Query the available catalog categories.

Table Specific Information

CatalogCategories returns only the CATEGORY objects in the Square catalog. The component restricts every request to that one catalog type, so each row is a category and each of the category's fields is available as its own typed column, such as Name, ParentCategoryId, IsTopLevel, and PathToRoot.

The Catalog table is the generic counterpart. It returns objects of every catalog type in a single result set, and rather than giving each type its own columns it carries the type specific fields as a JSON document in the column matching the row type: ItemData for an item, CategoryData for a category, TaxData for a tax, and so on. Use Catalog to search across types or when the type is not known in advance, and use CatalogCategories or another type specific table, such as CatalogItems or CatalogTaxes, to work with one type through individual columns. Catalog is read-only, while the type specific tables also support INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE.

Because CatalogCategories is restricted to CATEGORY objects, a search that matches only other catalog types returns no rows here. Run the same search against Catalog to see those matches.

Select

The component uses the Square API to filter the results by the following columns and operators while the rest of the filter is executed client-side within the component.

• Id supports the following operators: =, IN.
• IncludeDeletedObjects supports the following operator: =.
• Query supports the following operator: =.
• SearchText supports the following operators: =, IN.
• UpdatedAt supports the following operator: >.

Retrieve all catalog categories:

SELECT * FROM CatalogCategories

Filter on Id to retrieve specific categories. Id = fetches a single category directly. Id IN is served by the batch retrieve endpoint in a single request rather than one request per Id; the endpoint takes up to 1000 Ids per request, so a longer list is split across as many requests as needed.

SELECT Id, Name FROM CatalogCategories WHERE Id = 'THDYAQN4MZGYQ3HKGKHVQ5AH'

SELECT Id, Name FROM CatalogCategories WHERE Id IN ('THDYAQN4MZGYQ3HKGKHVQ5AH', 'XZLYQNYQ7S6NQKVHZUNIQ66Q')

UpdatedAt supports only the > operator, which Square applies as the start of the search window. Equality and the upper bound operators are not supported.

SELECT Id, Name, UpdatedAt FROM CatalogCategories WHERE UpdatedAt > '2025-01-01T00:00:00Z'

Set IncludeDeletedObjects to true to return categories that have been deleted from the catalog. A deleted category reports IsDeleted as true, and Square no longer returns its category data, so Name comes back null.

SELECT Id, Name, Version FROM CatalogCategories WHERE IncludeDeletedObjects = true

SearchText searches the searchable attributes of a category, such as name, description, and SKU. Matching is case-insensitive, and keywords of fewer than three alphanumeric characters are ignored.

SELECT Id, Name FROM CatalogCategories WHERE SearchText = 'Heavenly'

Use IN to supply up to three keywords. Square combines them with AND and matches them in any order. Square rejects a fourth keyword with the error ARRAY_LENGTH_TOO_LONG, reporting that the collection must have at most 3 items.

SELECT Id, Name FROM CatalogCategories WHERE SearchText IN ('Heavenly', 'Strike')

The Query column takes a Square CatalogQuery object, supplied as JSON, and gives access to every search Square offers. The following search types are available.

• exact_query matches an attribute against an exact value. Takes attribute_name and attribute_value.
• prefix_query matches an attribute against a leading substring. Takes attribute_name and attribute_prefix.
• range_query matches a numeric attribute against a range. Takes attribute_name, attribute_min_value, and attribute_max_value.
• sorted_attribute_query orders the results by an attribute. Takes attribute_name, sort_order, and optionally initial_attribute_value.
• set_query matches an attribute against any value in a set. Takes attribute_name and attribute_values.
• items_for_tax_query returns the items that use the given taxes. Takes tax_ids.
• items_for_modifier_list_query returns the items that use the given modifier lists. Takes modifier_list_ids.
• items_for_item_options_query returns the items that use the given item options. Takes item_option_ids.
• item_variations_for_item_option_values_query returns the item variations that carry the given item option values. Takes item_option_value_ids.
• modifiers_for_child_list_query returns the modifiers that nest the given modifier lists, matching a modifier whose child_modifier_list_ids contains any of the supplied IDs. Takes child_modifier_list_ids. This search type is in beta.

exact_query, prefix_query, range_query, and sorted_attribute_query may be set together in a single CatalogQuery. Each of set_query, items_for_tax_query, items_for_modifier_list_query, items_for_item_options_query, item_variations_for_item_option_values_query, and modifiers_for_child_list_query must be the only search type in the object.

Do not set text_query in the Query column if SearchText is also set: both write to the same search, and component rejects the combination with an error instead of merging them. Express the whole text_query search inside the Query value, or drop it and filter with SearchText alone.

Because this table returns only CATEGORY objects, a search type that yields another catalog type produces no rows here even when it matches. items_for_tax_query, items_for_modifier_list_query, items_for_item_options_query, item_variations_for_item_option_values_query, and modifiers_for_child_list_query return other catalog types, so run those against Catalog, or against the type-specific tables CatalogItems, CatalogItemVariations, and CatalogModifiers. The same applies to an attribute search whose matches happen to be another type: a prefix_query on name might match an item named "Appetizers Combo" in a catalog that has no categories with that prefix.

Match an attribute exactly, or by prefix:

SELECT Id, Name FROM CatalogCategories WHERE Query = '{"exact_query":{"attribute_name":"name","attribute_value":"Appetizers"}}'

SELECT Id, Name FROM CatalogCategories WHERE Query = '{"prefix_query":{"attribute_name":"name","attribute_prefix":"App"}}'

Match a numeric attribute against a range. The attribute_name must be an attribute Square indexes for search, such as ordinal; Square reports Unknown attribute definition name for anything it does not recognize.

SELECT Id, Name FROM CatalogCategories WHERE Query = '{"range_query":{"attribute_name":"ordinal","attribute_min_value":0,"attribute_max_value":100}}'

Order the results by an attribute. Square preserves this ordering in the result set.

SELECT Id, Name FROM CatalogCategories WHERE Query = '{"sorted_attribute_query":{"attribute_name":"name","sort_order":"ASC"}}'

Match an attribute against a set of values. In Catalog the result set is the union of the matches across every type; here it is narrowed to the categories among them.

SELECT Id, Name FROM CatalogCategories WHERE Query = '{"set_query":{"attribute_name":"name","attribute_values":["Appetizers","Beverages"]}}'

The other search types return items and item variations, so run those through Catalog or the type-specific tables:

SELECT Id, Type FROM Catalog WHERE Query = '{"items_for_tax_query":{"tax_ids":["RBBPBDDSWHILRTI4VGPZJEZW"]}}'

SELECT Id, Type FROM Catalog WHERE Query = '{"item_variations_for_item_option_values_query":{"item_option_value_ids":["L3JZSQKCIEQ5YPBQ7SIDIFAJ"]}}'

Combine a filtering search with a sort in one CatalogQuery:

SELECT Id, Name FROM CatalogCategories WHERE Query = '{"prefix_query":{"attribute_name":"name","attribute_prefix":"App"},"sorted_attribute_query":{"attribute_name":"name","sort_order":"DESC"}}'

The filters can be combined in a single WHERE clause. The component merges them into one request, with SearchText folded into the CatalogQuery next to whatever the Query column supplies.

SELECT Id, Name FROM CatalogCategories WHERE SearchText = 'Appetizers' AND Query = '{"sorted_attribute_query":{"attribute_name":"name","sort_order":"ASC"}}' AND IncludeDeletedObjects = true

Insert

To create a category, you will need to specify the Name column.

INSERT INTO CatalogCategories (Name) VALUES ('Cat Created 2')

Update

Modify the details of an existing category by providing the Id:

UPDATE CatalogCategories SET Name = 'Cat Updated' WHERE Id = '1234'

Delete

Delete a category object by providing the Id:

DELETE FROM CatalogCategories WHERE Id = '32123'

Bulk Delete

The maximum BatchSize supported by CatalogCategories for a delete is 200. Note that this is lower than the 1000 Ids a batch retrieve accepts, because Square caps its catalog batch delete separately.

Stage the Ids of the categories to remove in a TEMP table, then delete them in a single request. Only the Id is needed on each staged row, and a row that supplies no Id is rejected before the request is sent.

INSERT INTO CatalogCategories#TEMP (Id) VALUES ('THDYAQN4MZGYQ3HKGKHVQ5AH')

INSERT INTO CatalogCategories#TEMP (Id) VALUES ('XZLYQNYQ7S6NQKVHZUNIQ66Q')

DELETE FROM CatalogCategories WHERE EXISTS SELECT Id FROM CatalogCategories#TEMP

A catalog batch delete succeeds even when only some of the Ids could be removed, and Square answers with the Ids it actually deleted. The component reports the outcome of every staged Id against that list, so query LastResultInfo#TEMP after the delete to see which rows were removed and which were not.

SELECT * FROM LastResultInfo#TEMP

Note: Deleting a catalog object also removes the objects that belong to it, such as the variations of an item or the modifiers of a modifier list. An Id staged alongside its parent can therefore report that it was not deleted, because the parent's removal had already taken it.

Note: The staged form shown above is required to reach the bulk delete endpoint. A DELETE FROM CatalogCategories WHERE Id = '...' statement removes the same category but issues one request per Id.

Columns

Name	Type	ReadOnly	Description
Id [KEY]	String	True	The category's ID.
Name	String	False	The category's name.
UpdatedAt	Datetime	True	Last modification timestamp.
IsDeleted	Boolean	False	If true, the object has been deleted from the database. When deleted, the UpdatedAt field will equal the deletion time.
PresentAtAllLocations	Boolean	False	If true, this object is present at all locations (including future locations), except where specified in the AbsentAtLocationIds field. If false, this object is not present at any locations (including future locations), except where specified in the PresentAtLocationIds field. If not specified, defaults to true.
PresentAtLocationIds	String	False	A list of locations where the object is present, even if PresentAtAllLocations is false.
AbsentAtLocationIds	String	False	A list of locations where the object is not present, even if PresentAtAllLocations is true.
Version	Int64	False	The version of the object. When updating an object, the version supplied must match the version in the database, otherwise the write will be rejected as conflicting.
CreatedAt	Datetime	True	Created timestamp.
CategoryIsTopLevel	Boolean	False	Is Top Level.
CatalogV1Ids	String	False	The Connect v1 IDs for this object at each location where it is present, where they differ from the object's Connect V2 ID.
OnlineVisibility	Boolean	False	Indicates whether the category is visible on the seller Square Online site.
ParentCategoryId	String	False	The ID of the parent category object.
ParentCategoryOrdinal	Int64	False	The sort order of this category within the parent category.
RootCategory	String	True	The ID of the top-level root category in this category hierarchy.
CategoryType	String	False	The type of the category. The allowed values are REGULAR_CATEGORY, MENU_CATEGORY, KITCHEN_CATEGORY.
ImageIds	String	False	The IDs of images associated with this category.
Channels	String	False	The IDs of channels, such as a Square Online site, where this category is available.
AvailabilityPeriodIds	String	False	The IDs of CatalogAvailabilityPeriod objects that define when this category is available.
EcomSeoDataPageTitle	String	False	The SEO title for the category page on the Square Online store.
EcomSeoDataPageDescription	String	False	The SEO description for the category page on the Square Online store.
EcomSeoDataPermalink	String	False	The SEO-friendly URL slug for the category page on the Square Online store.
PathToRoot	String	True	The ordered list of ancestor categories from this category up to the root of the hierarchy. Empty for root categories.

Pseudocolumns

Pseudo column fields are used in the WHERE clause of SELECT statements (unless stated otherwise) and offer a more granular control over the tuples that are returned from the data source.

Name	Type	Description
IncludeDeletedObjects	Boolean	If true, deleted objects are included in results.
SearchText	String	A keyword to search for across the searchable attributes of a catalog object, such as name, description, and SKU. Matching is case-insensitive, and keywords of fewer than three alphanumeric characters are ignored. Use IN to supply up to three keywords, which are combined with AND in any order; Square rejects a fourth.
Query	String	A Square CatalogQuery object, supplied as JSON, giving full access to every search Square offers. Any of exact_query, prefix_query, range_query, sorted_attribute_query, and text_query may be set together. Each of set_query, items_for_tax_query, items_for_modifier_list_query, items_for_item_options_query, item_variations_for_item_option_values_query, and modifiers_for_child_list_query must be the only search set. This table returns only CATEGORY objects, so a search that matches other catalog types returns no rows. Do not set text_query here; this table builds it from the SearchText column.