Media Manager: exclude files by filename pattern / prefix

[pixelastronauts]

Summary

Add a way for theme developers to exclude files from the Weaverse Media Manager gallery (e.g. auto-generated product thumbnails), so merchants only see editorial/media assets when picking images in Studio.

Problem

The Media Manager shows all images from Shopify Admin → Content → Files.

On stores that programmatically upload many generated assets (product thumbs, previews, renders, etc.), the gallery becomes noisy and hard to use. Example from our storefront: hundreds of files named like thumb v6 … drown out the images merchants actually want to select for sections/theme settings.

Today there is:

• no schema/configs option on image / video inputs to filter the gallery
• no project/theme-level setting to hide filename patterns
• only manual search or deleting files from Shopify Files

Proposal

Expose optional filter config on media inputs (and optionally a theme-level default).

Per-input (preferred)

Extend image / video (and translation-image if relevant) with typed configs, similar to select / range:

{
  type: 'image',
  name: 'heroImage',
  label: 'Hero image',
  configs: {
    excludeFilenamePrefixes: ['thumb v6', 'preview-'],
    // or
    excludeFilenamePatterns: ['^thumb v6', '^generated-'],
  },
}

Theme / project-level (nice to have)

A global exclude list in theme settings / project config that applies to every Media Manager open, so generated assets stay out of the picker store-wide without repeating config on every input.

Suggested SDK shape (@weaverse/schema)

Follow the existing configs pattern:

1. Add ImageInputConfigs / VideoInputConfigs (Zod + TS) in @weaverse/schema
2. Validate them in BasicInputSchema for image / video (same switch as select / range)
3. Document in input-settings docs
4. Studio Media Manager reads input.configs when listing Shopify Files and filters server-side or client-side

Example:

export interface ImageInputConfigs {
  /** Hide files whose name starts with any of these strings */
  excludeFilenamePrefixes?: string[]
  /** Hide files matching any of these regex patterns (as strings) */
  excludeFilenamePatterns?: string[]
}

Why this belongs in Studio + schema

• Open SDK only defines the contract; Media Manager UI lives in the Studio bridge (/static/studio/hydrogen/…)
• Schema change alone is not enough — Studio must apply the filter when querying/rendering the gallery
• Unknown configs should be ignored by older Studio versions for forward compatibility

Alternatives considered

Approach	Why it’s insufficient
Delete generated files from Shopify Files	Breaks product/storefront flows that depend on those URLs
Rely on Media Manager search	Merchants still scroll through noise; easy to miss the right asset
Custom picker in the theme	Loses Studio upload/SEO/alt-text workflow and stock images tab

Ask

Would the team consider:

1. Adding ImageInputConfigs / VideoInputConfigs to @weaverse/schema?
2. Teaching Studio’s Media Manager to honor exclude prefixes/patterns?
3. Optionally a project-level exclude list for all media pickers?

Happy to refine the API shape (prefixes vs globs vs regex, include-only allowlists, etc.) based on what fits Shopify Files querying best.

Context

• Package in use: @weaverse/hydrogen (Pilot theme)
• Observed in Studio Media Manager → My gallery
• Related files are Shopify Files uploads, not product media attached in Admin Products

[hta218]

Thanks for the thoughtful and impressively detailed proposal @pixelastronauts — this is a great use case. We’ll start with a project-level filter across Media Manager and ship it very soon.

[hta218]

Update: this is shipped to production 🎉

The project-level filter is live in the Media Manager — just open the Media Manager and expand the Filter panel to set up your exclusion rules. No schema or theme-side config needed.

@pixelastronauts could you give it a try and let us know if it covers your thumb v6 … case? Happy to iterate if anything is missing.

[pixelastronauts]

Thanks @hta218 — we tried the project-level Filter. It’s a good start, but it doesn’t fully cover our case.

1. Per-input defaults in schema (not a project-wide UI rule)

Different Media Managers need different prefixes/filters. For example:

• a product/section image picker should hide generated thumb_v* files
• a logo or editorial picker may need a different prefix, or no exclusion at all

A single project Filter would hide those files everywhere, including places we still want them.

We also don’t want content editors to mess with filtered media. If the only control is a Filter panel in Studio, someone can disable or change the rules and accidentally pick (or re-expose) generated thumbs. The defaults should live on the image / video input in code so they’re locked for that picker.

{
  type: 'image',
  name: 'heroImage',
  label: 'Hero image',
  configs: {
    excludeFilenamePrefixes: ['thumb_v'],
  },
}

The Studio Filter panel could still exist as an optional merchant override — but schema defaults should win unless we explicitly allow override.

2. Filter out product images

With a large catalog, Media Manager fills up with product images very quickly. When we’re looking for an image uploaded for another page (hero, editorial, logo, etc.), we have to scroll through hundreds of product shots.

A source/type filter would help a lot, e.g.:

configs: {
  excludeFilenamePrefixes: ['thumb_v'],
  excludeSources: ['product'], // hide files that came from product media
}

Or an include-only mode: sources: ['files'] / uploaded so a given picker only shows Shopify Files uploads, not product media.

Happy to test a schema configs version if you add it.