Self-Service Return Portal & Admin Dashboard

Returns Automation

A self-service returns portal and merchant dashboard with lifecycle states, inventory-ledger checks and notification workflows.

My role: Creator and engineer
Work type: Independent Shopify product
Current state: Pre-launch
Year: 2026

The product

Returns Automation is a Shopify app with a public customer-facing return portal and a full admin dashboard for processing returns. Customers look up their order by number + email, select items to return, choose a resolution (Refund/Exchange/Store Credit), and submit — all without contacting support.

Features a security-conscious portal design with rate limiting (in-memory token bucket), strict input validation to prevent GraphQL injection, an inventory ledger system that prevents double-claiming, and a return state machine with automatic timestamp tracking per milestone. RMA number generation uses a clean alphabet (no I/O/0/1).

Capabilities

What’s in the build.

Customer Return Portal
Shareable, unauthenticated portal with branded UI. Customers enter order number + email to look up their order, select items to return with quantity, choose resolution, and submit.
Portal security
In-memory token bucket rate limiting (10 lookups/5min per IP+slug). Strict input validation with regexes before GraphQL queries. Generic error messages to prevent order enumeration.
Inventory Ledger System
Before accepting a return, builds a per-line-item ledger: total ordered - already fulfilled - already refunded - previously claimed. Prevents double-claiming of return quantities.
Admin Returns Dashboard
Full list/filter/search of return requests with status badges, detail view, and status transition controls (Approve, Reject, Mark Received, Mark Refunded/Exchanged).
RMA Number Generation
Short, human-friendly RMA numbers (e.g., RMA-A3B9K7X2) using a clean alphabet. Auto-tags Shopify orders with return-requested for easy identification.
Email Notifications
Sends status-update emails to customers and new-return notifications to merchants via Resend. Branded HTML templates with status-specific colors.

Product views

A closer look.

D01Merchant dashboard for return requests and states

Returns Automation

What’s in the build.

Customer Return Portal

Portal security

Inventory Ledger System

Admin Returns Dashboard

RMA Number Generation

Email Notifications

A closer look.

Toolchain

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