I’m looking for comprehensive documentation about Shopify’s database field specifications. The standard API docs don’t provide enough detail about the actual constraints and limitations.
What I need to know:
- String field limits - Are they using standard VARCHAR(255), TEXT fields, or custom lengths? For example, what’s the character limit for metafield keys?
- Email validation - Do email fields have built-in format checking?
- Phone number format - Is there a specific format required or just free text?
- Required vs optional fields - Which fields must be populated?
- Null value handling - Which fields accept empty/null values?
I’m building an integration and want to validate data properly on my end instead of discovering limits through trial and error. Has anyone found detailed schema documentation that covers these implementation details?
I ran into this same issue about 18 months ago when migrating a large catalog to Shopify Plus. The lack of proper schema documentation is genuinely one of Shopify’s biggest weaknesses from a developer perspective. After spending weeks reverse-engineering field constraints, I discovered that many limitations aren’t consistent across different API endpoints either. Product titles can handle around 255 characters through REST but the GraphQL mutation might fail earlier depending on special characters. My recommendation is to set up a dedicated development store and use webhook monitoring tools to capture the actual validation errors in real-time. This approach helped me map out most field constraints without impacting production data. Also worth checking the Liquid documentation since it sometimes reveals field behaviors that the API docs omit. The Partner community forums occasionally have threads where other developers share their findings about specific field limitations, though you have to dig through a lot of posts to find the technical details.
Unfortunately, Shopify doesn’t publish their internal database schema specifications publicly, which makes integration work frustrating. I’ve been through this exact challenge when building data sync tools for multiple stores. The API documentation is deliberately abstracted from the underlying database constraints, so you’re forced into that trial-and-error approach you’re trying to avoid. What I ended up doing was creating a comprehensive test suite that systematically pushed boundaries on every field type I needed to work with. For metafield keys specifically, I found they’re limited to 30 characters and must follow specific naming patterns. Email fields do have validation but it’s fairly permissive compared to strict RFC standards. Phone numbers are stored as free text with no format enforcement. The closest thing to what you’re looking for is examining the Partner API error responses, which sometimes reveal the actual validation rules when you hit them. Consider reaching out through Shopify’s developer support channels as they occasionally provide more detailed specs for serious integration projects.