Establishing catalog files in CSV, JSON or JSONL format and transmitting them via HTTP or FTPS is the preferred way to transmit a product catalog to Constructor. Here's a step-by-step guide to set up a product feed to the Constructor product discovery platform via the recommended CSV file format.

Step 1

Decide on an API or FTPS-based feed integration - see Product catalog.

Step 2

Create items (products), variations, and item groups (categories) files to define your catalog. A full catalog update may consist of the following components. While items and variations may be sent in CSV, JSONL or JSON formats, item groups may be sent only in CSV and JSON.

Items: Products shown as results on product listing pages (search, browse)

• CSV - CSV feed format - items (products) - defined within an items.csv file
• JSONL - JSON / JSONL feed format - items - defined within an items.jsonl file
• JSON - JSON / JSONL feed format - items- defined within an items.json file

Variations: Not all product catalogs have variations. Variations refer to child items that can be shown as swatches of top level results on product listing pages

• CSV - CSV feed format - variations - optionally defined within a variations.csv file
• JSONL - JSON / JSONL feed format - variations - defined within a variations.jsonl file
• JSON - JSON / JSONL feed format - variations - optionally defined within a variations.json file

Item groups: Hierarchy definition of groups for organizing products

• CSV - CSV feed format - item groups (categories) - optionally defined within an item_groups.csv file

Please continue with the FTPS or HTTP Catalog API step-by-step instructions below depending on your selected integration method.

FTPS

Note that the steps listed below are only required if uploading data via FTPS.

Step 3

If you're transferring files via FTPS and you have multiple files (for instance, an items / products feed and a groups /category feed), create a .tar.gz archive of them at the root of the archive (that is, not inside a directory). An example file is provided at the end of our FTPS connection and transfer details guide.

For help creating a .tar.gz archive, please refer to how do I create a gzipped tar archive?.

If you're transferring files via API, this step is not necessary.

Step 4

If using FTPS, create a role-based account like [email protected] via your customer dashboard and configure an FTP password. Upload the file to our ingestion system using FTPS using the credentials. We recommend using FileZilla to test the transfer process before setting up an automated system.

Please refer to the FTPS connection and transfer details guide for more information on how to connect to the FTPS server and upload files.

Step 5

Set up an automated process to send the feed at regular intervals. For FTPS integrations, this should use the account created in Step 5.

HTTP Catalog API

Note that the steps listed below are only required if uploading data via the HTTP Catalog API.

Step 3

If you are transferring files via the HTTP Catalog API, please refer to the API reference for instruction.

Step 4

Set up an automated process to send the feed at regular intervals.

Monitoring ingestion status

Catalog ingestion and upload status can be monitored on the Ingestion Status in your dashboard or using the Tasks endpoint of our API.