Retrieve Customer response is not giving all fields

Retired Boards Appdev Customers Discounts And Orders

Topic summary

A developer encountered missing customer fields (first_name, last_name, email, phone) when using the Retrieve Customer API with Shopify API version 2024-04.

Root Cause:
The issue stems from store plan limitations, not the API version itself. Accessing Personally Identifiable Information (PII) through custom apps requires the store to be on the Shopify plan or higher.

Solution Provided:
Shopify support recommended setting up a development store for testing purposes. Development stores include all features of the advanced plan, allowing developers to access PII fields without encountering this limitation.

Status: Resolved with workaround provided.

Summarized with AI on November 9. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

Hi Team,

I am using the 2024-04 version of Shopify api. I am working with Retrieve Customer API and am seeing a weird behavior of first_name, last_name, email and phone fields missing from the response. Can you please help me understand this behavior. Thanks in advance!

https://your-development-store.myshopify.com/admin/api/2024-04/customers.json

https://your-development-store.myshopify.com/admin/api/2024-04/customers/207119551.json

Thanks,

VKH

2

I am using a free trial version of Shopify. Can you confirm if the basic version of Shopify API(2024-04) does not return PII(Personally Identifiable Information) like first_name, last_name, phone, email in its retrieve customer api response.

Thanks,

VKH

3

Hey @VKH ,

This isn’t necessarily a limitation of the API version, but a limitation on the store plan. In order to access PII through a custom app, the store will need to be on the Shopify plan or higher.

If you’re looking to do some testing, I would recommend setting up a development store for that: https://help.shopify.com/en/partners/dashboard/managing-stores/development-stores

Development stores have all of the features of the advanced plan, so you won’t experience this limitation.

Hope that helps,

  • Kyle G.