How to Manage Customers

In this document, you’ll learn how to implement customer management functionalities for admin users.

Overview

Using the customer admin REST APIs, you can manage customers, including creating, updating, and listing them.

Scenario

You want to add or use the following admin functionalities:

• List customers
• Add a new customer
• Edit a customer’s details

---

Prerequisites

Medusa Components

It is assumed that you already have a Medusa backend installed and set up. If not, you can follow the quickstart guide to get started.

JS Client

This guide includes code snippets to send requests to your Medusa backend using Medusa’s JS Client, JavaScript’s Fetch API, or cURL.

If you follow the JS Client code blocks, it’s assumed you already have Medusa’s JS Client installed and have created an instance of the client.

Medusa React

This guide also includes code snippets to send requests to your Medusa backend using Medusa React, among other methods.

If you follow the Medusa React code blocks, it's assumed you already have Medusa React installed and have used MedusaProvider higher in your component tree.

Authenticated Admin User

You must be an authenticated admin user before following along with the steps in the tutorial.

You can learn more about authenticating as an admin user in the API reference.

---

List Customers

You can show a list of customers by sending a request to the List Customers endpoint:

• Medusa JS Client
• Medusa React
• Fetch API
• cURL

medusa.admin.customers.list()
.then(({ customers, limit, offset, count }) => {
  console.log(customers.length)
})

import { Customer } from "@medusajs/medusa"
import { useAdminCustomers } from "medusa-react"

const Customers = () => {
  const { customers, isLoading } = useAdminCustomers()

  return (
    <div>
      {isLoading && <span>Loading...</span>}
      {customers && !customers.length && (
        <span>No customers</span>
      )}
      {customers && customers.length > 0 && (
        <ul>
          {customers.map((customer: Customer) => (
            <li key={customer.id}>{customer.first_name}</li>
          ))}
        </ul>
      )}
    </div>
  )
}

export default Customers

fetch(`<BACKEND_URL>/admin/customers`, {
  credentials: "include",
})
.then((response) => response.json())
.then(({ customers, limit, offset, count }) => {
  console.log(customers.length)
})

curl -L -X GET '<BACKEND_URL>/admin/customers' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer <API_TOKEN>'

This request doesn’t require any path or query parameters. You can pass it optional parameters used for filtering and pagination. Check out the API reference to learn more.

This request returns the following data in the response:

• customers: An array of customers.
• limit: The maximum number of customers that can be returned in the request.
• offset: The number of customers skipped in the result.
• count: The total number of customers available.

You can learn more about pagination in the API reference.

---

Create a Customer

Admins can create customer accounts. They have to supply the customer’s credentials and basic info.

You can create a customer account by sending a request to the Create a Customer endpoint:

• Medusa JS Client
• Medusa React
• Fetch API
• cURL

medusa.admin.customers.create({
  email,
  password,
  first_name,
  last_name,
})
.then(({ customer }) => {
  console.log(customer.id)
})

import { useAdminCreateCustomer } from "medusa-react"

const CreateCustomer = () => {
  const createCustomer = useAdminCreateCustomer()
  // ...

  const handleCreate = () => {
    // ...
    createCustomer.mutate({
      first_name,
      last_name,
      email,
      password,
    })
  }

  // ...
  
  return (
    <form>
      {/* Render form */}
    </form>
  )
}

export default CreateCustomer

fetch(`<BACKEND_URL>/admin/customers`, {
  method: "POST",
  credentials: "include",
  headers: {
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    email,
    password,
    first_name,
    last_name,
  }),
})
.then((response) => response.json())
.then(({ customer }) => {
  console.log(customer.id)
})

curl -L -X POST '<BACKEND_URL>/admin/customers' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer <API_TOKEN>' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
    "email": "<EMAIL>",
    "first_name": "<FIRST_NAME>",
    "last_name": "<LAST_NAME>",
    "password": "<PASSWORD>"
}'

This request requires the following body parameters:

• email: The email of the customer.
• password: The password of the customer.
• first_name: The customer’s first name.
• last_name: the customer’s last name.

You can also pass other optional parameters. To learn more, check out the API reference.

The request returns the created customer object in the response.

---

Edit Customer’s Information

An admin can edit a customer’s basic information and credentials.

You can edit a customer’s information by sending a request to the Update a Customer endpoint:

• Medusa JS Client
• Medusa React
• Fetch API
• cURL

medusa.admin.customers.update(customerId, {
  first_name,
})
.then(({ customer }) => {
  console.log(customer.id)
})

import { useAdminUpdateCustomer } from "medusa-react"

const UpdateCustomer = () => {
  const updateCustomer = useAdminUpdateCustomer(customerId)
  // ...

  const handleUpdate = () => {
    // ...
    updateCustomer.mutate({
      email,
      password,
      first_name,
      last_name,
    })
  }

  // ...
  
  return (
    <form>
      {/* Render form */}
    </form>
  )
}

export default UpdateCustomer

fetch(`<BACKEND_URL>/admin/customers/${customerId}`, {
  method: "POST",
  credentials: "include",
    headers: {
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    first_name,
  }),
})
.then((response) => response.json())
.then(({ customer }) => {
  console.log(customer.id)
})

curl -L -X POST '<BACKEND_URL>/admin/customers/<CUSTOMER_ID>' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer <API_TOKEN>' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
    "first_name": "<FIRST_NAME>"
}'

This request accepts any of the customer’s fields as body parameters. In this example, you update the customer’s first name. You can learn more about accepted body parameters in the API reference.

This request returns the updated customer object in the response.

---

See Also

• Implement customer profiles in the storefront