Variations linked to modifiers

[balmonte]

Hello fellow Square members! Wondering if anyone has figured out a way to associate a variation to a modifier default? 

For Example: Coffee

Variations: Small, Medium, Large

Modifier: Flavor pumps: One, Two, Three

If customer selects:

• Small -> Pump: One (Selected by default)
• Medium -> Pump: Two (Selected by default)
• Large -> Pump: Three (Selected by default)

Customer can override the pump selection, but we want the default to change based on the variation that was selected. Is this capable today or does someone have a workaround?

@JTPets - wondering if you know of a solution?

[JTPets]

I think this one is a feature request, I asked Claude to see if maybe API had a work around and it does not look like it:
Short answer: No, not natively at the variation level.

Modifier lists attach to the item, not the variation. CatalogItemModifierListInfo lives on CatalogItem.modifier_list_info — there's no equivalent field on CatalogItemVariation.

What you can do:

• Per-modifier default: each CatalogModifier has an on_by_default flag (item-wide, not variation-specific).
• Per-item override: CatalogItemModifierListInfo lets you override min/max_selected_modifiers and pre-select modifier IDs via modifier_overrides — but again, item-level only.
• skip_modifier_screen on the item auto-applies the pre-selected modifiers and skips the modifier prompt at POS.

Workarounds if you need per-variation defaults:

1. Split into separate items (one per "variation") so each can carry its own modifier defaults — defeats the point of variations though.
2. Handle it client-side at order creation: detect the variation, inject the right modifier into the line item programmatically before POST /v2/orders.
3. Use item options instead of modifiers if the choice is structural (SKU/price impact).