Shipping Requests in Pipe17

Shipping Requests are a core part of Pipe17’s fulfillment process. When an order is ready to ship-after any configured hold expires-Pipe17 generates a Shipping Request based on your Order Routing configuration. This request contains all fulfillment details such as items, quantities, and shipping address, and is sent to your 3PL, warehouse, or fulfillment partner.

Key characteristics of Shipping Requests:

  • Created automatically by the Order Routing Engine or manually as needed
  • Commits inventory for all included line items
  • Supports split shipments-multiple requests per order are allowed
  • Lifecycle includes statuses like new, readyForFulfillment, sentToFulfillment, fulfilled, partialFulfillment, pendingShippingLabel, onHold, canceledRestock, failed, and canceled
  • Order status is directly impacted by the statuses of its shipping requests

If incorrect data is present or you need to release committed inventory, you must cancel the shipping request and create a new one.


Shipping Requests Flow in the Order Lifecycle

  • Order received → optional hold period applies
  • Order Routing Engine creates shipping request with status: pendingInventory, reviewRequired, or readyForFulfillment
  • Inventory is committed → validations and manual review (if needed)
  • Request sent to fulfillment → status: sentToFulfillment
  • Tracking info received → fulfillment record created
  • Status updates to fulfilled → order status updated accordingly

Other outcomes:

  • Canceled: User cancels request (with or without restocking)
  • Failed: Sending to 3PL fails; system may retry or require manual action
  • Split: Multiple requests created for multi-location orders
  • On Hold: Request is paused - no action until released.
  • Pending Shipping Label: Waiting for a shipping label to be generated before the request can proceed.
  • Partial Fulfillment: Some but not all line items have been fulfilled. Additional fulfillments are expected.
  • Canceled Restock: Request was canceled and committed inventory was returned to available stock. Logs a shipCancelRestock event in the Inventory Ledger.

Viewing Shipping Requests

To review shipping requests in Pipe17, navigate to Orders → Shipping Requests.

Some columns are available in the Shipping Requests table to support review, tracking, and navigation:

Column Name Description Clickable Redirects To Schema Field
Shipping Request ID Unique identifier for the shipping request in Pipe17 Yes Shipping Request detail page id
Order ID ID of the order associated with the shipping request Yes Order detail page extOrderId
Fulfillment Order ID External ID from the sales channel or vendor system No - extShipmentId
Location Fulfillment warehouse or center Yes Location detail page locationId
Shipping Method Carrier and service level (e.g., UPS Ground) No - shippingCode
Created Timestamp when the shipping request was created No - createdAt
Updated Timestamp when the shipping request was last updated No - updatedAt
Status Current status of the shipping request No - status

Additional columns:

  • External Reference ID
  • Fulfillment Integration ID
  • Ship By Date
  • Integration ID
  • Sent to Fulfillment At
  • Ordered
  • Ship After Date
  • Cancel By Date
  • Expected Shipping Date
  • Expected Delivery Date
  • Incoterms
  • Shipping Carrier
  • Shipping Class
  • Order Status
  • Order Exceptions
  • Shipment Exception Category
  • Shipment Exception Type
  • Total Line Items
  • Total Fulfillments
  • Auto Eng Updated (status value)
  • Auto Eng Updated (timestamp)
  • Order Source
  • Order Source Type
  • Tags
  • Shipping Price
  • External Order API ID
  • Integration
  • Order Integration
  • Fulfillment Integration

You can customize visible rows using the column selector (squares icon in the top right corner). Use drag-and-drop to reorder columns or the refresh icon to reload data. Adjust the layout using view modes: Comfortable (default), Compact, or Full, and enable or disable Word Wrap as needed. Restore default settings at any time with the Restore Defaults option.


Filtering Shipping Requests

Use filters to narrow the list of shipping requests based on operational needs.

Filter Name Description Type Schema Field
Created Filter by when the shipping request was created in Pipe17 Date range picker createdAt
Updated Filter by the last time the shipping request was updated Date range picker updatedAt
Location Filter by warehouse or fulfillment location Multi-select dropdown locationId
Status Filter by current shipping request status (e.g., sentToFulfillment) Multi-select dropdown status
Exception Categories Filter by types of exceptions related to the shipping request Multi-select dropdown exceptionCategories

Advanced Filtering

For more granular control, use the Advanced Filter on the Shipping Requests page to query by schema-level fields, including IDs, timestamps, shipping metadata, address details, and line item attributes.

Category Filter Fields
Basic Information shipmentId, orderId, extOrderId, extShipmentId, extReferenceId, version
Integration & Location integration, orderIntegration, fulfillmentIntegrationId, locationId
Status & Processing status, cancellationStatus, autoEngUpdateStatus, reused
Dates & Timing createdAt, updatedAt, sentToFulfillmentAt, canceledAt, holdUntil, shipByDate, shipAfterDate, shipCancelByDate, expectedShipDate, expectedDeliveryDate
Shipping Details shippingCarrier, shippingClass, shippingCode, shippingPrice, shippingMethodMapping
Order Information orderType, orderSourceType, orderSource, orderCreateTime
Address Information shippingAddress.firstName, shippingAddress.lastName, shippingAddress.company, shippingAddress.address1, shippingAddress.city, shippingAddress.stateOrProvince, shippingAddress.country, shippingAddress.zipCodeOrPostalCode, shippingAddress.email, shippingAddress.phone
Line Items lineItems.sku, lineItems.quantity, lineItems.name, lineItems.itemPrice, lineItems.bundleSKU
Other currency, tags, exceptions, exceptionCategories, giftNote, excludeFromReuse, skipLocation

You can combine multiple filters using AND/OR logic. For fields containing arrays (e.g., line items, tags), you can define whether ANY or ALL values must match your criteria.

Pipe17 allows you to save frequently used filters for quick reuse, just click Save Filter, name it, and access it later from the dropdown in the filter panel. You can also click Clear All to instantly remove all applied filters and start fresh.


Exporting Shipping Requests

  1. Go to the Shipping Requests Page
    Navigate to the page in your Pipe17 account.
  2. Apply Filters (Optional)
    Narrow results by filters.
  3. Click the Export Button
    Select Export at the top of the page to open the export setup dialog.
  4. Choose Export Properties
    Select which fields to include (e.g., Order ID, Tracking Number, Shipment ID, External Order ID).
  5. Enter Recipient Email(s)
    Add one or more email addresses to receive the exported file.
  6. Start the Export
    Click Export to begin the background job. Progress can be tracked in the Events section.

Once complete, the CSV file will be emailed to the specified addresses for download.


Shipping Request Details Page

This page provides a comprehensive view of a single shipping request, including identifiers, fulfillment status, and editable fields. It also offers tools for troubleshooting and operational actions.

Header Section

Element Description
Displayed Fields shipmentId, status, extShipmentId, linked orderId, created/updated timestamps
Actions Check the table below.
Fulfillment View/edit fulfillment integration and location (if not yet sent). Includes Fulfillment ID that redirects to the Fulfillment Details page.

All actions are available from the dotted (⋮) menu. Contextual actions appear only when applicable:

Action When available
Edit Any non-canceled status, before sent
Mark as Review Required Status = readyForFulfillment only
Resend Status = failed only
Push Shipping Request Always available
Create New Fulfillment Any status except canceledcanceledRestockfulfilled
View JSON Always available
Cancel Any non-canceled status
Cancel & Recreate Any non-canceled status with a linked order

Editable Sections

Section Purpose / Fields
Tags Add or remove tags for organization, filtering, or reporting.
Shipping Note Add special instructions for the fulfillment provider.
Gift Note Add a gift message: usually printed and included in the package.
Key Dates Editable dates:
• Expected Ship Date  
• Expected Delivery Date  
• Ship By Date  
• Ship After Date  
• Ship Cancel By Date  
Shipping Address Full recipient address including name, company, street, city, region, ZIP, country, email, and phone.
Custom Fields User-defined key-value pairs for custom business use cases.
Shipping Labels Displays generated shipping labels and associated tracking numbers (if applicable).
Cannot be edited if the status is fulfilled.  
Events Shows system and integration events, with timestamps and request status changes. Redirects to the Events page.
Misc. Fields Displays shipping method (carrier, class, code), shipping price, currency, and incoterms if applicable.

Activity and Timeline

Element Description
Activity Chronological log of actions (user, system, integration), with timestamps, action types, and change details
Timeline View Visual lifecycle showing key statuses like created, routed, sent, acknowledged, shipped, delivered, exceptions-with corresponding timestamps

Key Actions

Canceling Shipping Requests

Shipping Requests cannot be modified once created. If a request has incorrect information or the order is no longer valid, it must be canceled.

What happens at your 3PL depends on the integration:

  • If your fulfillment integration supports upstream cancellation: Pipe17 will send a cancellation request to the 3PL when you cancel a sentToFulfillment request. However, processing is not guaranteed - we recommend confirming cancellation directly with your provider.
  • If your fulfillment integration does not support upstream cancellation: canceling in Pipe17 has no effect on the order at your 3PL. You must manually cancel or delete the shipment in the fulfillment provider's portal to prevent unwanted fulfillment.

If the shipping request was created by an external integration (e.g. pulled in from a sales channel), canceling directly in Pipe17 is not advisable. Cancel in the originating channel first - Pipe17 will automatically pull the cancellation in.

To cancel a Shipping Request:

  1. Go to the Orders page and open the relevant order.
  2. Scroll to the Shipping Requests section under the order total. Otherwise, just navigate to the Shipping Request Details page → dotted menu → Cancel.

  3. Click the “X - Cancel” button on the relevant Shipping Request card.
    • Do not use the top-level Cancel unless you are canceling the full order.
  4. A confirmation pop-up will appear with two options:

Restock Items (checkbox)

  • If checked, inventory committed to this shipment is returned to availability.
  • This logs a shipCancelRestock event in your Inventory Ledger, which reduces committed and increases available.

Update Order Status (dropdown) 

Choose what happens to the parent order after cancellation:

  • No Change - order status is left as-is (default)
  • Ready For Fulfillment - order re-enters the fulfillment queue
  • Review Required - order is flagged for manual review
  • Canceled - order is also marked canceled

Canceling with Restock Items checked results in a canceledRestock status — this is distinct from canceled. Both statuses indicate the request is no longer active, but only canceledRestock triggers inventory restock. You can filter by either status independently on the Shipping Requests page.

Context-Aware Warnings

Before you confirm cancellation, Pipe17 may display a warning based on the current state of the shipping request:

Scenario Warning shown
Request is sentToFulfillment and the integration supports upstream cancellation Pipe17 will send a cancellation to the 3PL but cannot guarantee it will be processed. Contact the provider to confirm.
Request is sentToFulfillment and the integration does not support upstream cancellation Canceling in Pipe17 will not affect the 3PL order. Contact the provider to cancel on their side.
Request was created by an external integration (e.g. a sales channel) and is readyForFulfillment Canceling directly in Pipe17 is not advisable. Cancel in the originating channel — Pipe17 will pull the cancellation automatically.
Request was created by an external integration and is sentToFulfillment Same as above, plus: if the integration supports upstream cancel, Pipe17 will attempt it, but manual confirmation with the 3PL is still recommended.

Initiating Shipping Requests

Pipe17 automatically generates a new Shipping Request after you edit an order. However, if one is not created within a minute, you can manually generate a new request.

Option 1: Rerun Routing

  • Click Rerun routing on the Order Details page.
  • Pipe17 will re-evaluate routing logic and generate a new request if unshipped items are eligible.
  • You can also rerun routing for multiple orders from the Order List view.
  • To enable automatic rerouting every 3 hours, go to Integrations → Order Routing Automation.

Option 2: Manual Creation

To manually create a new request:

  1. Open the Order Details page.
  2. Click New shipping request in the top right.
  3. Select the fulfillment location.
  4. Enter the shipping method.
  5. Set the quantity for each line item.
  6. (Optional) Add a shipping note.
  7. Click Save to create the request for non-zero line items.

You can also select multiple requests on the Shipping Requests page and perform bulk actions, such as pushing shipping requests or cancelling them in one step.

  • The Resend action is only available for shipping requests in Failed status.
  • The Release action is only available for shipping requests in Review Required status. Use filters or the status column to identify requests eligible for these actions before applying bulk updates. </aside>

Double shipment should be avoided. Unintended duplicate shipments can lead to inventory discrepancies, increased costs, and customer dissatisfaction.


Troubleshooting

Most shipping requests are successfully sent within minutes. If not, follow these steps:

Reasons a request may not generate:

  • Inventory is out of stock
  • Order routing rules exclude the order
  • Integration errors

If request status = Failed:

  • Open the order and check for any exceptions
  • Visit the Events page to view the outbound Shipping Request event
    • Status should be Acknowledged or Completed
    • If Failed, click the event to view the error message
  • Cancel the failed request to release inventory
  • Use Rerun routing or New shipping request to re-attempt fulfillment

Need Help?

If you need additional assistance:

We're here to help you succeed with your operations.

Was this article helpful?
0 out of 2 found this helpful

Comments

0 comments

Article is closed for comments.

Have more questions?
Submit a request
Share it, if you like it.