How the metafield score is calculated
The metafield score measures how well your store’s metafield definitions are maintained. Orphaned, empty, or poorly structured metafields slow down API responses, create confusing data models, and can break app integrations.
Scoring formula
Metafield Score = 100 × (1 − issues / total)Where:
- issues = unstructured + empty + unused metafield definitions
- total = issues + properly used definitions
A store with no problematic metafields scores 100. If no metafield definitions exist at all, the score is also 100.
Issue types
| Type | What it means |
|---|---|
| Unstructured | Metafield definitions without a type or namespace that could conflict with other apps |
| Empty | Definitions that exist but have no value set on any resource |
| Unused | Definitions not referenced in any theme file, template, or active app |
Weight in the overall health score
The metafield score contributes 10% of the total store health score.
How to improve your score
- Open the Metafields section of your scan results.
- Review the list of unused and empty definitions — these are safe to delete if no app or theme feature depends on them.
- Before deleting, verify with the app that created the definition whether it is still needed.
- Use Shopify’s Custom Data settings in the admin to manage and clean up definitions directly.
Cleaning up metafields rarely breaks anything, but can noticeably speed up storefront API calls and simplify your data model.