Metafield query filter returns all orders when no order has the metafield

[shaheem]

I’m experiencing unexpected behavior when filtering orders using metafield queries.

My metafield configuration:

[order.metafields.app.is_b2b]
type = "boolean"
name = "Is B2B"
description = "Whether the order is a B2B order"
capabilities.admin_filterable = true

Issue:
When using query: metafields.$app.is_b2b:true to filter orders, the API returns all orders if no order in the store has this metafield set. However, once at least one order has the is_b2b metafield, the query correctly returns only orders with is_b2b:true.

Query Example:

query OrdersWithIsB2B {
  orders(first: 10, query: "metafields.$app.is_b2b:true") {
    edges {
      node {
        id
        name
        isB2B: metafield(namespace: "$app", key: "is_b2b") {
          value
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Expected Behavior:

• Returns empty array when no order has the metafield
• Returns only orders with is_b2b:true when querying

Actual Behavior:

• Returns all orders when no order has the metafield (even orders without the metafield)
• Returns correctly filtered orders once at least one order has the metafield

Is this expected behavior or a bug?

[kyle_liu]

Hi @shaheem

Indeed, I have also encountered this situation. @KyleG-Shopify Could you please clarify this matter?

[SethS]

Take a look at this one to see if this is a similar situation as yours, along with the expected outcome.

[BUG] Order query by metafield gives loose results if the metafield does not exist (returns first order)

query OrderByQuery($query: String) { orders(query: $query, first: 1) { nodes { id email name } } } { "query": "metafields.my_app.my_field:the-value-i-am-serching" } As soon as you put metafields.non_existing_app.my_field or metafields.my_app.non_existing_fieldit will give you the first order. It should still give you empty array! Same as it gives you now when you query with the existing metafield but the value is not present in any orders. Are there any workar…

[shaheem]

Thanks, this seems very similar to what I’m seeing as well.

To clarify my scenario:

• I added the order metafield definition in the app configuration and deployed it.
• I then queried using metafields.$app.is_b2b:true before any order actually had this metafield set → the API returned all orders (I expected no orders).
• After setting is_b2b = true on one order → the same query returned only that order (as expected).

As a temporary workaround, I’ve added an additional check to ensure the returned orders actually contain this metafield before treating them as valid matches.

That said, this still feels like unexpected behavior. I was under the impression that deploying an app-owned metafield definition would make the namespace/key available for filtering across any store with the app installed, even before any values exist.

[JesseV]

@shaheem, I tried reproducing this with the TOML configuration but are not seeing the same behavior. Could you message me your shop so I could take a look at the logs to see if I can tell what might be happening?