Data model – Specs & Compare Docs

App identifier

App-owned data uses a namespace reserved for the app. Inside theme app extensions, it is written $app. In your theme code, use the resolved namespace:

In app extensions	In theme code
`$app:tables` (metaobject type)	`app--31615844353--tables`
`$app:specifications` (metafield namespace)	`app--31615844353--specifications`

Specification tables

Tables are metaobjects of type app--31615844353--tables, publicly readable on the storefront and translatable.

Field	Type	Description
`name`	Single-line text	Internal name of the table.
`status`	Single-line text	`active` or `preview`.
`groups`	JSON	Groups and attributes (see below).
`rule_set`	JSON	Assignment conditions (see below).

`groups` JSON

JSON

[
  {
    "id": "5c1f…",
    "name": "Performance",
    "attributes": [
      {
        "id": "9a2e…",
        "name": "Battery life",
        "type": "number_integer",
        "icon": "battery.png",
        "tooltip": "Measured at 50% volume.",
        "scope": "product",
        "comparable": true,
        "convert_unit": false,
        "metafield_reference": { "namespace": "sc_attributes", "key": "battery_life" }
      }
    ]
  }
]

Property	Description
`name`, `tooltip`	Displayed texts (translatable).
`type`	Attribute type (see below).
`icon`	File name of the icon in the store Files, usable with `images[attribute.icon]` in Liquid.
`scope`	`product` or `variant`.
`comparable`	Whether the attribute appears in comparison tables.
`metafield_reference`	`namespace` and `key` of the metafield holding the value. For metaobject references, also `metaobject_field_key` and `metaobject_thumbnail_field_key`.
`product_option_name`	`product_option` type only.
`show_compare_at_price`	`product_price` type only.
`metaobject_type`	`metaobject_reference` type only.
`convert_unit`	`dimension`, `weight` and `product_weight` types.
`allow_zoom`	Metafield references to images.
`scale_min`, `scale_max`	`rating` (scale) type only.

Attribute types

Product information — value read from the product or variant: product_option, product_type, product_category, product_vendor, product_description, product_price, product_sku, product_barcode, product_weight, product_collections, product_rating.
Metafield-based — value read from the metafield in metafield_reference: metafield_reference, metaobject_reference, single_line_text_field, multi_line_text_field, number_integer, number_decimal, dimension, volume, weight, color, boolean, date, money, link, file_reference, rating (displayed as “Scale”).

`rule_set` JSON

JSON

{
  "applied_disjunctively": true,
  "rules": [
    { "column": "category", "relation": "equals", "condition": "el-4-8-5" },
    { "column": "tags", "relation": "contains", "condition": "wireless" }
  ]
}

applied_disjunctively: true when any condition must match, false when all must match.
column: type, vendor, tags, collection (collection ID) or category (taxonomy category ID).
relation: equals, not_equals or contains.

Product metafields

Namespace app--31615844353--specifications:

Key	Type	Description
`table`	Metaobject reference	Table manually assigned to the product. Empty when the table is assigned by conditions.
`compare_with`	List of products	Products compared with this product.
`comparable_variants`	List of variants	Variants shown in the variant comparison table.
`hide_variant_selector`	Boolean	Hides the variant selector of comparison tables for this product.

Variant metafields

Namespace app--31615844353--specifications:

Key	Type	Description
`exclude_from_variant_selector`	Boolean	Removes the variant from comparison table variant selectors.

Attribute values

Values managed in the app are stored as metafields in the sc_attributes namespace, with the attribute key as key, on the product (scope: product) or on each variant (scope: variant). They are regular merchant-owned metafields: you can read them in Liquid, edit them with bulk tools and translate them.

For metaobject_reference attributes, Shopify doesn’t allow metaobject references in metafields without a definition, so the value is the handle of the metaobject, stored as single-line text.

Import & export format

The CSV exported from Specification tables › Export has the columns Name, Handle, Status, Groups and Rule set. Groups and Rule set contain the JSON structures described above. Header names are always in English, so a file exported from an admin in one language can be imported into an admin in another language.