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'Could not begin a Shopify order edit for …': what it means and what to do

The message Could not begin a Shopify order edit for … can appear when you press Push to Shopify and, after the module asks Shopify to open an edit of the order, no identifier for that edit comes back. The code checks this before touching any line, and the action stops.

FlexigoTech · Editor in charge: Víctor Gómez · Updated 5 November 2026

Key facts

Module
Shopify
Versions
Odoo 17, 18, 19 and 20
Checked
in the connector's source code, version 20.0 · against the sources linked at the end
Reading time
4 min

What the message says

With Odoo in English the message reads Could not begin a Shopify order edit for …; with Odoo in Spanish, No se pudo iniciar una edición del pedido de Shopify para …. It is an error that stops the action. In place of the ellipsis, it shows the name of the sales order as Odoo displays it.

Schematic drawn from code, not an Odoo screen: the stores menu, the button that pushes to the Shopify order, and the error message
Schematic drawn from the module's published code (Odoo 17, 18, 19 and 20): the stores menu, the push button and the message.
Your Odoo doesn't talk to Amazon, Temu or Shopify?
Video: Your Odoo doesn't talk to Amazon, Temu or Shopify?

When and why it appears

It appears when you press Push to Shopify

The button sits on the sales order and is hidden when the order has no Shopify Order Ref or is not in the Sales Order state. The condition is the same in Odoo 17, 18, 19 and 20. When you press it, Odoo asks for confirmation: Push the current order lines (quantities, added/removed products) to the linked Shopify order?. Once you accept, the button reaches the code that pushes order edits, and that is where the message can appear.

The exact condition: the edit identifier does not come back

In the Odoo 20 code, the push runs in this order. First it checks that the order has a Shopify reference. Then it asks Shopify to open an edit of the order and checks whether Shopify answers with errors. Finally it takes the identifier of the edit in progress from the answer. If that identifier is empty, it raises the message. That is all the condition says: it does not depend on any line or quantity, because at that point the code has not yet read the order lines.

The ellipsis is the order name

The message includes the name of the sales order you pressed the button on. The figure shows the same text in other languages of the module.

Schematic drawn from code, not an Odoo screen: the same message in Spanish, German, French, Italian and Portuguese
Schematic drawn from the module's published translations: the text of the message according to the language of Odoo.

Order matters: the check comes after the edit is requested

Before checking the identifier, the code looks at whether Shopify returned errors when opening the edit, and if it did, it stops at that step. This message covers the case where that check has passed and the edit identifier is still missing.

When it appears, the module has not changed anything yet

After the message the action stops, and nothing it was going to change is saved. The check comes before the order lines are walked through: the module has not yet changed any quantity, nor added or removed any product. The final commit of the edit, which the code leaves for the end, is never launched.

What the button would have done next

If the edit opens, the code walks through the lines of the Odoo order, leaving out section or note lines and delivery lines, and compares them with the lines of the Shopify edit. It changes the quantity of lines that match but differ, adds products that have a Shopify variant and were not in the edit, and sets to zero the lines that are in Shopify but no longer in Odoo. At the end it commits the edit. When the message appears, none of that has run.

The message says nothing about your lines

Because the check comes before the lines are read, an order with changed quantities, new products or removed products is not the cause the code describes. The condition refers only to the answer that comes back when the order edit is opened.

The message text is in all four versions, the sequence described is Odoo 20's

The message is in the published code of Odoo 17, 18, 19 and 20. The order of steps described here (reference, opening the edit, checking for errors, identifier) is the one in the Odoo 20 code.

Where the stores are in Odoo

Store records open from Shopify › Configuration › Stores. The Configuration section requires the Operator permission and the Shopify section requires Viewer: if you lack one of them, you do not see that part of the menu.

What to check when it appears

  • Note the order name the message carries.
  • Check that the order is still in Sales Order and has Shopify Order Ref filled in: those are the two conditions for the button to be visible.
  • Press Push to Shopify again and accept the confirmation. Since the message is raised before anything is changed, the Odoo order stays as it was.
  • If the same order gives the same message again, keep its name and get in touch.

How FlexigoTech can help

FlexigoTech implements Odoo 17, 18, 19 and 20 and builds custom connectors and integrations. If the message keeps coming back for a particular order, we can look into it with you from the order name. The module is published on Odoo Apps for 17, 18, 19 and 20 (listing, module page). It is a one-off payment per version and needs a FlexigoTech Cloud subscription, Connector plan: €49/month or €490/year excluding VAT, up to 3 accounts of the platform.

Keep reading

What the Pull Stock button does in the Shopify connector for OdooWhat the Pull Stock button does in the Shopify connector for Odoo: when it shows, what it checks, what changes in your stock and which error it can raise.The 'is now the primary location' notice in the Shopify connector for OdooWhat the 'is now the primary location' notice in the Shopify connector for Odoo means, when it appears and how to change the primary location.Shopify Connector error: no payload to create the sales orderWhat the Shopify Connector for Odoo message means when you press Create Sale Order on an order with no stored data, when it appears and how to fix it.
Checked in the connector's source code (version 20.0) and the linked sources

Sources