How to Create an Auto Group by Metafield

How to Create an Auto Group by Metafield

1. What is Auto Group by Metafield?

Auto Group by Metafield is a Smart Automation feature in Grouptify that lets you create thousands of product groups at once, in just one click.
  1. Automatically group products that belong together
  2.  Creates options (e.g. Color, Size) and fills in the option values (e.g. Black, White, S, M, L) for each product in the group
This feature is ideal for merchants who already use metafields to manage their product data, the app leverages that existing data to bulk-create groups without any extra work.

Notes
⭐ Unlimited Plan only: This feature is available on paid plans. Please upgrade to access it.

2. Step-by-step setup

To get started, go to Grouptify → Product groups → Create group → Bulk generate by Metafields.



The setup has 4 steps:

Step 1 – Choose a Group Identifier

The Group Identifier tells the app how to figure out which products belong in the same group. Products that share the same identifier value will be automatically grouped together.


Click the Identifier source dropdown and select one of the three options:



By Product Title
  1. Groups products that share the same title pattern
  2. Choose your title pattern match your store. We list down some of the most commonly used patterns, for example <product_title> | <variant>; <variant> | <product_title>, etc.
  1. Example:
    1. "Linen Shirt | Blue" and "Linen Shirt | Red" → grouped as "Linen Shirt"
    2. "Wool Coat - Navy" → skipped
  2. Requires consistent naming in your product titles
By Product Tag
  1. The app scans your product tags and groups products that share the same tag pattern.
  2. The recommended pattern is PG_<GroupID>.
    1. The PG_ prefix helps the app tell apart grouping tags from your other tags like sale or new-arrival.
    2. The <GroupID> part tells the app which products belong in the same group.
  3. Example: all products tagged PG_linen-shirt → same group; other tags are ignored


By Product Metafield


  1. Groups products that share the same value in a specific metafield
  2. Select your metafield namespace.key, e.g, custom.fabric. If you don't have one, create a single-line text metafield in Shopify Admin (Go to Settings → Metafields and Metaobjects → Products, and add a new metafield). Read Section 3 if you're not sure.
  3. Example: all products where custom.group.id = New Collection → same group

Step 2 – Define Group Options

In this step, you tell the app which metafields to use for each option. The app will then read those metafields and automatically fill in the option values for every product in the group.

1. Enter an option name

Type the name of the option as it should appear to shoppers. For example: Color, Size, Material.

2. Link it to a metafield

In the Linked metafield field, enter the namespace.key of the metafield that holds this option's value. For example: custom.color

link group options metafields

3. Add more options or remove options if needed

  1. Click+ Add an option to add another option (e.g. Size → custom.size). Repeat for as many options as you need.
  1. To remove an option, click the trash icon (🗑) on the right side of that option row.

Once the automation runs, the app reads each product's metafield values and uses them as the option values automatically.

Example:
You set up 2 options: Color linked to Color → custom.color , and Size linked to Size → custom.size

Product "Linen Shirt Blue M" has:
  • custom.color = Blue
  • custom.size = M

Product "Linen Shirt Red M" has:
  • custom.color = Red
  • custom.size = M

→ The group will show Blue / Red as Color options and M as Size option.

Note: Each metafield can only be linked to one option. The metafield used for the group identifier must also be different from the ones used for options.

Step 3 – Set Option Appearance

Choose how each option will look when shoppers see it, on both the product page and
(in collections, search results, etc.).

color swatch for product group

For each option you created, select a display style:
  1. 🔲 Button: Text labels in a clickable button format
  2. 🎨 Color swatch: Colored circles (best for color options)
  3. And other styles depending on your plan
This works the same way as setting appearance for any regular product group in Grouptify.

Step 4 – Choose Group Status & Run

Before running the automation, decide what happens to the groups after they're created:

  1. Publish Active: Groups are immediately visible on your storefront as soon as the automation finishes.
  1. Save as Draft: Groups are created but not visible to shoppers yet. You can review them on the Product groups page and publish when ready. Recommended if you want to check the results first, and if you'd like to remove a specific product or edit option names, option values, or appearance for individual groups before they go live.

Once everything is set, click Run automation. The app will scan your products, group them based on the identifier, and create all groups automatically.

run auto group product by metafields

3. How to add a product metafield in Shopify

If you're using the By Metafield identifier or linking options to metafields, your products need to have those metafields set up in Shopify first. Here's how to add one:

1. Go to Shopify Admin
In your Shopify Admin, click Settings in the bottom-left corner.

2. Open Custom data
Click Metafields & Metaobjects from the settings menu.

3. Select Products
Click Products to see all product metafield definitions.

where to configure product metafield

4. Add a custom product metafield, if needed. 
  1. Click "Add definition" and enter your Product metafield name. The corresponding namespace.key will be generated automatically. For example, Version → custom.version.
  2. In "Type", select Single line text.

add a product metafield

Notes
Make sure the metafield type is Single-line text. Other metafield types (like number, date, or reference) are not supported by this feature.

4. Comparison: By Title vs By Tag vs By Metafield

Not sure which identifier to use? This table summarizes what each method requires:


By Title
By Tag
By Metafield
What you need to prepare
Product titles follow a consistent pattern
Add PG_<groupID> tag to each product
A metafield with group ID set on each product
Option values come from
Metafield
Metafield
Metafield
Need to rename products?
Yes
No
No
Need to add tags?
No
Yes
No
Best for
Stores with structured naming
Stores that use tags to organize
Stores with rich metafield data

5. FAQs

  1. What metafield type does the app support?

    Only Single-line text metafields are supported. If your metafield is a different type (e.g. number, date, or file), you'll need to create a new Single-line text metafield and fill in the values there.

  2. Can I use the same metafield for both the group identifier and an option?

    No. You need to use separate metafields for the group identifier and for each option. For example, use custom.group_id for identifying the group, and custom.color / custom.size for options.

  3. What happens if a product doesn't have a value in the identifier metafield?

    That product will be skipped and not added to any group. Make sure all products you want to group have values filled in for the identifier metafield.

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