Shopify releases new API versions every quarter, adding new capabilities and improvements, and occasionally introducing breaking changes that can affect custom apps and integrations. Shopify's regular updates give merchants access to new capabilities, but they also require development teams to keep custom apps and integrations up to date.

An outdated API connection could interrupt inventory updates, interfere with order processing, or break data flow between Shopify and critical systems such as an ERP, PIM, or warehouse management system.

Merchants and development teams need to know which versions their integrations use, when those versions expire, and whether upcoming changes could affect business operations.

In this blog, we’ll explain how Shopify's API release schedule works, what happens when a version becomes unsupported, and how to build a quarterly upgrade process that keeps your integrations running reliably.

How Does Shopify API Versioning Work?

Shopify API versioning lets developers build against a specific, stable version of Shopify's APIs instead of accommodating every platform change immediately. Shopify releases stable API versions four times per year:

1. January 1

2. April 1

3. July 1

4. October 1

Each version follows a year-month naming convention, such as “2026-10”, and remains supported for at least 12 months.

We recommend upgrading to the latest stable API version each quarter. This gives development teams time to review changes, test compatibility, and update integrations before Shopify retires older versions.

Shopify provides a support window, but not indefinite compatibility. Once a version reaches its retirement date, integrations that still request it might start to malfunction. 

Not every Shopify API follows the same versioning schedule. The quarterly release schedule applies to versioned APIs, including the GraphQL Admin API, Storefront API, Customer Account API, Shopify Functions APIs, and webhooks.

Shopify UI extensions and developer libraries also have versioning requirements, but their compatibility and deployment rules can differ from those of standard APIs. Developers should review the documentation and lifecycle requirements for each extension or library individually.

Other Shopify interfaces, including the Ajax API, Customer Privacy API, and Web Pixels API, aren't versioned under this quarterly model. These interfaces can still change, so you should monitor their documentation and changelogs separately.

What Happens When a Shopify API Version Expires?

When a Shopify API version becomes inaccessible, Shopify doesn't necessarily reject requests that use it. Instead, it can automatically move those requests to the oldest accessible stable version. This is called “fall-forward” behaviour. 

This means an integration that keeps requesting an expired API version might start receiving responses generated with a newer version, even if nobody has updated the application's code. The risk here, however, is that your integration could encounter breaking changes it was never tested against. This could result in:

• GraphQL queries failing because fields or arguments have been removed.

• Missing or differently structured data in webhook payloads.

• Inventory, product, or order synchronization errors.

• Custom applications behaving unexpectedly.

• Failed operations that require manual intervention or reconciliation.

How to Detect Shopify API Version Fall-Forward

Shopify includes the “X-Shopify-API-Version” response header in API responses to identify the version Shopify used to process the request.

For example, after October 16, 2026, an integration requesting the retired 2025-07 version could send:

“POST /admin/api/2025-07/graphql.json”

However, Shopify would process that request using 2026-01, the oldest accessible stable version at that point, and return the following response header:

“X-Shopify-API-Version: 2026-01”

This mismatch indicates the requested version is no longer accessible, and Shopify processed the request using a different version. Log both the requested and returned API versions so you can catch mismatches and resolve them. 

How Do You Find Which Shopify API Version a Custom App Uses?

Before planning a Shopify API upgrade, you need to know which versions your existing applications and integrations use, which can sometimes be more complicated than it sounds. An application might use one API version for GraphQL requests, another for webhooks, and different versions across its extensions. Here’s where to look: 

1. Check your API request URLs: For direct GraphQL Admin API requests, the version appears in the endpoint URL. Eg: https://{store}.myshopify.com/admin/api/2026-10/graphql.json

2. Review your application configuration: Check your app's configuration files, environment variables, and deployment settings for version declarations. Eg: api_version = "2026-10". Depending on the application architecture, these might appear in “shopify.app.toml”, Shopify's server-side API configuration, or individual extension configuration files. Confirm that each component targets the intended supported version.

3. Inspect API responses and logs: The “X-Shopify-API-Version” header confirms the version actually serving requests. Compare this against your application's configured version, particularly if you suspect an outdated integration has already fallen forward.

4. Check the Shopify Dev Dashboard: Shopify's Dev Dashboard provides application monitoring and alerts, including warnings about deprecated API calls and outdated extension API versions.

5. Check third-party integrations: More complex Shopify environments often depend on multiple third-party integrations, including ERP connectors, PIM systems, middleware platforms, and fulfilment services. For integrations you don't control directly, ask the vendor which Shopify APIs and versions they use, how they handle deprecations, and who tests upgrades.

How to Identify Deprecated Shopify API Calls

An API version nearing retirement isn't the only warning sign developers need to watch.

Shopify API deprecations can affect individual fields, arguments, mutations, endpoints, and entire APIs. 

A deprecated field might remain available temporarily, giving developers time to migrate. Once Shopify removes that field from a newer version, requests that still depend on it may fail.

Shopify communicates upcoming changes through its developer changelog, release notes, API reference documentation, GraphiQL Explorer warnings, and Dev Dashboard alerts.

Shopify also provides several ways to identify deprecated API usage. The Dev Dashboard's API Health reporting can flag deprecated calls and breaking changes affecting your applications, while API response headers and application logs provide additional diagnostic information.

For eligible legacy custom apps, Shopify also provides a Deprecated API Calls resource that reports deprecated REST, GraphQL, and webhook usage from the past 30 days, including migration information and deadlines.

This REST endpoint isn't available to apps created through Shopify's newer Dev Dashboard, however. Developers should use the monitoring tools available for their particular app configuration rather than assuming the endpoint works for every custom app.

Developers can also check the “X-Shopify-API-Deprecated-Reason” response header when auditing GraphQL Admin API requests. Shopify uses this header to identify deprecated GraphQL fields or types detected in a request. This helps you identify deprecated functionality before it’s removed in a future release.

Shopify API Upgrade Runbook: 7 Steps to Follow Every Quarter

Include a reliable Shopify API upgrade process in your regular application maintenance. Here's a seven-step quarterly runbook to help merchants and development teams audit API dependencies, manage deprecations, and keep critical integrations compatible with Shopify's latest stable releases.

Step 1: Inventory every API integration

Start by documenting every custom app, connector, middleware service, webhook subscription, and relevant extension interacting with Shopify. For each integration, note:

• Application or integration name

• API type and endpoint, operation, or webhook topic

• Current API version and proposed target version

• Source code repository and deployment location

• Technical owner and business owner

• Connected systems, such as ERP, PIM, OMS, or WMS

• Business impact if the integration fails

• Test coverage and next retirement deadline

Prioritize integrations involved in payments, orders, pricing, inventory, and fulfillment. 

If your integration still relies on the legacy REST Admin API, identify where you may need to migrate to GraphQL. Shopify requires new public apps to use the GraphQL Admin API, and you should evaluate existing REST integrations for long-term compatibility and migration needs.

Step 2: Review release notes and identify breaking changes

Once you've identified your current versions, compare the release notes for every version between your starting point and your proposed target. Focus on:

• Removed or deprecated GraphQL fields and mutations

• Changed argument requirements, enum values, and input types

• Changes to API response structures and webhook payloads

• Updated permissions and access-scope requirements

• Changes affecting Shopify Functions and app extensions

• Behavioural changes that could affect downstream business logic

For GraphQL Admin API migrations, developers can also compare schema definitions between supported API versions. Look for removed fields, deprecated types, changed nullability, new required arguments, and modified input objects.

Step 3: Test upcoming versions using release candidates

Shopify publishes release candidates ahead of stable releases so developers can prepare for upcoming changes. Release candidates might change before becoming stable, so don’t use them in production. 

Test against both versions: 

1. Latest stable version: The version you intend to deploy to production.

2. Next release candidate: The upcoming version you want to prepare for.

When you test early, you’re less likely to discover critical issues when an existing version is getting close to retirement. 

Step 4: Run regression tests against business-critical workflows

After you update your queries, mutations, and application configurations, test the business processes that depend on them. 

Your tests should evaluate outcomes, not whether an API request returns a successful status. For example, an ERP connector might successfully retrieve an order from Shopify but fail to create the corresponding sales order downstream because a required field has changed. 

For more complex integration architectures, see our Shopify ERP Integration Guide for more on data ownership, synchronization, and failure recovery.

Step 5: Validate Shopify webhook compatibility

Webhooks need their own testing because they can affect processes that don't appear directly in your application interface. Check whether the target API version changes:

1. Webhook payload fields or data structures

2. Topics or subscription behaviour

3. Parsers and data transformations

4. Downstream ERP, PIM, or fulfilment mappings

5. Filtering and field-selection configurations

For app-specific webhook subscriptions, review the “[webhooks]” configuration in “shopify.app.toml” to confirm which API version controls webhook payloads. Updating your application's GraphQL Admin API requests doesn't automatically update its webhook configuration.

For example:

[webhooks]

api_version = "2026-10"

Before deploying an updated webhook version, test the target version using Shopify CLI. After testing, deploy the updated configuration and confirm that webhook deliveries are processed correctly.

For HTTPS webhook deliveries, check the “X-Shopify-API-Version” header to identify the version used to generate each payload. For Google Cloud Pub/Sub and Amazon EventBridge deliveries, Shopify includes the version in the message payload.

After deployment, verify that real webhook deliveries are received, parsed, processed, and reconciled correctly.

Step 6: Deploy with monitoring and a recovery plan

Once regression testing passes, prepare a controlled deployment. Deploy during a suitable maintenance window, especially if the change affects order processing or inventory updates. Where possible, use staged deployments or feature flags to reduce the potential impact of a problem.

Remember that reverting an API version doesn't necessarily reverse data changes the integration has already made. Your recovery plan should also address incorrect orders, stale inventory, or failed downstream transactions.

For more on catching problems after code changes, take a look at our Ecommerce Release QA and Revenue Monitoring Guide.

Step 7: Monitor API health and schedule the next upgrade

After deployment, keep monitoring API requests, webhook deliveries, and downstream integrations to catch issues that testing missed.

Your monitoring process should include:

• Comparing requested API versions with the versions returned by Shopify.

• Reviewing deprecation warnings and Shopify Dev Dashboard alerts.

• Tracking GraphQL errors, failed mutations, and unusual API response patterns.

• Monitoring webhook delivery failures and processing errors.

• Reconciling orders, inventory, and other business-critical data with connected systems.

• Recording the next API retirement deadline and assigning responsibility for the next upgrade.

Confirm the integration continues to work as expected in production, and document any issues to address during the next quarterly review.

Conclusion

Shopify's quarterly API release schedule gives developers a predictable window to prepare for platform changes. But keeping integrations running reliably takes more than tracking retirement dates.

Regular API inventories, deprecation reviews, GraphQL migrations, webhook testing, and regression testing should all be part of your ongoing Shopify maintenance strategy. The more complex your ecommerce architecture becomes, the more important these processes are.

At Blue Badger, we're a Shopify Platinum Partner agency with experience developing and maintaining custom Shopify applications, middleware, ERP and PIM integrations, and complex Shopify Plus environments.

Whether you need help auditing outdated integrations, planning an API upgrade, or maintaining your Shopify ecosystem long-term, our team can help. Explore our Shopify support and maintenance services or contact us today to discuss your project.