understanding-saleor-domain

name	understanding-saleor-domain
description	Explains Saleor e-commerce domain and Configurator business rules. Use when working with entity identification (slug vs name), YAML config structure, entity relationships, deployment pipeline stages, or synchronization logic. Do NOT use for general TypeScript questions or non-Saleor e-commerce platforms. Use when this capability is needed.
metadata	{"author":"saleor"}

Saleor Domain Expert

Overview

Deep domain knowledge about the Saleor e-commerce platform and the Configurator's business logic for entity management, configuration, deployment, and synchronization.

When to Use

• Implementing new entity types or features
• Understanding entity identification patterns (slug vs name)
• Working with deployment pipeline stages
• Debugging configuration synchronization issues
• Understanding business rules and constraints

Quick Reference

CLI Command	Purpose
pnpm dev introspect	Download remote config to local YAML
pnpm dev deploy	Apply local YAML to remote Saleor
pnpm dev diff	Compare local vs remote config
pnpm dev start	Interactive first-time setup

Core Concepts

A "commerce as code" CLI tool for declarative configuration management of Saleor e-commerce platforms:

• Single source of truth for store state (YAML in git)
• Version-controlled, reproducible deployments
• Declarative over imperative management

Entity Identification System

Critical Rule: Every entity has exactly ONE identification strategy.

Slug-Based Entities

Identified by slug field (URL-friendly identifiers):

Entity	Example
Categories	electronics
Channels	default-channel
Collections	summer-sale
Menus	main-navigation
Products	iphone-15-pro
Warehouses	us-east-warehouse

Name-Based Entities

Identified by name field (internal configuration):

Entity	Example
ProductTypes	Physical Product
PageTypes	Blog Post
TaxClasses	Standard Rate
ShippingZones	North America
Attributes	Color

Singleton Entities

Only one instance exists (no identifier needed): Shop (global store settings).

Deployment Pipeline

Stage Order (Dependencies Matter)

1. Validation       -> Pre-flight checks
2. Shop Settings    -> Global configuration
3. Product Types    -> Must exist before products
4. Page Types       -> Must exist before pages
5. Attributes       -> Used by product/page types
6. Categories       -> Product organization
7. Collections      -> Product groupings
8. Warehouses       -> Required for inventory
9. Shipping Zones   -> Geographic shipping rules
10. Products        -> Depends on types, categories
11. Tax Config      -> Tax rules and classes
12. Channels        -> Sales channels
13. Menus           -> Navigation (may reference products)
14. Models          -> Custom data models

Key dependency: Cannot create a Product without its ProductType existing first.

Stage Execution Pattern

Each stage follows: Fetch remote state -> Compare local vs remote -> Plan creates/updates/deletes -> Execute with chunking -> Report results.

Configuration Schema

Top-level keys: shop, channels, taxClasses, productTypes, pageTypes, attributes, categories, collections, warehouses, shippingZones, products, menus, models. See designing-zod-schemas skill and src/modules/config/schema/schema.ts for full schema details.

Bulk Operations

Large operations are chunked (default: 50 items per chunk) to avoid timeouts. The GraphQL client handles HTTP 429 automatically with exponential backoff (max 5 retries).

Diff & Comparison Logic

Comparison Dimensions

For each entity type: Existence (does it exist remotely?), Equality (are fields equal?), Children (are nested structures equal?).

Diff Result Types

Actions: create, update, delete, unchanged. Each entity has a dedicated comparator (e.g., src/core/diff/comparators/category-comparator.ts) that matches by slug or name.

Common Patterns

Adding a New Entity Type

1. Define Zod schema in src/modules/config/schema/
2. Create service in src/modules/<entity>/
3. Create repository with GraphQL operations
4. Add comparator in src/core/diff/comparators/
5. Add deployment stage in pipeline
6. Update schema documentation

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Wrong identification strategy	Check entity table: slug-based vs name-based
Creating entity before dependency	Follow deployment pipeline order
Missing chunking for bulk ops	Use splitIntoChunks() with default chunk size
Not handling rate limits	Use urql retry exchange (built-in)

References

For detailed information, see:

• understanding-saleor-domain/references/entity-identification.md - Complete entity identification rules
• understanding-saleor-domain/references/deployment-stages.md - Pipeline stage details
• understanding-saleor-domain/references/schema-patterns.md - YAML configuration patterns
• docs/ENTITY_REFERENCE.md - Full entity documentation
• docs/ARCHITECTURE.md - System architecture
• src/modules/config/schema/schema.ts - Zod schema definitions

Related Skills

• Implementing entities: See adding-entity-types for complete implementation workflow
• Config schemas: See designing-zod-schemas for schema patterns
• GraphQL operations: See writing-graphql-operations for Saleor API integration

Quick Reference Rules

For condensed quick references, see:

• .claude/rules/entity-development.md (automatically loaded when editing src/modules/**/*.ts)
• .claude/rules/diff-engine.md (automatically loaded when editing src/core/diff/**/*.ts)

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