> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.interchange.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Catalog

> Your product list as a feed — so ads can show the real things you sell

## Overview

A **catalog** is an advertiser's structured list of what it sells — products,
offerings, job openings, hotels, vehicle or real-estate listings — made
available to the platform as a feed. Once a catalog is synced, sellers can
build ads from the actual items: a product carousel showing four of your
dresses with live prices and photos, instead of one static banner. Catalog
data also closes the measurement loop — conversion events reference item IDs
from the catalog, so purchases attribute back to the items that were shown.

You don't build anything to have a catalog. If you run a store, you already
have one — it's your product list. Getting it onto the platform is a matter of
exporting or pointing at a feed you already have.

## Getting your feed

A catalog is sourced one of two ways — a remote `url` the platform re-fetches
on a schedule, or `items` supplied inline in the sync request. Each catalog
uses one or the other, never both.

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Shopify store" icon="bag-shopping">
    Two options, no app required:

    * **Product export CSV** — in the Shopify admin, go to **Products →
      Export**, choose **All products** and **CSV for Excel, Numbers, or other
      spreadsheet programs**. Shopify emails you a download link. That CSV is a
      supported feed as-is with `feed_format: "shopify"` — the standard export
      columns (`Handle`, `Title`, `Vendor`, `Variant Price`, `Image Src`, …)
      parse directly. Supply the rows as inline `items`, or host the file at a
      URL.
    * **Public JSON feed** — many Shopify stores expose their products at
      `https://your-store.com/products.json`. If yours does, use that as the
      feed `url`; a JSON feed with a top-level `products` array parses
      natively.

    If you already run a feed app (for example the Google & YouTube sales
    channel), you can reuse the URL it generates — but note those apps emit
    Google Merchant Center format, so set `feed_format:
            "google_merchant_center"`, not `"shopify"`.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Google Merchant Center" icon="google">
    Point the feed `url` at your existing Merchant Center feed (XML or CSV)
    with `feed_format: "google_merchant_center"`.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Meta / Facebook catalog" icon="facebook">
    Reuse your Facebook catalog feed URL with `feed_format:
            "facebook_catalog"`.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Job feeds" icon="briefcase">
    LinkedIn Jobs XML feeds are supported with `feed_format: "linkedin_jobs"`
    and `type: "job"`.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Anything else" icon="file-csv">
    `feed_format: "custom"` accepts JSON, XML, or CSV. Non-standard field
    names can be normalized with feed field mappings.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Key fields

| Field               | Type   | Notes                                                                                                                               |
| ------------------- | ------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `catalog_id`        | string | Your identifier for the catalog — creatives and campaigns reference it                                                              |
| `type`              | enum   | What the items are: `product`, `offering`, `job`, `hotel`, `flight`, `vehicle`, `real_estate`, `education`, `destination`, and more |
| `url`               | string | Remote feed URL — provide this **or** `items`                                                                                       |
| `items`             | array  | Inline feed rows (max 10,000) — provide this **or** `url`                                                                           |
| `feed_format`       | enum   | `shopify`, `google_merchant_center`, `facebook_catalog`, `linkedin_jobs`, `custom`                                                  |
| `update_frequency`  | enum   | How often a URL feed is re-fetched: `realtime`, `hourly`, `daily`, `weekly`                                                         |
| `conversion_events` | array  | Event types (e.g. `purchase`, `add_to_cart`) attributed to items in this catalog                                                    |

## Lifecycle

1. **Sync** — push the catalog with
   [Sync catalogs](/v2/buyer/advertisers/tasks/sync-catalogs). Up to 50
   catalogs per call; the response reports per-catalog `action`
   (`created` / `updated` / `unchanged`) and per-item review counts.
2. **Review** — items are validated and content-reviewed. Rejections come back
   in `item_issues` with a field-level reason (for example an unreachable
   image URL), so you can fix the feed and re-sync.
3. **Use** — campaigns and creatives reference the catalog by `catalog_id`;
   catalog-driven formats render items dynamically.
4. **Refresh** — URL feeds re-fetch on their `update_frequency`;
   [Refresh catalog](/v2/buyer/advertisers/tasks/refresh-catalog) re-fetches
   on demand and creates a new version when the data changed.

Beyond referencing items in creatives, a catalog can drive campaign creation
itself: **catalog activation** fans items out into campaign groups, budget
hints, and creative prompts via a saved transform. See
[Save catalog transform](/v2/buyer/advertisers/tasks/save-catalog-transform)
for the transform → preview → execute → refresh flow. The whole flow is also
available in the UI under **Data sources → Catalogs**.

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Sync catalogs" href="/v2/buyer/advertisers/tasks/sync-catalogs" icon="arrows-rotate">
    Push catalog feeds and items to an advertiser
  </Card>

  <Card title="List catalogs" href="/v2/buyer/advertisers/tasks/list-catalogs" icon="list-ul">
    See synced catalogs and their status
  </Card>

  <Card title="Save catalog transform" href="/v2/buyer/advertisers/tasks/save-catalog-transform" icon="shuffle">
    Fan catalog items out into campaigns
  </Card>

  <Card title="Glossary" href="/v2/concepts/glossary" icon="book-a">
    Catalog and catalog activation, defined
  </Card>
</CardGroup>