Shopify API search syntax

This page provides information on the syntax for searching text fields.

The same search query syntax is used across Shopify as an interface to search functionality. This includes the storefront, admin, mobile apps, customer group queries, GraphQL Admin API and Storefront API. For the APIs, the specific resources that can be queried are defined in the reference documentation.

Search query grammar overview

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A string query is a text search made up of terms, connectives, modifiers, and comparators. The search grammar rules defined here can be built into larger structures as defined by the search query syntax.

The search grammar is expressed similarly to EBNF and uses the following baseline terminal symbols:

Item	Description
`whitespace`	Any sequence of space, tab, or newline characters.
`name`	Any sequence of non-whitespace, non-special characters. For more information, refer to Special characters.
`value`	Any name, or any quoted string (single or double quotes are both permitted). Date values must be a string surrounded by quotes.

Query

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A query is one or more terms separated by whitespace and optionally by single connectives. A query may have optional leading and trailing whitespace.

query=John Smith

Connectives

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When a connective is not specified between two terms, AND is implied.

query=state:enabled OR state:disabled

Terms

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A term consists of an optional modifier, followed either by a subquery (enclosed in parentheses) or a value with an optional name-and-comparator.

query=-first_name:Bob AND orders_count:>3 orders_count:<=4

Modifiers

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Supported modifiers are - with no following whitespace, or NOT followed by whitespace. Both mean the same thing.

query=-first_name:Bob

query=NOT first_name:Bob

Comparators

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The following comparators are supported for search queries:

:: equality
:<: less-than
:>: greater-than
:<=: less-than-or-equal-to
:>=: greater-than-or-equal-to

Special characters

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Special characters serve specific functions in search query syntax and need to be escaped with a backslash. For example, : \ ( ).

Names can include the characters -, ', and " but can't start with them. Names can include escaped characters using backslash escaping.

Search query syntax

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Shopify search query syntax is based on the defined grammar and enables the following search behavior. The following table describes the different types of search queries and their syntax:

Type	Description	Example syntax	Example explained
Field search	A search that applies to terms in specific fields. If you specify an invalid field, then the query is ignored and all results are returned.	`query=first_name:Bob age:27`	A search for "Bob" in the `first_name` field AND "27" in the `age` field. The value must immediately follow the field with no whitespace. `first_name: Bob` searches for the terms "first_name" and "Bob".
Default search	A case-insensitive search of all the fields in a document.	`query=Bob Norman` `query=title:Bob Norman`	A case-insensitive search for both "bob" AND "norman" anywhere in the document. When combined with field search, this becomes "title:bob" AND "norman" anywhere in the document. To send composite terms to a field, wrap them in quotes or give them each a field prefix.
Range search	A search that specifies a range of values to search against. Supported operators: `>`, `>=`, `<` and `<=`.	`query=orders_count:>16 orders_count:<=30`	A search that matches documents where the `orders_count` field is greater than 16 and less than or equal to 30. Equality (`:`) is specified by `orders_count:16`, not `orders_count:=16`. `orders_count:=16` searches for the term "=16" in the `orders_count` field. Refer to the range query example for a performance consideration with range searches.
NOT query	A search that excludes documents that include the specified value. The NOT operator must be capitalized to execute a NOT query, and only applies to the specified space-separated term or query. `-` must precede the field, value, or subquery. For example, `-field:value -value -(subquery)`.	`query=-bob` `query=NOT bob`	Searches that exclude documents that include the term "bob".
Boolean operators	A search that allow terms to be combined through logic operators.	`query=bob OR norman AND Shopify` `query=bob OR norman Shopify`	`query=bob OR norman AND Shopify`: Searches for documents that must have the term "Shopify" and have at least one of the terms "bob" or "norman". `query=bob OR norman Shopify`: Equivalent to the query above, since OR has a higher operator precedence than AND. An explicit AND operator isn't needed between "bob OR norman" and "Shopify" because the AND is the default boolean operator between terms or queries.
Grouping	A search using parentheses to group clauses to form subqueries.	`query=state:disabled AND ("sale shopper" OR VIP)`	A search for disabled customers with "sale shopper" or "VIP" tags.
Phrase query	A search for a group of words surrounded by double quotes.	`query=first_name:"Bob Norman"`	A search for the term "bob" followed immediately by the term "norman" in the `first_name` field. Phrase queries can be used without the `query` field. For example, `"Bob Norman"`.
Prefix query	A search that matches documents containing terms that begin with a specified set of characters. Shopify supports `*` for wildcard matching.	`query=norm*`	A search for all the terms that begin with the prefix "norm", such as "norman".
Exists query	A search that matches documents with a non-null value in the specified field. Shopify supports `*` for wildcard matching.	`query=published_at:*`	A search for non-null values in the `published_at` field. The query can be combined with a NOT query to find fields missing a value. For example, `-published_at:*`.

Examples

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This section provides examples of how you can use the Shopify API search syntax.

Using `created_at` in a range query

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List 5 products that were added to a store after October 21st, 2020.

Using `title`

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List 5 products with the name "Caramel Apple".

List 10 products that include terms that begin with the prefix head, such as headphones.

Using `OR` and a range

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List 5 products with the name "Caramel Apple", or products that have an inventory of over 500 items and less than or equal to 1000 items.

Syntax debugging

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The GraphQL Admin API provides tools for search syntax validation and debugging. Requests with malformed queries return warnings in the extensions section of the response. This feedback explains how the query was parsed and any incompatibilities encountered: