Theme ID mismatch on shopify theme dev — API returns wrong theme ID (store-specific bug)

I have reproduced the issue on the latest CLI version.

Yes, I am on the latest version

I have searched existing posts and this report is not a duplicate.

Yes, this isn’t a duplicate

In which of these areas are you experiencing a problem?

Theme

Expected behavior

When running:
shopify theme dev --theme <DEV_THEME_ID> --store e-flight-academy.myshopify.com

The CLI should connect to the correct development theme ID and start a local server with the correct preview theme.

Actual behavior

The Shopify CLI connects, but the Theme API responds with a different theme ID than the one supplied.

Error:
“Theme ID mismatch: expected <DEV_THEME_ID> but got <LIVE_THEME_ID> or <OTHER_REMOTE_THEME_ID>”

The CLI consistently receives the WRONG theme ID from Shopify’s API.
This happens even when logged in as the STORE OWNER.

The dev theme exists, is listed correctly in ‘shopify theme list’, and is unpublished.
But API responses always return the published theme ID or some other theme from the shopify admin.

ADDITIONALLY:

  • Issue persists even when using the store OWNER account.
  • Full permissions for Themes, Online Store, Apps, and App Development.
  • Custom app development enabled.
  • Tried both latest CLI versions and 3.63.0 (same result).
  • Tested on two different computers (Windows).
  • Other stores using the same CLI work perfectly.
  • This issue appears to be store-specific and possibly a theme API inconsistency.
  • Creating a fresh duplicate development theme does not fix it.

Reproduction steps

  1. Log into Shopify CLI:
    shopify login --store e-flight-academy.myshopify.com

  2. List themes:
    shopify theme list
    → Development theme ID appears correctly.

  3. Run:
    shopify theme dev --theme <DEV_THEME_ID>

  4. CLI throws (when the local server is opened):
    “Theme ID mismatch: expected <DEV_THEME_ID> but got <LIVE_THEME_ID>”

(When I try opening a remote version of the dev theme, it just displays this other theme, which ID Shopify API has.

  1. Created a new duplicated development theme → same result.

  2. Tried from multiple devices and clean CLI installations (including owner login).

  3. Other Shopify stores work perfectly on the same machine. Only this one store has the mismatch issue.

Verbose output

╭─ error ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│                                                                                               │  
│                                                                                               │
│  Theme ID mismatch: expected 182516253006 but got 182439248206.                               │
│  Request ID: f25e1843-5c62-4bca-b034-524cc914cdf7-1763560553                                  │
│  URL:                                                                                         │
│  This is likely related to an issue in upstream Shopify APIs.                                 │
│  Please try again in a few minutes and report this issue:                                     │
│  https://community.shopify.dev/c/shopify-cli-libraries/14                                     │
│                                                                                               │
╰───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

Operating system

Windows 11 (64-bit)

CLI version

3.87.4

Shell

PowerShell 5.1

Nodejs version

v22.13.1

What language and version are you using in your application?

Just Node.js

Can you let us know if you have a setup like this and if the steps outlined here help? [Bug]: Error Theme ID mismatch · Issue #6384 · Shopify/cli · GitHub

Hi Gray, thanks for reaching out so quickly.

Yes, it’s literally the same issue, but I’m quite confused with these changing domains solution, but I will continue the conversation there since I see the issue escalated there already…

Thanks for referencing the issue!

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