PLATFORM
Skuply for Shopify
Connected through the GraphQL Admin API with bulk operations, no app in your store. And above all: we make sure the definition exists before the value does, because without a definition a metafield does nothing.
CONNECTING TAKES ABOUT HALF AN HOUR ON YOUR SIDE
THE PITFALL
The value is there, and nothing happens.
In Shopify a metafield only does something once a definition exists for it. Without one it is loose data: invisible in the admin, unusable in filters and impossible to pass to a channel.
Metafield without a definition
The value sits on the product, but there is no definition. Filters do not know it, the admin does not show it, and Shopify will not pass it to Google or a marketplace.
custom.material = full-grain leather
DOES NOTHING WITHOUT A DEFINITION
Metafield with a definition
A definition with the right type and the right access. Now the value is filterable, visible in the admin and usable in the channels.
shopify.material = full-grain leather
FILTERABLE AND SHAREABLE
We create the missing definitions before we fill, with the right type. Where Shopify has a standard metafield that maps automatically to a Google attribute, we use that instead of a custom field.
THE CONNECTION
An app token, not an app in the storefront.
You create a custom app with read access to products and write access to products and metafields. We run bulk operations, so a large catalogue does not cost thousands of separate calls.
What we read
Products, variants, collections, metafields, media and the existing descriptions.
What we write
Metafields and their definitions, titles, descriptions, alt text and our own skuply namespace.
What we cannot reach
Orders, customers, discount codes and settings. We do not request those scopes.
WHAT FILLS UP INSIDE SHOPIFY
shopify.material
standard metafield
shopify.size
standard metafield, normalised
custom.en_norm
custom definition, newly created
title
title following the formula for this category
descriptionHtml
long description, assembled from the fields
image.altText
alt text from image recognition
skuply.meta
source, timestamp, model version and confidence
Which definitions already exist and which we have to create, we work out on day one.
QUESTIONS ABOUT SHOPIFY
What Shopify admins always ask.
Will it slow our site down?
No. No app is added to your store and we use bulk operations, so thousands of separate calls never press against your limit.
Will our theme keep working?
Yes. We do not touch the theme files. If your theme displays a custom metafield, we mirror the value there as well.
We sell in several languages.
Then we fill per market. Shopify Markets keeps translations separate, so every language gets its own normalised value.
We work with variants and options.
Product options are not metafields and we leave them alone. They sit on the exclusion list, otherwise your variants break.
Does this work with Shopify Plus?
Yes, and with the regular plans too. On Plus we can run more in parallel, so the first pass finishes sooner.