Products query with published_status:published fails with INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR (regular & bulk)

GraphQL Admin API Troubleshooting
1

Summary

products queries that include query: "published_status:published" are failing with INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR.

This affects both:

  • regular queries (even with first: 1)

  • bulk operations

The issue started around 2026-03-18 and is still ongoing. GraphQL API version used is 2026-01.

It does not affect all stores — only some.

At the same time:

  • the same queries without query: "published_status:published" work fine

  • both regular and bulk queries succeed when the filter is removed

  • some other queries like published_at:<=2026 cause the same problems and others like id: - doesn’t

Regular query

Query

{
    products(sortKey: ID, query: "published_status:published", first: 1) { 
        edges {
            node {
                id
            }
        }
    }
}

Response

{
    "errors": [
        {
            "message": "Internal error. Looks like something went wrong on our end.",
            "locations": [
                {
                    "line": 2,
                    "column": 5
                }
            ],
            "extensions": {
                "code": "INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR"
            },
            "path": [
                "products"
            ]
        }
    ],
    "data": null,
    "extensions": {
        "cost": {
            "requestedQueryCost": 3,
            "actualQueryCost": 2,
            "throttleStatus": {
                "maximumAvailable": 4000,
                "currentlyAvailable": 3998,
                "restoreRate": 200
            }
        }
    }
}

Request ID

b2a66be0-8af1-4871-b792-fe30b626a87c-1774277309

Bulk operation

Query

{
    products(sortKey: ID, query: "published_status:published", first: 1) { 
        edges {
            node {
                id
            }
        }
    }
}

Result

{
    "data": {
        "currentBulkOperation": {
            "id": "gid://shopify/BulkOperation/7009961640123",
            "status": "FAILED",
            "errorCode": "INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR",
            "createdAt": "2026-03-23T14:50:13Z",
            "url": null,
            "query": "{ products(sortKey: ID, query: \"published_status:published\") { edges { node { id } } } }"
        }
    },
    "extensions": {
        "cost": {
            "requestedQueryCost": 1,
            "actualQueryCost": 1,
            "throttleStatus": {
                "maximumAvailable": 4000,
                "currentlyAvailable": 3999,
                "restoreRate": 200
            }
        }
    }
}

Request IDs

bulkOperationRunQuery: 13a8d17e-8b1d-4891-999b-7b34e13cb9ef-1774277413
currentBulkOperation: f142ead1-402a-4541-9f6e-a11aa5cd5d22-1774277850

What works

  • Removing the filter:
products(sortKey: ID, first: 1)

  • Works for:

    • regular queries

    • bulk operations

    • same affected stores

Expected behavior

published_status:published filter should work the same as before and return products without internal errors.

Actual behavior

Queries fail with:

INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR
Internal error. Looks like something went wrong on our end.
2

Interesting, I’m also seeing constant INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR errors for 1 specific store, but even without the published_status filter (or any query filter at all).

Curious if the null/not null filter for published_at also breaks for you?

published_at:*  # not null/published

-published_at:*  # null/unpublished
3

For the affected store, requests with both these queries fail with INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR

5

@Mikhail_Savelev I looked into your request ID (b2a66be0-8af1-4871-b792-fe30b626a87c-1774277309) and can confirm this is on our end. The published_status:published filter is producing a query that performs poorly on stores with large product catalogs. On your store, it’s trying to scan through all 1.7 million products instead of using an efficient lookup path, and timing out before it can return results.

I tested the same query on a smaller store and it succeeds, which lines up with your observation that not all stores are affected.

I’m raising this with our products team for investigation and will update this thread when I hear back. As a possible workaround, you could try an older API version (e.g., 2025-10) to see if the behavior differs, since a recent change to how product queries are constructed may be involved.

1 Like
7

@Donal-Shopify Hi, just checking in on this issue. Are there any updates or progress from the team?

8

Thanks for following up @Mikhail_Savelev! The products team identified the root cause and shipped a fix. A query optimization issue on large-catalog stores was causing the products query to time out when using filters like published_status:published. This was linked to a change introduced in API version 2026-01.

The fix has been fully rolled out. Can you try your original query again and let me know if it’s working now?

9

Thanks for the quick response, @Donal-Shopify ! Looks like everything is working as expected now.

1 Like