checkoutUrl created via cartCreateMutation does not Create Abandoned Checkout on Dashboard

GraphQL Admin API Troubleshooting
1

We are using cartCreate mutation to generate a checkoutUrl

curl --location ‘https://store-***.myshopify.com/api/2025-01/graphql.json?use_case=cartCreate’
–header ‘Content-Type: application/json’
–header ‘x-shopify-storefront-access-token: <STOREFRONT_ACCESS_TOKEN>’
–header ‘Cookie: _shopify_essential=<REDACTED_COOKIE>’
–data-raw ‘{
“query”: “mutation cartCreate($input: CartInput!) { cartCreate(input: $input) { cart { id checkoutUrl } userErrors { code field message } } }”,
“variables”: {
“input”: {
“buyerIdentity”: {
“countryCode”: “IN”,
“email”: “<CUSTOMER_EMAIL>”
},
“lines”: [
{
“quantity”: 2,
“merchandiseId”: “gid://shopify/ProductVariant/<VARIANT_ID>”
}
],
“note”: “<ABC_URL>”,
“attributes”: [
{
“key”: “key1”,
“value”: “value1”
}
],
“delivery”: {
“addresses”: [
{
“oneTimeUse”: false,
“selected”: true,
“validationStrategy”: “COUNTRY_CODE_ONLY”,
“address”: {
“deliveryAddress”: {
“address1”: “<ADDRESS_LINE_1>”,
“address2”: “”,
“city”: “Delhi”,
“firstName”: “<FIRST_NAME>”,
“lastName”: “<LAST_NAME>”,
“phone”: “<PHONE_NUMBER>”,
“zip”: “110001”,
“countryCode”: “IN”
}
}
}
]
}
}
}
}’

The checkoutUrl received is then opened in a window and abandoned after 5-10 secs after loading but Abandoned checkout is not created. Why is that? This was working till Monday

2

I am also facing the same issue. Looks like something is breaking on Shopify

3

Hi @Parth_Arora

A few things to check here:

  1. Is the buyer identity email being picked up? You’re passing email in buyerIdentity on the cartCreate mutation. Previously this may have been enough to pre-fill the checkout and trigger an abandoned checkout, but behavior around this can change.
  2. The abandoned checkout detection isn’t instant. There’s typically a delay (up to a few hours) before an abandoned checkout appears on the dashboard. Are you waiting long enough?
  3. Note from the Cart API docs: The Storefront Cart API does not fire webhooks for cart/create or cart/update. Abandoned checkout creation depends on the checkout session itself, not the cart.
4

@Liam-Shopify We verified that the checkoutUrl generated via cartCreate is valid and loads correctly. All details like email, phone, and shipping address are prefilled on the checkout page.

A couple of clarifications from our side:

  1. Is there any additional signal (beyond email/phone) that Shopify now requires to classify a session as an abandoned checkout?

  2. We triggered multiple carts on Tuesday, but none of them have appeared in the Abandoned Checkouts section yet.

Our current flow is:

  • cartCreate mutation is triggered

  • checkoutUrl is retrieved

  • The URL is opened in a headless browser

  • We wait for the page to fully load and keep the session alive for ~10 seconds

  • Then the tab/session is closed

Given this, can you confirm if this approach is sufficient for Shopify to register a checkout as “started”?

Would appreciate any clarity on what exact events are required now for abandonment to be recorded.

5

@Liam-Shopify Please help us here, critical for us to re-target users.

6

Please have some patient, it’s just been the weekend and the working week has only just started for some.

7

It’s been more than 3 days since the long weekend, still no revert. Business doesn’t wait for Weekends.

8

@Parth_Arora Mate, I have similar use case of yours.

Have been similarly trying to find out ways to push abandoned checkouts to Shopify.

None of the ways seems reliable, even if they work they get bot blocked.

I got a method worked, next day blocked by Shopify, same with another method.

My best suggestion is to forget about creating abandoned checkouts on Shopify, its a never winning battle and give up !

If you found out any workarounds that could help, please let me know too. As I am in dire need to get something that works 100%.

Thanks mate.