Theme app extension settings not displaying value in theme editor

Topic summary

Core Issue:
App block settings in Shopify’s theme editor fail to display previously saved values, though these values exist in the template code. Saving changes in the editor wipes existing settings because the UI treats them as null.

Key Finding:
Multiple users confirmed the problem only occurs when any app embed is enabled in the theme—even third-party embeds unrelated to the affected app. Disabling all app embeds restores visibility of setting values.

Technical Context:

  • Affects all input types (textarea, etc.) in theme app extension blocks
  • Values are present in JSON schema but not rendered in the editor UI
  • Issue persists even with newly created extensions using Shopify CLI 3

Current Status:
Shopify acknowledged the bug and is working on a fix, with resolution expected by end of day (as of the last update). Multiple developers are experiencing this identical behavior and awaiting official resolution.

Summarized with AI on November 16. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.

I’m seeing a strange behavior on my app blocks where previously saved setting values are not being displayed on the settings section in the theme editor. When I check the code for the template being used on the page, I can see the previously saved values in the app blocks’ settings; however, the theme editor UI fails to display them. Saving the theme editor essentially wipes out any existing setting values as the UI perceives all of the values as being null.

Example app block setting:

{% schema %}
  {
    "name": "Example Block",
    "target": "section",
    "javascript": "example-block.js",
    "settings": [
      {
        "type": "textarea",
        "id": "settingId",
      }
    ]
  }
{% endschema %}

Example code for template used on page:

"blocks": {
        "{app-block-hash}": {
          "type": "shopify:\/\/apps\/app-name\/blocks\/example-block\/{hash}",
          "settings": {
            "settingId": "example value here"
          }
        }
}

I’m using fake values above, but essentially I would expect “example value here” to be populated in the Example Block’s setting for the textarea “settingId”. However, all settings (for all input types) come back as null.

4 Likes

Did you manage to find a solution @ericnam ? We are having the same identical problem. I even tried creating a new theme app extension in shopify Cli3 and has the same behaviour.
Someone from Shopify can help us?

1 Like

Hey! We also face the same problem, we even tried with the example from the documentation and it still doesn’t work. We are waiting for help from Shopify.

1 Like

Update: after several test, I noticed that this behavior only appears if you have an app turned on in the app embeds tab

2 Likes

I can confirm Andu95’s observation as well - once ALL app embeds are disabled, the setting values come back on my app block. The embed doesn’t have to be from your own app; if a there is even a third-party app embed enabled, then the setting values do not come through.

Update: we just received confirmation from shopify that they are working on a fix for this error, we hope it will be resolved by the end of this day.

1 Like

i am get the same problem. pls fix soon

i added this blocks folder of theme app extensions but not show up in theme editor

1 Like