Metafields and Metaobjets in Shopify both are very powerful tools that allow us to extend the built-in data structure of our Shopify store.
They also enable us to store additional information that isn’t covered by Shopify’s standard attributes.
About Metafields
Metafields provides a flexible way for your app to add and store additional information about a Shopify resource, such as a product, collection, and other owner types. Metafields can store additional information, including specifications, size charts, downloadable documents, release dates, images, or part numbers.
Merchants and other apps can retrieve and edit data that metafields stores from the Shopify admin. Furthermore, Users can access metafields in themes using Liquid and through the Storefront API.
How do metafields work?
- Namespace: A container for a group of metafields. Grouping metafields within a namespace prevents other metafields with the same key name from conflicting.
- Key: The name for the metafield.
- Type: The type of data that the metafield stores.
- Value: The data to be stored in the metafield. The value is always stored as a string, regardless of the metafield’s type.
Types of metafields
- Regular metafields: Add and store additional information about a Shopify resource.
- Private metafields: Create metafields that aren’t accessible to merchants or other apps.
- App-data metafields: Create metafields that belong to an app installation and are only accessible by that app.
About metaobjects
Your app defines and creates metaobjects as custom data structures to store its information. Similar to metafields, they can be associated with a Shopify resource, such as a product or a collection. However, they can also exist on their own. It provides you with a way to create resources that Shopify’s system does not include out of the box.
Users can define their metaobjects or use the ones that your app creates to extend their shop’s data model. It is also available in themes using Liquid, Storefront API, and Admin API.
How do metaobjects work?
- Creation: When you create a metaobject by making an API request to the Shopify Admin API. The API assigns a unique ID to the metaobject, which you can use for future references.
- Metafield Association: Once you’ve created a metaobject, you can associate metafields with it. After that, each metafield has a namespace, key, and value, just like regular metafields.
- Data Storage: Then, Shopify’s database stores the metaobject and its associated metafields and, you can retrieve and modify the data using the Shopify Admin API.
- API Access: After that, the API provides endpoints for creating, retrieving, updating, and deleting metaobjects and the metafields associated with users.
Key Differences
| Feature | Metafields | Metaobjects |
| Structure | Simple key-value pairs | Complex data structures |
| Purpose | Storing additional information about existing resources | Storing custom data for your app |
| Flexibility | Limited flexibility | Greater flexibility |
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