WooCommerce store audit with an AI agent

By Andrew Ivanov · Last updated

What does this skill do?

The store-audit skill is a SKILL.md file that teaches an AI agent a fixed, read-only routine for reviewing a WooCommerce store connected through Cowboy MCP — sales, stock, stuck orders, coupons, and checkout settings — then reporting findings with proposed fixes before it changes anything. You install it once and ask the agent for a store audit whenever you want a health check.

The skill is deliberately read-heavy. Its whole job is to look, summarize, and propose — an audit, not a repair. Every step in the routine calls a read-only MCP tool that changes nothing, so you can run a full pass on a live store during business hours without a moment's worry about breaking checkout or corrupting an order. The agent gathers the numbers a shop owner rarely sits down to pull all at once — revenue trend, orders stuck unpaid, products quietly out of stock, coupons that expired but are still switched on — and hands them back as one report.

Packaging the routine as a skill matters because a store audit is easy to do inconsistently. Ask three times and you get three different depths. The SKILL.md pins the order of operations: sales first, then the order pipeline, then inventory, then coupons, customers, and checkout configuration. Because the steps name the exact tools, the agent cannot quietly skip inventory or forget to check which payment gateways are actually enabled. You get the same thorough sweep every time, and the findings arrive in the same shape you can compare week over week.

Crucially, the skill draws a hard line at writes. WooCommerce fixes — correcting a stock count, updating a product, changing an order's status — are real tools Cowboy MCP exposes, but they sit outside the audit. The routine proposes them and waits. Nothing is changed unless you explicitly approve a specific fix, and even then the agent takes a database checkpoint first. That separation keeps "audit my store" from ever turning into an unwanted edit.

Which Cowboy MCP tools does it use?

The audit runs entirely on WooCommerce read tools — a subset of the 40 WooCommerce tools Cowboy MCP adds when the plugin detects an active store. Each one only reads; the write tools that could fix what the audit finds are listed last and stay out of the routine unless you ask for them. Every tool below is a real tool the agent sees over MCP.

Tool What it does
wp_woo_report_sales Aggregate totals for a date range: revenue, orders, items sold, refunds, tax, shipping
wp_woo_report_revenue_by_date Daily revenue breakdown across the window, for the trend line
wp_woo_report_orders_by_status Order counts grouped by status — also the quick check that WooCommerce is active
wp_woo_report_top_products Top sellers by quantity or revenue for the period
wp_woo_report_customer_stats Customer aggregates and top spenders
wp_woo_list_orders Lists orders filtered by status and date — used to find stuck processing / on-hold / pending orders
wp_woo_list_products · wp_woo_get_product List products with stock_status and stock_quantity, then drill into any one
wp_woo_list_variations Reads variations of a variable product to catch a single sold-out size or colour
wp_woo_list_coupons Lists coupons to flag expired-but-enabled and near-limit codes
wp_woo_list_payment_gateways Shows which payment methods are actually enabled at checkout
wp_woo_get_tax_rates · wp_woo_list_shipping_zones Reads tax rates and shipping zones to spot gaps
wp_woo_manage_stock · wp_woo_update_product · wp_woo_update_order Write tools — proposed only, applied on explicit approval behind a checkpoint

How do I run it?

Once the skill is installed you run it in plain English, and the agent picks up the SKILL.md and follows its steps. Because the routine names its own tools, you do not spell out the procedure — a short request scopes the whole sweep, and you can narrow it to one concern such as inventory or the order backlog. Three prompts that work:

The first prompt runs the full audit end to end. The second and third scope it to a single section when that is all you need. In every case the routine stays read-only: it reports and proposes, and it only reaches for a fix tool such as wp_woo_manage_stock if you approve that specific change, with a dry run previewing the write before it is applied. Safe mode applies underneath the whole time.

How do I install the skill?

A skill is just a folder with a SKILL.md file inside it. Download this skill's file and drop it into your agent's skills directory — no build step, no dependencies. Where it goes depends on whether you want it in one project or everywhere:

Keep the folder name (woocommerce-store-audit) matching the name field in the file's frontmatter. After the file is in place, start a new session and ask your agent for a store audit — it will find the skill by its description. The full file is below for reference; the download link above serves this exact text.

---
name: woocommerce-store-audit
description: Use when asked to audit a WooCommerce store connected via Cowboy MCP — reviews sales, stock, stuck orders, coupons, and checkout settings read-only, then reports findings and proposed fixes without changing anything unless explicitly told to.
---

# WooCommerce store audit

Inspect the health of a WooCommerce store through Cowboy MCP and hand the owner an evidence-backed findings report. This skill is read-heavy by design: it audits, reports, and proposes fixes. It does not change stock, orders, products, coupons, or settings unless the owner explicitly asks — and then only behind a checkpoint.

## Before you start

1. Confirm WooCommerce is active: call `wp_woo_report_orders_by_status`. If the WooCommerce tools are missing or return nothing, WooCommerce is not active — stop and tell the owner.
2. Agree on a reporting window (for example, the last 30 days) for the sales and revenue reports.
3. Do not take a checkpoint yet — the audit only reads. A checkpoint is only needed if the owner later approves a write (see Notes).

## Steps (all read-only)

1. **Sales health.** Call `wp_woo_report_sales` for the agreed date range (revenue, order count, items sold, refunds, tax, shipping) and `wp_woo_report_revenue_by_date` for the daily trend.
2. **Order pipeline.** Call `wp_woo_report_orders_by_status` for counts by status, then `wp_woo_list_orders` filtered to `processing`, `on-hold`, and `pending` to find orders stuck unpaid or unfulfilled.
3. **Best and worst sellers.** Call `wp_woo_report_top_products` for the period's top sellers by quantity and by revenue.
4. **Inventory.** Call `wp_woo_list_products` and flag every item whose `stock_status` is `outofstock` or whose `stock_quantity` is low. Use `wp_woo_get_product` and `wp_woo_list_variations` to drill into variable products.
5. **Coupons.** Call `wp_woo_list_coupons` and note expired coupons still enabled and any close to their usage limit.
6. **Customers.** Call `wp_woo_report_customer_stats` for new-versus-returning counts and top spenders.
7. **Checkout config.** Call `wp_woo_list_payment_gateways` (which are enabled), `wp_woo_get_tax_rates`, and `wp_woo_list_shipping_zones` to spot missing or misconfigured checkout settings.

## Notes

- Every tool above is read-only and changes nothing. Running the full audit is always safe.
- The fix tools exist but are out of scope for the audit itself: `wp_woo_manage_stock` (bulk stock), `wp_woo_update_product`, and `wp_woo_update_order`. Only call them if the owner explicitly approves a specific change — and take a `wp_create_checkpoint` first, then run the tool with `dry_run: true` before applying.
- `wp_woo_list_products` has no stock filter; it returns stock fields per item, so filter the returned list yourself rather than expecting a low-stock query parameter.

## Report format

Summarize back to the store owner:
- Sales for the window: revenue, orders, refunds, and the day-by-day trend.
- Orders needing attention: each stuck or unpaid order with its status and age.
- Inventory: out-of-stock and low-stock items (and variations), listed individually.
- Coupons and checkout: expired coupons still live, and any payment, tax, or shipping gaps.
- A proposed fix list, each item marked awaiting your approval — nothing was changed.