---
title: "Recipe: set stock by SKU with an incoming webhook"
description: "An ERP or warehouse sends a SKU and a quantity to a secret URL; the workflow finds the variant and sets its available quantity. With a clear failure."
canonical: "https://docs.workflow-suite.app/recipe-set-stock-by-sku-webhook"
---

# Recipe: let another system set stock by SKU

**Goal:** your ERP or warehouse sends `{ "sku": "ABC", "quantity": 12 }` to a URL, and the workflow sets the available quantity of that variant.

**Template:** Let another system set stock by SKU (category Data sync). **Steps:** 5. **Needs:** access to products, inventory and locations.

## Create it

1. In **Browse templates**, search for `SKU` and select **Use template** on **Let another system set stock by SKU**.
2. Select the trigger. Copy the **Webhook URL** from the panel and give it to the other system. Treat it like a password: anyone who has it can start this workflow. See [Incoming webhooks](https://docs.workflow-suite.app/incoming-webhooks.md).

## How it is built

| Step | Setting |
| --- | --- |
| Trigger | **Incoming webhook** |
| Find the variant by SKU (Shopify query) | Searches `productVariants` for the SKU of the request |
| Condition: A variant was found | `steps.variant.output.productVariants.nodes.0.id` **has a value** |
| Then: Read the first location (Shopify query) | The store's first location |
| **Set inventory quantity** | **Inventory item id** and **Location id** from the two queries, **Quantity** `{{ event.payload.body.quantity }}`, **Reason** Correction |
| Otherwise: **Fail the run** | `No variant has the SKU {{ event.payload.body.sku }}` |

The first query's **Variables (JSON)** turn the SKU into a search:

```liquid
{ "q": {{ event.payload.body.sku | prepend: "sku:" | json }} }
```

The **Fail the run** step is what makes this workflow trustworthy: a SKU that does not exist does not pass silently. The run ends as Failed with a message that names the SKU, and you get the failure alert.

## Make it yours

1. **Several locations?** The template uses the first location of the store. Delete the step **Read the first location** and put a fixed **Location id** into the last step, or let the other system send the location and read it from `event.payload.body`.
2. **Test** as a preview. Put a real SKU into the **Event (JSON)**:

```json
{ "body": { "sku": "ABC", "quantity": 12 } }
```

Both queries run for real, the quantity is only previewed. Then try a SKU that does not exist: the run takes the Otherwise branch and fails with your message.

3. **Save** and **Turn on**. A workflow that is off answers the other system with an error.

## Try it from a terminal

The trigger panel has an **Example request** to copy. It looks like this, with your URL:

```bash
curl -X POST "<your webhook URL>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "sku": "ABC", "quantity": 12 }'
```

The answer is `202` with `started: true`. It comes at once and does not wait for the run. Find the run under **Run history**.

> [!WARNING]
> **Check what comes in**
> The URL is the only key. Keep it secret, and guard the data itself: add a Condition that the quantity **is at least** `0` and below a number that is plausible for your store, so a mistake on the other side cannot set nonsense. If the other system can send a fixed value in the body that only the two of you know, a trigger filter rule on that value rejects every other request before a run starts.

## Many SKUs at once

One request per SKU is simple, and each is one run. For a whole stock list, two other ways cost fewer runs:

- Send a list in one request, for example `{ "items": [ ... ] }`, and wrap the steps in a **Repeat for each** over `{{ event.payload.body.items }}`. Up to 500 items per run; an item whose SKU is unknown fails only that item when the loop is set to **Go on with the next item**.
- Let the other system drop a CSV file on an SFTP server. The template **Set stock from a daily CSV file on your SFTP server** reads it on a schedule.

The endpoint accepts up to 120 requests per minute and 256 KB per request.

## Related templates

- **Let another system set prices by SKU** - the same shape with **Update variant price**.
- **Let another system tag and annotate orders** - finds an order by its number, adds tags and a note.

See also [Recipe: send new orders to an ERP](https://docs.workflow-suite.app/recipe-send-orders-to-erp.md) for the other direction.