Do you keep extra product details in Shopify metafields - like materials, care instructions, size charts or ingredients? With Product fields, you can let Lyro (the AI agent) read them too, so it can answer your customers' questions about these details and recommend the right products.

Out of the box, Lyro already reads the standard details of your Shopify products and their variants - like the title, description, vendor, options, price, SKU and stock. Product fields let you add your own metafields on top of that, at the product level or the variant level.

In this article, you'll learn:

Silent walkthrough. Let Lyro read Shopify metafields: open Product fields on the Shopify card, import a product and a variant metafield, add custom.care_instructions manually, import, check the syncing state and remove one metafield.

Before you start

Product fields are part of Lyro's Product Recommendations, and they're available for Shopify stores. To use them, you'll need to:

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Please note: Product fields aren't available for WooCommerce stores, product feeds or products added via API. If your Shopify store needs to be reintegrated, you won't be able to edit your Product fields until you click on Reintegrate on the card.

Opening your Product fields

Head over to the Lyro AI Agent section, and open Knowledge > Products. In the Shopify product database card under Product source, you'll find the Product fields row. It shows how many fields Lyro uses - for example 17 required fields • 0 metafields. Click on the pencil icon next to it:

Lyro AI Agent > Knowledge > Products with the Shopify product database card: Source, Products synced, the Product fields row with "17 required fields • 0 metafields" and the mouse over the pencil icon next to it, and Used by

The Product fields panel will open on the right. It lists every field Lyro uses to understand your products and variants, with two columns:

  • Shopify key - the unique identifier of the field in Shopify (it's case-sensitive)
  • Owner type - whether the field belongs to a Product or to a Variant

The required fields are greyed out: they're added by default and can't be removed. Use the Search box and the Owner type filter above the table to find a field quickly:

The Product fields panel: the description text, the Search box, the "Owner type: All" filter and the Import button, and the table with the Shopify key and Owner type columns, showing two added metafields (custom.material - Product, custom.size_guide - Variant) with trash icons, followed by the greyed-out required fields (id, title, description, vendor…)

Importing metafields detected in Shopify

To add metafields, click on the Import button in the Product fields panel. The Import Shopify fields window will open, listing the metafields Tidio detected in your Shopify store (the ones you've already added aren't listed):

The Import Shopify fields window: the description "Select metafields detected in Shopify. If a metafield isn't listed, add it manually using its key and owner type.", the Search fields box, the Owner type filter and the Add metafield manually button, and a list of detected metafields with checkboxes and Product or Variant tags, two of them ticked, and the Import button at the bottom

Simply tick the metafields you'd like Lyro to read - you can click anywhere on a row to tick it. Use Search fields and the Owner type filter to find them faster in a long list. When you're ready, hit Import.

That's it! You'll see the message Shopify metafields are syncing. This may take a few hours. While the sync lasts, a loading icon shows next to Product fields on the card - hover over it to see the same message. Once it's gone, Lyro can use your new fields:

The Product fields row on the Shopify product database card with the loading icon, the tooltip "Shopify metafields are syncing. This may take a few hours." showing, and "17 required fields • 2 metafields"
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Please note: you can add up to 5 variant metafields in total, including those you've already added. If you try to import more, you'll see You can add up to 5 variant metafields in total, including those you’ve already added. and the Import button will be greyed out until you untick some of them.

Adding a metafield manually

Can't find your metafield in the list? You can add it by hand. In the Import Shopify fields window, click on Add metafield manually. A new row will appear at the top of the list:

The Import Shopify fields window with a manual row at the top: the key field with "custom.care_instructions" typed in, the Owner type dropdown open showing Product and Variant, and the trash icon on the right; a second, empty manual row below showing the errors "Use a valid key, e.g. details.size" and "Owner type is required"
  • In the first field, type in the metafield's key as it appears in Shopify - its namespace and key, separated by a dot, like custom.care_instructions (the field shows the example e.g. custom.field_name).
  • In the Owner type dropdown, choose Product or Variant.

Need more than one? Click on Add metafield manually again. To remove a row you don't need, click on the trash icon on its right. Then, hit Import, just like with the detected metafields - you can import detected and manual metafields in one go.

If something's missing, the row will tell you: Use a valid key, e.g. details.size when the key isn't in the namespace.key format, or Owner type is required when you haven't picked the owner type.

Removing a metafield

To stop Lyro from using a metafield, open the Product fields panel, and click on the trash icon on the right of the metafield. It's removed right away, and you'll see Field deleted successfully:

The Product fields panel with the mouse over the trash icon of the custom.material metafield, and the success message "Field deleted successfully" at the bottom of the screen

Naturally, this doesn't change anything in your Shopify store - it only removes the field from the list Lyro reads. You can import it again at any time.

When a metafield is no longer available

If you delete or change a metafield in Shopify after importing it, Tidio won't be able to find it anymore. The next time you open the Product fields panel, you'll see the Some metafields are no longer available window, listing them under Unavailable fields:

The "Some metafields are no longer available" window over the Product fields panel: the warning icon, the text "These Shopify metafields can no longer be found and will be removed from your Product fields list…", the Unavailable fields list with "Product: custom.material", and the "Ok, I’ve got it" button

These metafields are removed from your Product fields list automatically. Hit Ok, I’ve got it to close the window. If you still need the information, check the metafield's new key in Shopify and import it again.

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Please note: this check covers the metafields you imported from the detected list. Metafields you added manually stay on your list until you remove them.

Further reading