Why the last filter doesn't work? Error: "using last without before is not supported"

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

Developers are encountering an error when using the last parameter in Shopify’s GraphQL API to retrieve the most recent orders: “using last without before is not supported”.

Core Issue:

  • Attempting queries like orders(last: 10) fails despite documentation suggesting this should work
  • The error occurs in both the Storefront API and Admin API
  • Multiple users report the same problem across different query contexts (customer orders, app subscriptions)

Attempted Workarounds:

  • Using first: 10, reverse: true, sortKey: CREATED_AT appears to work but returns results in opposite order [1,2,3...10] instead of [20,19,18...11]
  • The reverse parameter behaves unexpectedly, not providing true equivalence to last

Current Status:

  • Unresolved - No official response or solution from Shopify
  • Users express frustration about lack of clarity between documentation and actual API behavior
  • Question remains whether this is a bug, undocumented limitation, or documentation error
Summarized with AI on November 10. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

I am trying to use last: 10 to get the last 10 orders.

The query:

customer(customerAccessToken: "${customerAccessToken}") {
    orders(last: 10) {...}
}

returns: “message”: “using last without before is not supported”

Even here https://shopify.dev/docs/admin-api/graphql/reference/object/order?api[version]=2020-07 on the playground at the bottom, change first and set last instead so you will see the error I mentioned.

I posted the question on SO https://stackoverflow.com/questions/62765178/graphql-error-using-last-without-before-is-not-supported/62772930?noredirect=1#comment111020049_62772930 and that’s the answer I got.

{
  orders(first: 10, reverse:true, sortKey:CREATED_AT) {
    edges {
      node {
        id
        createdAt
      }
    }
  }
}

But (first:10, reverse:true) is not equal to (last:10), imagine you have 20 data [1,2,3…17,18,19,20] The 1st approach will return [10,9,8,7…3,2,1] while the 2nd will return [20,19,18…12,11,10].

Am I wrong? The point is that we need support for last. In the DOCs says we only need to use last with no other keys present.

DOCs: https://shopify.dev/docs/admin-api/graphql/reference/object/customer?api[version]=2020-07

3 Likes
2

Also experiencing the same bug with the below query:

{
              orders(last: 10) {
                edges {
                  node {
                    id
                    email
                    name
                    phone
                  }
                }
              }
            }

But, the same query works in the GraphQL explorer Shopify app.

3

I’m getting the same issue for the following query which according to the documentation I can use:

query {
  currentAppInstallation {
    allSubscriptions(last: 2) {
      edges {
        node {
          lineItems {
            plan {
              pricingDetails {
                __typename
                ... on AppRecurringPricing {
                  price {
                    amount
                    currencyCode
                  }
                }
                ... on AppUsagePricing {
                  balanceUsed {
                    amount
                    currencyCode
                  }
                  cappedAmount {
                    amount
                    currencyCode
                  }
                }
              }
            }
          }
          createdAt
          id
          name
          status
          test
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
4

Frustrating to hear no comment or solution on this problem. Im starting to have doubts on the seriousness of the shopify team and the truthfulness of their obfuscated documentation

1 Like
5

I get the same issue.

Actually, if you do

orders(first:10, reverse: true, sortKey: Storefront.OrderSortKeys.processedAt) { ...

then it’s equal to last: 10

Strangely the reverse is doing the opposite sorting. You can check if by last: 1, and see which order returns…