When using apps like “Live Product Options” that add internal properties to line items (e.g., _cl_options, _cl_options_currency, _cl_options_price), these properties appear in three places that merchants on the Basic plan apparently cannot control:
In the checkout order summary (visible as an expandable section showing “product or option duplication”—which, in my opinion, is absolutely disastrous and confusing for the customer).
In the order view within the Shopify admin (extremely confusing and cluttered when complex products result in 5–10 extra lines such as:
_cl_options_clox2gadfk78
_cl_options_id:1782310808459
_cl_options_price:500
_cl_options_currency:EUR
_cl_options_price_base:500
In third-party invoicing tools (e.g., Billbee) that retrieve data via the Shopify API, where these options cannot be hidden. Although properties starting with an underscore (_) are supposed to be hidden in email notifications, this filter does not work consistently across all areas.
Please provide merchants with a native way to filter or hide specific line item properties (e.g., based on a prefix like cl) in the checkout order summary and the admin order view.
Private line item properties should be visually hidden at checkout, but still visible on the Order details page in the Shopify admin: Cart API reference
My understanding is that that private-property behaviour shouldn’t be Shopify Plus-only or unavailable to Basic Plan merchants. The Plus plan limitation is more around broader checkout UI extension/customization access on the information, shipping, and payment pages, which is a separate piece from private line item property handling.
For the Admin order view and third-party tools reading order data through the API, there isn’t currently a native merchant setting to hide/filter specific line item properties, so I definitely get why this can become noisy when an app stores several internal values on the line item, though and I’m happy to set up a feature request log for you on that side of things for sure.
If these _cl_options... properties are showing visibly to customers in checkout, could you share a screenshot of where they’re appearing?
That would be worth checking against the expected private-property behaviour on our end so I can confirm expected behaviour.
Let me know if I can clarify anything further here, hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks for getting back to me and sorry for the late reply.
It would be great if you could log a feature request for this!
It’s really bothering me; I’ve been in touch with the app support team for a long time, but they just keep saying the issue originates from Shopify.
The _cl_options are only showing up in my admin order overview (and on the invoices, though I’m sure I can fix that part myself).
But I’ve now discovered that the item is duplicated in the order overview/checkout only when an option involving an extra charge is selected via the app (see screenshots).
Looking forward to hearing from you—thanks for the help!
I’m one of the developers of the Live Product Options app, so I thought I’d chime in to add context on the two separate things mentioned.
1. The _cl_options... lines in your admin order view.
These are private line item properties (the leading _). As @Alan_G noted, Shopify visually hides them from customers at checkout, but it intentionally keeps them visible on the admin order detail page that’s Shopify’s current behavior, the same for any app that stores internal data on a line item. Our app needs these values to reference the product configuration, but we fully agree the admin view gets cluttered. There’s currently no native way for a merchant or apps to filter them out of the admin, there is a long standing feature request for this here: [Feature request] Allow customAttributes input (line item properties) for orderEdit API
Hiding private properties on invoices is also possible, most common apps already do this automatically.
2. The duplicated line item when an option adds an extra charge.
That second line is created by the Expand Operation, which is how we add a surcharge on top of a product’s base price. Today this is the only way to charge extra on top of a standard product without altering the product itself, and it applies across all Shopify plans.
When the Cart Transform API was in developer preview, Shopify also offered the Update Operation, which adjusts a line item’s price directly, with no duplicate line. At release, Shopify restricted that operation to Shopify Plus merchants:
Our app still fully supports the cleaner Update Operation, but Shopify only makes it available on Plus plans - so on Basic, the Expand approach (and its extra line) is currently unavoidable for every app, not just ours.
We also support other alternatives like adding a surcharge as a separate product to make it more clear to customers.
@Liri happy to dig into your specific setup - feel free to reach out to us directly in the app.
Hey @Liri - just confirming I’ve logged this as a feature request on our end for more control over hiding/filtering internal line item properties in Admin/order surfaces.
Thanks @michael for jumping in with the extra context here too. Yeah, at the moment, the _cl_options values showing in Admin are expected with the current behaviour, and the duplicate/extra charge line is tied to how those added charges need to be represented today on non-Plus stores.
I get that it’s not hte most ideal for sure, so let me know if I can clarify anything more on our side of things here
Thanks to both of you for the constructive discussion. It would be great if this could be optimized in the future.
I think I understand the background now, but I’m wondering if there’s any way to simply “hide” this duplicated line item until a fundamental solution is found—for example, via a Liquid adjustment or custom CSS?
Hey @Liri - just confirming there isn’t a supported Liquid or CSS change that can modify/hide that duplicated surcharge line from checkout or the Shopify admin order view for a non-Plus setup.
Theme Liquid can help control how line item properties display in storefront/cart theme surfaces, and invoice apps often have their own templates or filters, but checkout and Admin order views aren’t controlled by the merchant’s theme in that way. The duplicated line also isn’t the _cl_options property itself showing through; it’s the extra line created by the app’s surcharge handling for paid options.
So the best options right now would be to work with the Live Product Options team, or a Shopify Partner, on the cleanest available presentation, such as a clearer surcharge line/product label or any app setting they offer for paid options. I’ve also logged the feature request on our end for better native control here.
Let me know if I can clarify anything more on our side, hope this helps a bit!
