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The recommended path for most integrations is real-time product discovery via the /search endpoint. The guidance below is for use cases where product IDs are stored and revisited later, such as:
  • Persisted carts or “saved for later” collections — users bookmark products and return to them hours or days later
  • Hand-curated shopping experiences — developers select specific products for display, typically originally discovered via /search or /lookup

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Cache IDs, not data

Product IDs and category slugs are stable identifiers — cache them freely and for as long as you like. Everything else on a product object (prices, availability, images, descriptions, offers, variants) should be treated as unstable. These fields can change at any time as merchants update their catalogs. Retrieve fresh product snapshots at load time with the free GET /v1/products/{product_id}. Do:
  • Store product.id from search results and reuse it later
Don’t:
  • Cache prices, availability, or offer URLs and serve them to users without refreshing
  • Assume image URLs or product descriptions are permanent
  • Cache offer URLs — these are short-lived and must be fetched fresh before presenting to users

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Refresh at load time

When you need to display a product to a user, fetch the latest data with GET /v1/products/{product_id} rather than relying on a cached snapshot. This ensures prices, stock status, and buy links are current. 
// At search time — cache the IDs
const results = await client.products.search({ query: "running shoes" });
const productIds = results.products.map((p) => p.id);
// store productIds in your database or session

// At display time — fetch fresh data
const product = await client.products.retrieve(productId);

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Short-lived caches are fine

Caches with a short TTL (a few minutes to a few hours) on full product objects for presentational data (images, title) is reasonable for use cases that require it. Just avoid caching product data for many hours or days — pricing and availability can shift quickly, and we often update our data model to include new features and info.
DataCache strategy
Product IDs, category slugsCache indefinitely
Product details (title, description, images)Short TTL or refresh on display
Prices, availability, offersAlways refresh before showing to users