Reduced metafield value sizes in Shopify

[Ajay_Rabari]

Hello,

I read the new Shopify update saying that from API version 2026-04, new metafield values are limited to 16KB. If a metafield is bigger than 16KB, it will become read-only until updated.

Update link:
https://shopify.dev/changelog/reduced-metafield-value-sizes

In my app, I am currently storing more than 16KB of data in metafields (type: json_string).

I have not received any deprecated API warning in my Partner Dashboard.

So I just want to confirm:

• Will this affect my app right now?

• If I don’t upgrade to API version 2026-04, will it keep working?

• After upgrading, will Shopify block saving metafields larger than 16KB?

Should I start splitting my data into smaller metafields?

[KyleG-Shopify]

Hey @Ajay_Rabari,

We have had a lot of discussion on this here, I would suggest reading through this thread if you can and follow up there if you still have some questions

Reduced metafield value sizes

Hey folks! Thanks for all the feedback and dialogue here. In hindsight, we should have shared our intent and reasoning earlier, before the changelog post. We’ll take this back to the team to ensure the community has more opportunities for input before we announce consequential changes like this. As for the change itself: as James mentioned above, we’ve been facing significant challenges with large metafields impacting storefront performance, and we need a solution that mitigates these issues. …