Sync Metafields

This guide explains how to sync metafields from your Source store to your Destination store in Tipo app.

ℹ️ What are metafields?

  • Product metafields

  • Variant metafields (if you enable it)

Tipo app can sync metafields for:

  • material, size chart, specifications

  • custom badges (e.g. “best_seller”)

  • extra product details used by themes/apps

Metafields are custom fields in Shopify used to store extra product data, such as:

✅ Supported metafield types

  • Multi-line text

  • Rich text

  • Integer

  • Decimal

  • Date and time

  • Date

  • Dimension

  • Volume

  • Weight

  • True or false

  • Rating

  • URL

  • Money

  • Link

  • JSON

🚫 Not supported yet: Reference types (e.g. product reference, collection reference) are not currently supported.

🛠️ Step 1: Configure Metafields on the Source Store

  1. Open the app > click Settings > find Share Metafields

  2. Tick on the checkbox Enable of Share Metafields option >

    Allow data

    • Product Resource

    • Variant Resource

  3. An input to add metafield definitions: Add definition (namespace.key) (optional)

  4. Click Save to update the changes

🛠️ Step 2: Configure Metafields on the Destination Store

  1. Open the app > click Stores > click on the source store URL to open the connection detail

  1. Find Metafields sync section > tick Enable

  2. Choose what to sync

    Under Allow data, select one or both:

    • Product Resource → sync product metafields

    • Variant Resource → sync variant metafields

  3. Click on the search icon on the right to see all the supported metafields > click Select valid metafield to sync button

Note:

✅ Green: Metafields that already exist in the destination store and are valid to sync. ⚪ Gray: New metafields that will be created and synced. 🟠 Orange: Invalid metafields due to mismatched data types between source and destination stores. These must be fixed manually in Shopify. 🔴 Red: Unsupported metafields that cannot be synced by the app

  1. Click Save to update the changes

🔄 What Happens During Sync

1) If the Destination store doesn’t have the metafield definition

The app will automatically create the metafield definition in the Destination store (when needed).

After it’s created, the synced metafield values will appear on the product/variant in the Destination store.

2) If metafields exist but are not “structured” (Unstructured metafields)

In some cases, metafields may sync even if they haven’t been fully defined/structured in the Destination store.

To review them in Shopify Admin:

  • Settings → Custom data → Metafields and metaobjects

  • Choose Product (or Variant)

  • Open View unstructured metafields

💡 Tip: You can manually define/structure these metafields later to keep your store data clean and consistent.

3) If the Source store has no value, Destination won’t be overwritten

If a metafield exists in Destination but the Source value is empty, Tipo Sync will not overwrite the Destination value.

4) Data types must match (very important)

Metafield data types must match exactly between Source and Destination.

Examples of data type mismatches:

  • single_line_text_field vs multi_line_text_field

  • number_integer vs number_decimal

  • product_reference vs text

⚠️ If the data types don’t match, the sync may fail or skip that metafield.

📌 Example: Syncing a Product Metafield – “Material”

You want to sync a custom product metafield called Material (e.g., “Cotton”, “Leather”, “Wool”) from your Source Store to your Destination Store using our app.

Step 1: Define the Metafield in Shopify

In your Source Store:

  1. Go to Shopify Admin > Settings > Custom Data > Products

  2. Click Add definition (if it’s not already created) > fill out the metafield definition:

    • Name: Material

    • Namespace: custom

    • Key: material

    • Type: Single line text

=> This gives you the full metafield key: custom.material

Repeat this step in your Destination Store (must match the same key and type).

Step 2: Add Metafield Data to Products

In your Source Store, go to a product and scroll down to Metafields > Under Material, enter: Cotton

This product now has the metafield custom.material = "Cotton".

Step 3: Configure Sync in Tipo app

  • Open our app in the Destination Store > go to Connect Configuration > Metafield Sync

  • Choose Specific Metafields > enter the metafield key exactly: custom.material

Result

  • Our app will find custom.material in the Source Store

  • If it does not exist in the Destination product, the app will create it => Result: custom.material = "Cotton" in both stores

  • If it exists in Destination but Source is empty, we do not override the value

❓FAQs

Q1: How to Set namespace.key in your store?

To sync a specific metafield, you’ll need to enter the metafield definition key in this format: namespace.key (for example: custom.color).

Here’s how to find it in your Shopify admin:

  1. Go to your Shopify Admin >cavigate to Settings > Custom Data > Products

  2. Click on the metafield you want to sync → You’ll see the Namespace and Key values

  3. Combine them in this format: namespace.key → Example: custom.description

Q2: Why are my metafields not syncing?

If your metafields are not syncing correctly, it could be due to one of the following reasons:

  1. Metafield sync is not enabled Make sure metafield syncing is turned on for both stores:

    • Enable Share Metafields in the Source Store.

    • Enable Receive Metafields in the Destination Store.

  1. Unsupported metafield types Some metafield data types are not supported, such as Reference types or MetaObjects.

Red: Unsupported metafields that cannot be synced by the app

  1. Mismatched metafield types between stores The metafield in your Source and Destination must have the same data type and structure. Common mismatches include:

  • One metafield is Single line text, while the other is Multi-line text.

  • One metafield uses Single value, while the other uses List of values.

To fix these issues, confirm that metafields in both stores have the same namespace, key, and data type, then try syncing again.

🙋 Still need support?

If you still need help, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. We’ll be happy to assist you further.

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