# What does shopify.refund.created prove?

> Prove that Shopify holds a Refund record for the order. Version 1.0.0, certification Community.

Canonical: https://provely.sh/verify/shopify/shopify.refund.created  
Last reviewed: 2026-09-05  
Skill version: 0.1.0  
Certification: community  

**Prove that Shopify holds a Refund record for the order. The created level proves that the Refund record exists with the requested amount and a refunds/create webhook. It does not prove that money moved.**

*Contract identity.*

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Contract id | `shopify.refund.created` |
| Version | `1.0.0` |
| Hash | `3b0c1707cf0adcf1` |
| Completion level | `created` |
| Certification | Community |
| Skill | [Shopify Admin API 0.1.0](/verify/shopify) |
| Valid for provider API versions | `2025-07` |

## What is the intent?

Create the refund record on the order.

## What is the subject and the action?

| Member | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Subject type | `shopify.refund` |
| Subject identity | refund_id = `$action.result.refundCreate.refund.id` |
| Canonical effect | `money.refund` |
| Provider operation | `mutation refundCreate` |
| Idempotency | not stated |

## How does the evidence correlate with this operation?

| Strategy | Assurance | Keys | Required |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `resource_id` | strong | refund_id from `$action.result.refundCreate.refund.id` | yes |
| `fingerprint` | weak | order from `$input.order_id`; amount from `$input.amount` | no |

## Which evidence does the contract require?

Minimum evidence level `E2`. An independent channel is required. Minimum channels: 1.

| Channel | Level | Independence | Verifier | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `refund_readback` | E2 | provider readback | `http` | Read the Refund record with its order and its transactions. It proves the record, not the money movement. The http verifier returns the parsed GraphQL response body, so a condition path starts with $observed.<channel>.data. The connection of the shop gives the base URL. |
| `refund_events` | E3 | provider event | `webhook` | The refunds/create webhooks of this refund. The type name is the WebhookSubscriptionTopic value. The resource id is the global id of the refund. The webhook verifier returns {events, count, latest, earliest, types, duplicates_dropped}, so a condition reads the count. |
| `order_refund_events` | E3 | provider event | `webhook` | The refunds/create webhooks for the order since the operation started. A count above one shows a second refund. The webhook verifier returns {events, count, latest, earliest, types, duplicates_dropped}. |

## Which conditions must all hold for VERIFIED?

| Condition | Meaning | Path | Operator | Expected | Evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `refund_created_in_window` | The shop created the Refund record after the operation started. | `$observed.refund_readback.data.refund.createdAt` | `time_after` | `$operation.created_at` | `refund_readback` |
| `refund_present` | The shop holds the refund with the returned global id. | `$observed.refund_readback.data.refund.id` | `eq` | `$action.result.refundCreate.refund.id` | `refund_readback` |
| `refund_webhook_present` | At least one refunds/create webhook of this refund arrived. | `$observed.refund_events.count` | `gte` | `1` | `refund_events` |

## Which conditions give CONTRADICTED?

| Condition | Class | Reason | Path | Operator | Expected |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `refund_on_wrong_order` | wrong subject | The refund belongs to another order. | `$observed.refund_readback.data.refund.order.id` | `ne` | `$input.order_id` |
| `refund_amount_mismatch` | wrong amount | The provider recorded a different refund amount. | `$observed.refund_readback.data.refund.totalRefundedSet.shopMoney.amount` | `ne` | `$input.amount` |
| `refund_predates_operation` | pre existing state | The refund is older than the operation. It proves nothing. | `$observed.refund_readback.data.refund.createdAt` | `time_before` | `$operation.created_at` |
| `duplicate_refund_present` | duplicate side effect | Shopify created more than one refund on the order since the operation started. Do not retry. | `$observed.order_refund_events.count` | `gt` | `1` |

## Which observed states map to a verdict before completion?

| Rule | Match | Verdict | Reason |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `transaction_failed` | `$observed.refund_readback.data.refund.transactions[0].status` in `["FAILURE","ERROR"]` | FAILED | The refund record exists, but its transaction failed at the gateway. The refund will not complete. |

## How long does the runtime observe?

| Timing member | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Initial delay | 1000 ms |
| Poll interval | 5000 ms |
| Backoff | exponential factor 2, max 60000 ms |
| Maximum attempts | 40 |
| Timeout | 604800000 ms |
| Stale read window | 20000 ms |
| On timeout | UNVERIFIABLE (`evidence_unavailable_before_timeout`), escalated to a person |

## Where do these rules come from?

- `shopify.graphql#/mutations/refundCreate`: [shopify.graphql](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/2025-07), retrieved 2026-09-05
- `shopify.docs.refunds#refunds-in-the-admin-graphql-api/p1`: [shopify.docs.refunds](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/2025-07/mutations/refundCreate), retrieved 2026-09-05
- `shopify.docs.refunds#refunds-in-the-admin-graphql-api/refund-objects-and-money-movement/p1`: [shopify.docs.refunds](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/2025-07/mutations/refundCreate), retrieved 2026-09-05
- `shopify.docs.refunds#refunds-in-the-admin-graphql-api/webhooks/p1`: [shopify.docs.refunds](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/2025-07/mutations/refundCreate), retrieved 2026-09-05
- `shopify.graphql#/types/Refund/fields/createdAt`: [shopify.graphql](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/2025-07), retrieved 2026-09-05
- `shopify.graphql#/types/Refund/fields/id`: [shopify.graphql](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/2025-07), retrieved 2026-09-05
- `shopify.graphql#/queries/refund`: [shopify.graphql](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/2025-07), retrieved 2026-09-05
- `shopify.graphql#/enums/WebhookSubscriptionTopic/values/REFUNDS_CREATE`: [shopify.graphql](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/2025-07), retrieved 2026-09-05

### Can shopify.refund.created return VERIFIED from the action response alone?

No. The minimum evidence level is E2. The action response is E1. The completion conditions read `refund_readback` and `refund_events`.

### What happens after the timeout?

The verdict is UNVERIFIABLE with the reason `evidence_unavailable_before_timeout`. The operation goes to a person for review.

## Read next

- [Read the Shopify Admin API verification page](https://provely.sh/verify/shopify)
- [Read the shopify.refund.financially_completed contract](https://provely.sh/verify/shopify/shopify.refund.financially_completed)
- [Read what a completion contract contains](https://provely.sh/contracts)
- [Read what a receipt proves](https://provely.sh/receipts)