đź”— Metafields synchronization: how does it work?
You can 100% synchronize your Shopify metafields in Airtable thanks to SyncBase. This topic explains how it works.
Metafields sync available for
Metafields synchronization is currently available for:
- Products
- Variants
- Orders
- Customers
Adding a new metafield definition after the base generation
To add a new metafield definition:
- Go to your Shopify settings.
- Add a new definition.
- Within Shopify, go to a product/variant/order/customer… and add an input to this new metafield.
- Be sure to hit the “save” button to trigger a webhook.
- The column should appears within the linked tab of your Airtable synced base!
You can now use Airtable to add new values for this metafield.
Deleting a metafield definition
To delete a new metafield definition:
- Go to your Shopify settings.
- Delete the desired definition.
- That’s it! Data won’t be updated anymore.
Optional: you can 100% delete the linked column in your Airtable synced base.
Updating a metafield value within Airtable
You can absolutely update metafield values via Airtable! To do so, simply ensure the formatting matches Shopify's requirements.
For example, if a metafield definition has a type of “Color,” you’ll need to format the value as Shopify expects (e.g., #colorcode).
Unstructured metafields
Unstructured metafields are definitions created by third party app (example: Google Shopping) or archived metafields definitions.
We do not currently sync them inside metafields tab.
Metafields with reference types
Some Shopify metafields use reference types (for example: Product reference, Image reference, Collection reference, etc.). These metafields don’t store a simple value (text or number) but a reference to another Shopify object.
How reference values look in Airtable
When a metafield uses a reference type, the value synced into Airtable follows this format:
- Image reference example
gid://shopify/MediaImage/57257873768781 - Product reference example
gid://shopify/Product/10372488298805
This format must always be respected.
How to update a reference metafield value
To reference another object, you only need to replace the ID at the end of the value.
Example: gid://shopify/Product/10372488298805 → change 10372488298805 to the ID of another product.
Important notes:
- The structure (
gid://shopify/ObjectType/) must remain unchanged - Only the numeric ID at the end should be modified
- This ID is the unique Shopify object ID
How to find the correct Shopify object ID
There are two ways to find the correct ID to use.
Option 1: From your Airtable synced base
- Open the related table (for example, Products, Orders, Customers, etc.)
- Look for the
[Object name] IDfield (Example: Product ID, Order ID, Customer ID) - Copy the ID and use it in your metafield reference value
Option 2: From your Shopify admin URL
- Open your Shopify admin
- Navigate to the object you want to reference (product, order, customer, etc.)
- Look at the URL in your browser (Example for a product
https://admin.shopify.com/store/yourstorename/products/10372488298805) - The number at the end of the URL is the object ID
You can now safely use this ID inside your metafield reference value in Airtable.
See more in this article: GID references in Syncbase
Updated on: 19/07/2026
Thank you!