Recipe: create a WooCommerce product as a draft

Use this recipe for the parent product. Add variations only after a variable product and its attribute set have been verified.

Inspect the WooCommerce store and search for products with the same SKU or
slug. Prepare a [simple|variable] product named [NAME] with status draft,
description [DESCRIPTION], short description [SHORT DESCRIPTION], SKU [SKU],
prices [PRICES], stock settings [STOCK], categories [CATEGORIES], attributes
[ATTRIBUTES], and media IDs [MEDIA]. Show the exact wc_create_product payload
and dry-run. Wait for confirmation, create it once, then read the product back
and report all normalized catalog fields.

Product decisions

For a simple product, use regular_price and optional sale_price; price is computed and is not a writable source field. For a variable product, define the complete parent attribute set before creating variations. Category and attribute updates replace their respective sets rather than appending silently.

Confirm:

• SKU uniqueness;
• tax and shipping expectations outside the MCP payload where relevant;
• stock-management behavior;
• image attachment ownership and rights;
• draft status;
• whether the selected categories already exist.

There is no MCP product-delete tool. A mistaken product must be corrected or handled in WooCommerce administration, so the dry run and duplicate check are important.

Related guides: product tools, create product reference, and variation recipe.