Purpose
Identifies products that are not in any collection ("orphans" — invisible in store navigation) and products that appear in an unusually high number of collections ("over-collected" — potential merchandising noise). Read-only — no mutations.
Prerequisites
- Authenticated Shopify CLI session:
shopify store auth --store <domain> --scopes read_products - API scopes:
read_products
Parameters
| Parameter | Type | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| store | string | yes | — | Store domain (e.g., mystore.myshopify.com) |
| max_collections | integer | no | 10 | Flag products in more than this many collections |
| status_filter | string | no | active | Product status to scan: active, draft, or all |
| 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
-
OPERATION:
products— query Inputs:query: "status:<status_filter>",first: 250, selectcollections { edges { node { id } } }, pagination cursor Expected output: Products with their collection memberships; paginate untilhasNextPage: false -
For each product: count collections → flag if 0 (orphan) or >
max_collections(over-collected) -
OPERATION:
collections— query (for collection names) Inputs:first: 250, selectid,title,productsCountExpected output: Collection metadata for enriching the report
GraphQL Operations
graphql# products:query — validated against api_version 2025-01 query ProductCollectionMembership($query: String!, $after: String) { products(first: 250, after: $after, query: $query) { edges { node { id title handle status collections(first: 30) { edges { node { id title } } } } } pageInfo { hasNextPage endCursor } } }
graphql# collections:query — validated against api_version 2025-01 query CollectionOverview($after: String) { collections(first: 250, after: $after) { edges { node { id title handle productsCount { count } } } pageInfo { hasNextPage endCursor } } }
Session Tracking
Claude MUST emit the following output at each stage. This is mandatory.
On start, emit:
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ SKILL: Collection Membership Audit ║ ║ 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):
══════════════════════════════════════════════ COLLECTION MEMBERSHIP AUDIT Products scanned: <n> Orphan products (0 collections): <n> Over-collected (> <max_collections>): <n> Orphan products (sample): "<title>" — <status> Output: collection_audit_<date>.csv ══════════════════════════════════════════════
For format: json, emit:
json{ "skill": "collection-membership-audit", "store": "<domain>", "products_scanned": 0, "orphan_count": 0, "over_collected_count": 0, "output_file": "collection_audit_<date>.csv" }
Output Format
CSV file collection_audit_<YYYY-MM-DD>.csv with columns:
product_id, title, handle, status, collection_count, collections, issue
Error Handling
| Error | Cause | Recovery |
|---|---|---|
THROTTLED | API rate limit exceeded | Wait 2 seconds, retry up to 3 times |
| No orphans found | All products are in collections | Exit with ✅ no orphans found |
Best Practices
- Orphan active products are invisible in store navigation — customers can only find them via direct URL or search. Prioritize fixing these.
- Automated collections (rule-based) may automatically pull products based on tags or conditions — an orphan in manual collections may still appear in automated ones. Check both.
- Use
max_collections: 5for stores with a tightly curated navigation; use higher thresholds for marketplace-style stores where cross-listing is intentional. - Run after seasonal catalog refreshes to ensure all new products are assigned to the right collections.


