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Key Takeaways
- Use catalog.sources in search_catalog; omitting it or selecting only shopify keeps the existing merchant-product search behavior.
- Shopify says beta external products are returned only to shoppers in the United States. Searches elsewhere continue to return Shopify merchant products only.
- Full external product details and purchases stay on the brand's own site. Shopify checkout and Promoted Placements commission do not apply.
- Before using source filters, check the API version and whether Shopify has enabled the API client. Displayed external results also have source-labeling, linking, retention and reuse restrictions.
What did the beta add?
On October 27, 2026, Shopify said search_catalog in the Catalog API beta can select result sources with catalog.sources. The default remains Shopify merchant products; you can also search only external brands or include both sources in one result set.
Shopify's current developer documentation lists shopify and external as source values. Omitting the field or selecting only shopify preserves the existing search scope, so existing calls do not need to migrate. get_product can retrieve a product by its external ID; the change is still centered on source filtering in search_catalog.
Check the API version and enablement before requesting sources
Shopify's developer documentation says catalog.sources requires version 2026-08-25 or draft, and Shopify must have enabled the capability for your API client. For a client that has not been enabled, search_catalog may ignore the requested source field, and returned variants may not include a source field.
When a request includes a saved catalog's catalog_id, that catalog's configured sources become the default and the limit. Requested sources outside the saved configuration can be dropped. If external results are missing, check the API version, client enablement and saved catalog settings together.
Which shoppers can currently see external products?
Shopify's October 27 announcement says beta external products are returned only when the shopper is in the United States. Searches for shoppers in other countries continue to return Shopify merchant products only; this is not a global rollout claim.
Shopify's developer documentation adds that external product data comes from the brand's own website and the full product page remains there. Use the API's current response and the brand's site to confirm coverage, whether a product is still listed and its current price.
Where do external products check out, and do they earn commission?
An external product variant includes the brand's product-page URL. eligible.native_checkout is always false, and there is no Shopify checkout_url. Send shoppers to the brand's own product page for full details and purchase; do not create a Shopify cart or checkout for an external result.
External products are not eligible for Promoted Placements and do not earn commission. Handle products that do have Promoted Placements separately using Shopify's returned placement field and the program's eligibility rules; an external result is not a promoted Shopify merchant product.
What restrictions apply when displaying the results?
Link each external product card or title to variants[].url and identify the seller accurately. Show the seller's domain when space allows. Do not describe an external product as sold, sponsored or endorsed by Shopify.
Shopify says external product data may be displayed only in your own app or site in response to a shopper request. You must not resell or bulk-export it, syndicate it into another directory, use it to train, fine-tune or evaluate machine-learning models, or retain it beyond the current shopper session. Do not combine external fields into a reproduction of the brand's product page or put them in feeds, datasets or indexes that you provide to others.
Follow the returned HTTP cache headers for external product images, and use them only to represent the corresponding offer. Do not rehost or mirror an image, crop or edit it, add overlays or watermarks, or remove branding. Handle images that stop resolving.
An external product's price may be absent or may reflect the last refresh from the brand's site; available does not confirm current stock. Direct shoppers to the brand site for authoritative details, and query again when needed instead of treating cached fields as a live inventory guarantee.
Run these four checks before launch
First, confirm that Shopify enabled the API client and that you use a version supporting catalog.sources. Second, check whether the saved catalog limits the sources in your request.
Third, distinguish Shopify merchant and external products with the source field, identify the external seller and use Shopify's returned brand-product URL. Fourth, keep external products out of Shopify checkout, promoted-placement commission, third-party feeds and model-training workflows.
Sources
Frequently Asked Questions
Will existing results change if I omit catalog.sources?
No. Shopify says that when you omit the field, results remain limited to Shopify merchant products and existing requests do not need to change.
Can an external product use Shopify checkout or Shop Pay?
No. eligible.native_checkout is false for external products, and the full product page and purchase flow stay on the brand's own website.
Why are there no external products in searches outside the US?
Shopify says beta external products are currently returned only to shoppers in the United States. Searches elsewhere continue to return Shopify merchant products only.
Can I keep external products in my own catalog or use them for model training?
No. Shopify limits the data to display in your own experience in response to a shopper request. Redistribution, long-term retention and model training, fine-tuning or evaluation are not allowed.