App Block Disappears on Live Stores?

Here's What You Need to Know

If you're using a Shopify theme app extension and suddenly notice that your app block shows up in the Theme Editor but doesn't appear on the live store, you're not alone.

This widespread issue recently surfaced in the Shopify Developer Community, and it could impact how your app displays content on merchants' storefronts.

Here's a breakdown of what’s going on and how to fix it.

The Problem 🐛

• In the Theme Editor, everything looks fine — your app block is visible and renders as expected.
• But when visiting the live storefront, the app block is missing. The page is empty. No app block code can be found
• This issue happens to many stores using the theme app extension's app blocks and Shopify Markets

Root Cause: Stale Market Configuration Files 🔍

The issue is typically caused by stale or corrupted files related to Shopify Markets:

• markets.json
• .context.[locale].json

These files may persist even after merchants remove all Markets, leaving behind configurations that interfere with how blocks are rendered.

The Workaround 💡

If you're a developer or a merchant encountering this issue, here’s a step-by-step fix:

1. Backup your theme before making any changes
2. Check Theme Files
   1. In your theme’s config directory, look for markets.json or any .context.[locale].json files.
3. Delete Those Files
   1. Remove these stale configuration files.
4. Test the Live Store
   1. Reload the bundle page and confirm that the app block now appears correctly.

Any fix? 🗝️

Currently, there is no fix yet. You can subscribe to the thread to follow updates from Shopify. We’re actively monitoring the situation and will update our app to help detect and avoid these problems.