Placing Orders

This guide covers how orders are created and managed in Switchyard, including manual order creation for testing.

Order Sources

Orders can enter Switchyard from multiple sources:

Source	Description
Goods Mobile App	Primary source - customers place orders via API
Test Orders	Manual creation for testing fulfillment flow
Draft Orders	Admin-created orders via Switchyard dashboard

Creating Test Orders

For testing the fulfillment flow without using the mobile app, you can create test orders directly from the Admin API.

Via API

POST /admin/test-orders
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "items": [
    {
      "variant_id": "variant_01ABC123",
      "quantity": 2
    },
    {
      "variant_id": "variant_02XYZ456",
      "quantity": 1
    }
  ],
  "shipping_address": {
    "first_name": "Test",
    "last_name": "Customer",
    "address_1": "123 Test Street",
    "city": "Austin",
    "postal_code": "78701"
  },
  "notes": "Testing sweep fulfillment"
}

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Test order created successfully",
  "order": {
    "id": "order_01ABC123",
    "display_id": 1234,
    "status": "pending",
    "items": [
      {
        "id": "item_01",
        "title": "Organic Bananas",
        "quantity": 2,
        "variant_sku": "BAN-ORG-1LB"
      }
    ],
    "created_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z"
  }
}

Request Parameters

Field	Type	Required	Description
`items`	array	Yes	Array of items to include
`items[].variant_id`	string	Yes	Product variant ID
`items[].quantity`	number	Yes	Quantity to order
`customer_id`	string	No	Existing customer ID (creates test customer if omitted)
`shipping_address`	object	No	Delivery address (uses default if omitted)
`notes`	string	No	Internal notes about the test

Listing Test Orders

GET /admin/test-orders?limit=20&offset=0
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN

Returns only orders marked as test orders.

Using Draft Orders

Switchyard’s built-in draft order system provides a full-featured way to create orders:

Go to Orders → Draft Orders in the admin dashboard
Click Create Draft Order
Add customer, items, and shipping details
Complete the draft to create the order

Draft orders go through the complete order flow and are useful for testing end-to-end.

Order Flow After Creation

Once an order is created (from any source), it follows the standard fulfillment flow:

Pending - Order received, awaiting processing
Processing - System analyzing sourcing (RFC vs sweep)
Sweep/Picking - Items being sourced
Staged - Order assembled in tote
Delivering - Robot en route
Delivered - Complete

See Order Flow for detailed documentation.

Testing Scenarios

Common scenarios to test:

RFC-Only Order

Create an order with items that are in RFC stock:

{
  "items": [
    { "variant_id": "rfc_stocked_item", "quantity": 1 }
  ],
  "notes": "Testing RFC-only fulfillment"
}

Sweep Order

Create an order with items that require retailer sourcing:

{
  "items": [
    { "variant_id": "sweep_only_item", "quantity": 1 }
  ],
  "notes": "Testing sweep fulfillment"
}

Hybrid Order

Create an order with both RFC and sweep items:

{
  "items": [
    { "variant_id": "rfc_item", "quantity": 1 },
    { "variant_id": "sweep_item", "quantity": 1 }
  ],
  "notes": "Testing hybrid fulfillment"
}

Cleanup

Test orders are marked with is_test_order: true in metadata and can be filtered/deleted separately from production orders.

Getting Started

Architecture

Authentication

Operations

Equipment

Placing Orders

Placing Orders

Order Sources

Creating Test Orders

Via API

Request Parameters

Listing Test Orders

Using Draft Orders

Order Flow After Creation

Testing Scenarios

RFC-Only Order

Sweep Order

Hybrid Order

Cleanup

​Placing Orders

​Order Sources

​Creating Test Orders

​Via API

​Request Parameters

​Listing Test Orders

​Using Draft Orders

​Order Flow After Creation

​Testing Scenarios

​RFC-Only Order

​Sweep Order

​Hybrid Order

​Cleanup

Placing Orders

Order Sources

Creating Test Orders

Via API

Request Parameters

Listing Test Orders

Using Draft Orders

Order Flow After Creation

Testing Scenarios

RFC-Only Order

Sweep Order

Hybrid Order

Cleanup