README

This is an extension for OpenMage and Magento 1 (CE or EE) which facilitates efficient inventory, order and tracking info synchronization between OpenMage/Magento and the ShipStream OpenMage/Magento Plugin. This extension will have no effect until the corresponding plugin subscription has been configured in ShipStream.

What functionality does this extension add to my OpenMage/Magento store?

• Adds a System > Configuration section to Services > ShipStream Sync
  • General > Enable Real-Time Order Sync
  • General > Send New Shipment Email
• Adds three new order statuses: "Ready to Ship", "Failed to Submit" and "Submitted"
• Adds API endpoint shipstream.info
• Adds API endpoint shipstream.set_config
• Adds API endpoint shipstream.sync_inventory
• Adds API endpoint shipstream_stock_item.adjust
• Adds API endpoint shipstream_order_shipment.info
• Adds API endpoint shipstream_order_shipment.createWithTracking
• Adds an event observer for sales_order_save_commit_after to trigger an order sync when an order is saved
• Adds a cron job to do a full inventory sync every hour (with a short random sleep time)
• Stores the ShipStream remote url in the core_flag table

Why is this required? Doesn't OpenMage/Magento already have an API?

Yes, but there are several shortcomings that this extension addresses:

1. When syncing remote systems over basic HTTP protocol there is no locking between when the inventory amount is known and when it is updated, so setting an exact quantity for inventory levels is prone to race conditions. Adding the "adjust" method allows ShipStream to push stock adjustments (e.g. +20 or -10) rather than absolute values which are far less susceptible to race condition-induced errors.
2. The OpenMage Catalog Inventory API does not use proper database-level locking so is also prone to local race conditions. This module uses SELECT ... FOR UPDATE to ensure that updates are atomic at the database level.
3. This module implements a "pull" mechanism so that OpenMage can lock the inventory locally and remotely, take a snapshot of local inventory and remote inventory, then sync the inventory amounts all inside of one database transaction. This ensures that inventory does not drift or hop around due to race conditions. For a high-volume store these issues are much more frequent than you might imagine.
4. The OpenMage API shipment.info method returns SKUs that do not reflect the simple product SKU which is used by ShipStream. This extension returns SKUs that are appropriate for the WMS to use.
5. Four or more API calls can be cut down to one with the shipstream_order_shipment.createWithTracking method which also allows for easy customization (e.g. receiving and storing serial numbers or lot data).

The API endpoints are implemented using Magento's provided SOAP/XML-RPC API so these endpoints do not create any additional security vulnerability exposure.

What is the point of the new statuses?

Without a state between "Processing" and "Complete" it is otherwise difficult to tell if an order is ready to be submitted to the warehouse, if it has been successfully submitted to the warehouse, or if the order has been processed at the warehouse.

The "Ready to Ship" status can be set manually or programmatically (using some custom code with your own business logic) to indicate when an order is ready to be shipped. If you don't want to use this status simply ignore it and configure ShipStream to pull orders in "Processing" status instead.

The "Failed to Submit" status indicates that there was an error when trying to create the order at the warehouse.

The "Submitted" status indicates that it was successfully submitted to the warehouse, but that it has not yet been fully shipped. Once it is fully shipped the order status will automatically advance to "Complete".

Note: Feel free to change the status labels of these new statuses but do not change the status codes to avoid breaking the integration.

If the ShipStream plugin is configured to sync orders that are in "Ready to Ship" status the order status progression will work as depicted below. Note that this requires a user or some custom code to advance the order status from "Processing" to "Ready to Ship" before the sync will occur.

If the ShipStream plugin is configured to sync orders that are in "Processing" status the order status progression will work as depicted below. This configuration will result in automatic order sync without any user interaction once payment is received.

It is also possible to configure the ShipStream plugin to use any other status in the event that you would like to create a custom workflow.

Installation

You can install this extension using Composer, modman, zip file or tar file.

Flush the OpenMage cache after installation to activate the extension.

modman

$ modman init
$ modman clone https://github.com/ShipStream/openmage-sync

Composer

Run composer require to pull in the extension to your composer environment.

$ composer require shipstream/openmage-sync

Zip file

1. Download the latest release from the Releases page or click here to grab the latest nightly build.
2. Extract the contents of the downloaded file into a clean directory.
3. Move the files from the openmage-sync-master/app directory into your OpenMage/Magento root app directory.

Linux command line (tar file)

cd <your-Magento-root>
curl -fsSL -o /tmp/openmage-sync-master.tar.gz https://github.com/ShipStream/openmage-sync/archive/refs/heads/master.tar.gz
tar -xzv openmage-sync-master/app --strip-components=1 -f /tmp/openmage-sync-master.tar.gz
rm /tmp/openmage-sync-master.tar.gz

Setup

Once this extension is installed and the Magento cache has been refreshed you have only three steps:

1. Configure the plugin in OpenMage/Magento
2. Create an API Role and API User
3. Setup the plugin subscription in ShipStream

More details for each step are provided below.

Configuration

Adjust configuration in System > Configuration > Services > ShipStream Sync > General section to your needs.

Create API User

This extension does not require any setup other than to create an API Role and API User for the ShipStream plugin.

1. Navigate to "System > Web Services > SOAP/XML-RPC - Roles"
2. Click "Add New Role"
3. Provide the name "ShipStream" and your current admin password
4. Click the "Role Resources" tab and select the resources listed in the section below
5. Click "Save Role"
6. Navigate to "System > Web Services > SOAP/XML-RPC - Users"
7. Click "Add New User"
8. Provide the form fields choosing a secure API Key and note the "User Name" and "API Key" for later use
9. Click the "User Role" tab and select the "ShipStream" role created in the previous steps
10. Click "Save User"
11. Provide the User Name and API Key to the ShipStream subscription configuration in ShipStream

Required API Role Resources

The following Role Resources are required for best operation with the ShipStream plugin:

• Sales / Order / Change status, add comments
  • required to set the order status to Complete after fulfillment
• Sales / Order / Retrieve orders info
  • required to get basic order information pertinent to fulfillment
• ShipStream Sync
  • use the custom API methods added by this extension

ShipStream Setup

The ShipStream plugin will need the following information:

• The API URL of your store which should be the Magento admin site base url plus /api/soap/
• The API User and API Password (created in the step above)
• The name of the order status to use for automatic import (e.g. "Processing" or "Ready to Ship")

Customization

Feel free to modify this source code to fit your specific needs. For example if you have multiple fulfillment providers you may want to add some metadata to the orders so that they will not be imported automatically.

Support

For help just email us at help@shipstream.io!