How I Cut Our Shopify API Usage in Half (Without Losing Features)

Short summary

This tutorial reveals how to cut Shopify API usage by 50% through four targeted optimizations: migrating from REST to GraphQL queries, requesting only necessary fields, replacing polling with webhooks, and caching stable data. Includes production-ready code examples, exponential backoff rate-limiting patterns, bulk operations for large datasets, and an effort-vs-impact matrix. Essential for technical product managers and engineers optimizing API-heavy Shopify integrations.

• •Migrate from REST to GraphQL to bundle related data in single requests instead of multiple round trips
• •Request only necessary fields and cache stable data (product descriptions, settings) to minimize query costs
• •Replace polling with webhook event handling and implement exponential backoff for rate limit handling

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