Im not sure if I exactly got what you meant but Im wondering if this worked for you.
Topic summary
Issue: Merchants want to add new variants (e.g., a new color/size of an existing product) but keep them inactive/unpublished until stock arrives. Shopify allows drafting products, not individual variants.
Current state: No native way to set a variant to “draft” or hide it independently. This is a common request; suggested approaches are workarounds.
Workarounds discussed:
- Theme/metafield hack: Add a variant-level metafield (e.g., Hidden = true) and update templates to hide or disable those variants on page load. Requires custom code and is fragile.
- Apps: Some apps hide zero‑stock SKUs, but none precisely manage “pre‑added but hidden” variants. Recommendations not provided.
- Feed/PIM workaround: Remove the variant from the Salsify feed so it doesn’t sync to Shopify; alternatively, delete the variant in Shopify until arrival.
- Inventory/PO approach: Create variants with zero quantity and add them to purchase orders; receive inventory when stock arrives. This limits purchasing but may still require theme logic to hide the variant visually.
Outcome: No definitive solution or app identified. Thread remains open; interest expressed in an app purpose-built for variant-level publishing control.