Children Products are not coming when the Visibility = Catalog in graphql if the Configurable product Visibility = Catalog

[zexperto]

Preconditions and environment

• Magento 2.4.8-p3

Steps to reproduce

1. Create configurable product: Visibility = Catalog
2. Create 2 children (choose any attribute, e.g. Color: Red/Blue). The number of children does not matter
3. The visibility of the children should be the same as the configurable product: Visibility = Catalog
4. Execute the following GraphQL query for a child product using search and filter
   query Products { products(search: "{child_sku}", filter: { url_key: { eq: "{child_url_key}" } }) { total_count items { sku } } }
5. Using this query, you will not see any results
6. Change the visibility of the configurable product only to "Search" or "Catalog, Search"
7. You will see a result (configurable item only)
8. Change the child product visibility to "Search"; you will see results for both the configurable product and the child product

Expected result

Whatever the configurable product visibility is, if the child products have visibility set to Search, Catalog, or Catalog, Search, we should get a result so the item can be retrieved on the product page.

Actual result

. Using this query, you will not see any results
. Change the visibility of the configurable product only to "Search" or "Catalog, Search"
. You will see a result (configurable item only)
. Change the child product visibility to "Search"; you will see results for both the configurable product and the child product

Additional information

No response

Release note

No response

Triage and priority

• Severity: S0 - Affects critical data or functionality and leaves users without workaround.
• Severity: S1 - Affects critical data or functionality and forces users to employ a workaround.
• Severity: S2 - Affects non-critical data or functionality and forces users to employ a workaround.
• Severity: S3 - Affects non-critical data or functionality and does not force users to employ a workaround.
• Severity: S4 - Affects aesthetics, professional look and feel, “quality” or “usability”.

[m2-assistant]

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[m2-assistant]

Hi @engcom-Bravo. Thank you for working on this issue.
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[engcom-Bravo]

Hi @zexperto,

Thanks for your reporting and collaboration.

We have tried to reproduce the issue in Latest 2.4-develop instance and seems to be an expected behaviour of magento.when we set product visibility as catalog The product is visible when browsing through category pages but does not appear in search results in that case we will not get any products in search results since we have set all the products to catalog.

When we change to "Search" or "Catalog, Search"

Search : The product is not visible when browsing categories but can be found using the store's search functionality

Catalog, Search : The product is fully visible and can be found by browsing category pages and through search results.

Could you please let us know if we are missing anything.

Thanks.

[zexperto]

Hello @engcom-Bravo

Thanks for checking this. I believe there is a misunderstanding around the use of the GraphQL products query and how visibility is applied in this context.

While the field name contains search, this query is not intended to replicate storefront search behavior. In this case, the product is retrieved using an explicit filter by url_key, which is a deterministic identifier used to render the PDP in headless/PWA storefronts.

A product with visibility set to Catalog:

• Is enabled
• Has a valid PDP
• Is accessible via direct URL

Therefore, it must be retrievable via GraphQL when queried by url_key, regardless of whether it appears in storefront search results.
Additionally, the current behavior appears inconsistent:
Child products with Catalog visibility are not returned
Changing only the parent configurable’s visibility changes the GraphQL result set
This indicates the filtering is influenced by configurable product logic rather than solely by the child product’s visibility, which is undocumented and unexpected.
Expected behavior would be:
If a simple product (including a configurable child) is enabled and has visibility Catalog, Search, or Catalog, Search, it should be retrievable via GraphQL when explicitly filtered by url_key.
Otherwise, it becomes impossible to reliably resolve PDPs in headless implementations.

Please let me know if this aligns with the intended GraphQL design, or if this should be considered a bug in configurable product filtering.