |
| vendor_filter | string | no | — | Optional vendor to scope the audit |
| format | string | no | human | Output format: human or json |
Safety
> ℹ️ Read-only skill — no mutations are executed. Safe to run at any time.
Workflow Steps
productVariants — query Inputs: first: 250, query: , select sku, inventoryQuantity, inventoryItem { id }, pagination cursor
Expected output: All variants with stock levels; paginate until hasNextPage: false
inventoryQuantity >= min_quantityorders — query Inputs: query: "created_at:>=', first: 250, select lineItems { variant { id }, quantity }, pagination cursor
Expected output: All line items sold in the window to build a "sold variant IDs" set
inventoryItems — query Inputs: Batch of inventoryItemIds for stocked variants
Expected output: Inventory item cost data for dead stock value calculation
GraphQL Operations
# productVariants:query — validated against api_version 2025-01
query VariantsWithStock($query: String, $after: String) {
productVariants(first: 250, after: $after, query: $query) {
edges {
node {
id
sku
inventoryQuantity
product {
id
title
vendor
status
}
inventoryItem {
id
}
}
}
pageInfo {
hasNextPage
endCursor
}
}
}
# orders:query — validated against api_version 2025-01
query OrderLineItemsInPeriod($query: String!, $after: String) {
orders(first: 250, after: $after, query: $query) {
edges {
node {
lineItems(first: 50) {
edges {
node {
quantity
variant {
id
}
}
}
}
}
}
pageInfo {
hasNextPage
endCursor
}
}
}
# inventoryItems:query — validated against api_version 2025-01
query InventoryItemCosts($ids: [ID!]!) {
nodes(ids: $ids) {
... on InventoryItem {
id
unitCost {
amount
currencyCode
}
tracked
}
}
}
Session Tracking
Claude MUST emit the following output at each stage. This is mandatory.
On start, emit:
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ SKILL: Dead Stock Identifier ║
║ 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>
On completion, emit:
For format: human (default):
══════════════════════════════════════════════
DEAD STOCK REPORT (no sales in <days_back> days)
SKUs with stock: <n>
SKUs with zero sales: <n> (<pct>%)
Est. dead stock value: $<amount>
Top dead stock by value:
"<product>" SKU: <sku> Qty: <n> Value: $<n>
Output: dead_stock_<date>.csv
══════════════════════════════════════════════
For format: json, emit:
{
"skill": "dead-stock-identifier",
"store": "<domain>",
"period_days": 90,
"stocked_skus": 0,
"dead_stock_skus": 0,
"dead_stock_pct": 0,
"estimated_value": 0,
"currency": "USD",
"output_file": "dead_stock_<date>.csv"
}
Output Format
CSV file dead_stock_ with columns:
variant_id, sku, product_title, vendor, quantity_on_hand, days_since_last_sale, unit_cost, total_cost_value
Error Handling
| Error | Cause | Recovery |
|---|---|---|
THROTTLED | API rate limit exceeded | Wait 2 seconds, retry up to 3 times |
| No orders in window | New store or very slow period | All stocked SKUs will be flagged — expected |
| Variant without inventory item | Bundle or virtual product | Skip inventory cost, include in list |
Best Practices
days_back: 90 for seasonal products; days_back: 180 or days_back: 365 for evergreen catalog.total_cost_value descending to prioritize markdown decisions by capital impact.stock-velocity-report to distinguish truly dead stock from slow movers that still sell occasionally.product-tag-bulk-update and then create a clearance collection.