Time-based and stock triggers from templates

Shopify Flow reacts when something happens. Some of the most useful automations start when something does not happen, or when a date arrives: an order that is still not shipped after three days, a parcel that stopped moving, a release date stored in a metafield. Others need a rule a Flow condition cannot express, such as a different low-stock line for every location.

Four templates cover these cases. Each one is a custom trigger: you pick the template in the custom trigger editor, set a few values at the top of the code, test it and switch it on. You do not have to write the code yourself.

The four templates

Template	How it runs	What it reacts to
Order unfulfilled for N days	On a schedule, every hour	An open order that is still not fulfilled, or only partly, the number of days you set after it was placed
Shipment not moving for N days	On a schedule, every hour	A shipment that is not delivered while nothing about its order has changed for the number of days you set
Date in a metafield reached	On a schedule, every 6 hours	A date metafield of a product or order that is reached, or that is a number of days away
Stock fell below a location's own threshold	On every inventory change	Available stock at a location that crosses below the threshold you set for that location

The interval is the starting value of the template. You can change it in the editor.

Use a template

Create a custom trigger on the Triggers page, in the section Your custom triggers. Give it a name and a handle. The handle is what your workflow filters on, and it cannot be changed later.

For the three scheduled templates:

1. In the section What makes this run, choose the option On a schedule.
2. In the card Schedule, open the list Start from a template and choose the template. It replaces the code and sets the interval.
3. Edit the values at the top of the code. They are described per template below.
4. Test it. A test runs your code once, sends nothing to Shopify Flow and stores nothing, so you can repeat it as often as you like.
5. Switch the trigger on and save.

For the stock template:

1. In the section What makes this run, choose the option One Shopify event.
2. Open the list Start from a template and choose the stock template. It picks the event Inventory Level Changed at Location and fills in the code.
3. Edit the values at the top of the code.
4. Capture a real event by changing the stock of a variant in your store, then run a test against it.
5. Switch the trigger on and save.

Use it in Shopify Flow

All four arrive in Shopify Flow as the trigger Custom Trigger. Add it to a workflow and add a condition: the field Trigger handle equals the handle of your trigger. Every value the template sends is a field on the trigger.

The three scheduled templates also pass the order or product as the record id of the event. Add a step such as Get order data or Get product data to load the full record and work with it in the steps that follow.

Order unfulfilled for N days

Catches late shipments before the customer asks.

Value in the code	Starts as	Meaning
DAYS	3	Number of days after the order was placed
ONLY_PAID	true	Only paid orders count. An unpaid order usually waits for its payment, not for you

The trigger starts your workflow once for every open order that is still unfulfilled or only partially fulfilled when it reaches the age you set. An order that was fulfilled in time never starts it.

The check happens once per order, at that moment. An order that is still unfulfilled a week later does not start the workflow a second time. With the paid-only setting, an order that is paid only after that moment is not picked up either.

Field sent to Flow	Contains
name	The order name, for example #1042
placedAt	When the order was placed
daysSinceOrder	The age of the order in days
fulfillmentStatus	The fulfillment status of the order
financialStatus	The payment status of the order
thresholdDays	The number of days you set

The order itself is passed as the record id of the event.

Shipment not moving for N days

Answers the question "where is my order" before it is asked.

Value in the code	Starts as	Meaning
DAYS	5	Number of days without any change
ONLY_WITH_TRACKING	true	Shipments without a tracking number are left out. They can never report a delivery
DONE	DELIVERED, PICKED_UP, CANCELED	Shipment states that count as finished

Shopify cannot be searched by the date a shipment last moved. The template therefore works on the order. It looks for fulfilled or partially fulfilled orders that have not been updated for the number of days you set and that still have a shipment which is not finished.

Any change to the order starts the count again. A tracking update does that, and so does an edited note or a new tag.

The trigger starts your workflow once per stalled shipment, so an order with two stuck parcels starts it twice. Up to three shipments per order are checked.

Field sent to Flow	Contains
name	The order name
fulfillmentId	The id of the shipment
shipmentStatus	The current status of the shipment
lastTrackingStatus	The status of the latest tracking event
lastMovedAt	When the shipment last moved
daysWithoutMovement	Days since the shipment last moved
shippedAt	When the shipment was created
estimatedDeliveryAt	The estimated delivery date, if the carrier reports one
carrier	The name of the carrier
trackingNumber	The tracking number
trackingUrl	The tracking link
thresholdDays	The number of days you set

The order itself is passed as the record id of the event.

Date in a metafield reached

For release dates, warranties, best-before dates, renewal dates: anything you keep as a date on a product or an order.

Value in the code	Starts as	Meaning
RESOURCE	"products"	Where the metafield lives: on products or on orders
NAMESPACE	"custom"	The namespace of the metafield
KEY	"release_date"	The key of the metafield
OFFSET_DAYS	0	Number of days before or after the date. See the examples below

Three examples for the offset:

Offset	When your workflow starts
0	On the date itself
-7	Seven days before the date
30	Thirty days after the date

The trigger starts your workflow once for every product or order whose date is due on that day. Days are UTC days. The trigger works through one day at a time, so a day it missed is caught up in order. When more than 100 records are due on one day, the rest follow on the next runs.

Field sent to Flow	Contains
name	The product title or the order name
date	The date stored in the metafield
reachedOn	The day on which the record was due
offsetDays	The offset you set

The product or order itself is passed as the record id of the event.

Stock fell below a location's own threshold

One low-stock rule per location: 20 in the warehouse, 3 in the shop.

Value in the code	Starts as	Meaning
THRESHOLDS	{ "Main warehouse": 20, "Pop-up store": 3 }	The threshold of each location, by the name of the location
DEFAULT	5	The threshold for every location that is not listed
ALSO_WHEN_RESTOCKED	false	Whether your workflow also starts when stock is back at or above the threshold

To ignore one location, give it the threshold null. To watch only the listed locations, set the default threshold to null.

The trigger starts your workflow once, at the crossing: stock was at or above the threshold before the change and is below it afterwards. It does not react to every sale while stock is already low. That is possible because the app knows the stock level before and after each change.

Write the location names exactly as they appear in your Shopify admin under Settings > Locations.

This template needs the trigger Inventory Level Changed at Location switched on, with its permissions granted. That is what makes the app follow stock levels. See The Triggers page (formerly Settings) and Permissions and data access.

Field sent to Flow	Contains
event	What happened: stock fell below the threshold, or stock is back
productTitle	The product title
variantTitle	The variant title
sku	The SKU of the variant
location	The name of the location
locationId	The id of the location
oldAvailable	Available stock before the change
newAvailable	Available stock after the change
threshold	The threshold that applied

The field for what happened holds one of two values:

Value	Meaning
below	Stock fell below the threshold
restocked	Stock is back at or above the threshold

Next steps

• Custom triggers - the editor, testing, and how custom triggers work in Flow.
• Generate trigger code with AI - describe a different rule and let AI write the code.
• Plans and usage - how runs and events count toward your plan.
• Inventory triggers, step by step - the built-in inventory triggers, step by step.