Why Shopify Draft Order Links Should Not Be Updated After Approval
A safe draft order workflow for quote apps: immutable revisions, new versions for edits, and payment links only after customer approval.
Draft orders are powerful, but quote apps need to treat payment links carefully. Once a customer has an invoice URL, changing the draft order behind that link can create confusion or break the checkout flow.
The safer rule
Use the quote version as the source of truth. If the customer has already seen or approved a sent version, lock it. If something changes, reopen the quote as version two and send the new version for approval.
What converted should mean in V1
For a quote app, converted should mean the approved quote generated a Shopify draft order and payment link. It should not mean the customer paid or a final order exists unless the app intentionally requests broader protected order scopes.
Financial mismatch handling
The quote total shown in the PDF should match the Shopify draft order total. If Shopify returns a materially different total after draft order creation, the quote should move to merchant review instead of being marked converted.
Inventory check before approval
If inventory changed between quote send and customer approval, the approval page should pause the conversion and ask the merchant to review availability. This prevents customers from paying for a quote that can no longer be fulfilled.