wc_get_variation: get one variation
Reads a single variation in full, including its stock.
Arguments
| Argument | Required | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
id |
Yes | The variation ID |
Permissions
mcp:read and woocommerce:catalog:read, plus manage_woocommerce or edit_products.
What it returns
id, parent_id, sku, price, regular_price, sale_price and attributes — plus description and stock_quantity, which the listing omits.
It is the only way to see a variation's stock
wc_get_product_variations does not return stock. So auditing stock across a product means one call per variation.
For a product with twenty variations that is twenty read calls — feasible against the read rate limit, but worth planning:
List the variations for product 219, then read each one and show me a table of SKU, price and stock.
It verifies the variation is a variation
The tool checks the type and returns pom_ai_mcp_wc_variation_not_found for anything that is not one. That makes it stricter than the listing, which silently returns nothing for a wrong ID.
If you are unsure whether an ID is a variation or a product, this tool tells you.
parent_id confirms which product you are in
Useful when working from a list of variation IDs gathered earlier: it confirms each one still belongs to the product you think it does.
Read before every write
Variations have no revision history. The values here are your only record of what a write is about to replace.
Show me the current price and stock for variation 2204, then update the price.
That matters more for variations than for products, because variation work is usually plural — and a batch that goes wrong needs the previous values for every item, not just one.
Stock is two things
stock_quantity is a number, but whether WooCommerce uses it depends on stock management being enabled — which is a parent product setting, not a variation field, and is not reported here.
So a variation reporting a quantity on a product with stock management off is showing a number nothing acts on. Check the parent with wc_get_product.
Using it well
Read variation 2204 and show me every field.
Show me the stock for each variation of product 219.
Before a batch:
Read every variation of product 219 and give me a table I can use to restore them.
Common problems
| Symptom | Cause |
|---|---|
pom_ai_mcp_wc_variation_not_found |
Wrong ID, or the ID is a product |
pom_ai_mcp_wc_forbidden |
Missing shop capability |
| A stock number that does nothing | Stock management is off on the parent |
price differs from regular_price |
A sale price is active on this variation |
| No price at all | The variation is not purchasable |