How to prepare a product catalog CSV for CartKestrel

These seven fields are a research-recommended starting point for a useful product feed. They are preparation recommendations, not required columns in CartKestrel’s current importer: every catalog field is optional there. Blank or unmapped details can still be imported, and CartKestrel flags them on the affected rows for review.

For general feed examples, see Impresee’s CSV specification and Constructor’s CSV feed format. Those describe their own feeds; neither defines CartKestrel import requirements.

Id

Use a stable, unique product or variant identifier from your source catalog. Keep it as text so leading zeros are preserved. CartKestrel uses this value to recognize a previously imported row.

Title

Enter the product name shoppers and teammates will recognize.

Description

Include accurate, useful product details. Put long or multi-line descriptions in one properly quoted CSV cell.

Price

Use a non-negative number with a period for decimals, such as 12.50. Leave out currency symbols and thousands separators; CartKestrel does not infer or store a currency from this field.

URL

Use the full public product-page address, beginning with https:// or http://. Open it yourself to confirm it points to the intended product and option.

Image_url

Use a full public URL for the intended product image. Confirm it is accessible without a shop login and returns the image itself, not a private preview page.

Inventory_quantity

Use a non-negative whole number, such as 0 or 4. Zero means no units available; a blank value means unknown and is flagged as missing, not treated as zero.

These fields are optional in the current importer. Include them when they are useful in your own catalog, and use a consistent format across rows.

Category

Use the category or product group from your own catalog.

SKU

Add the stock-keeping unit you use for inventory work. CartKestrel stores SKU as a detail, but the current importer matches repeat imports by Id, not SKU.

Handle

Include a source handle if it helps you group related rows. CartKestrel saves it as text; it does not connect variants or a storefront through the handle.

Custom_metadata

Put other verified details in a consistent text format, such as material=cotton. CartKestrel stores this one field as text; it does not create or validate custom columns from its contents.

• Give each product row a stable Id from your source catalog and reuse that same value the next time you export it. Do not substitute CartKestrel’s private workspace record ID.
• If you represent variants as separate rows, give each row its own source Id. You can keep a shared Handle to indicate that the rows belong together in your own catalog.
• Keep leading zeros and capitalization in identifiers. Treat values such as 0012 as text, not as a number a spreadsheet can rewrite.
• A matching Id already saved for this shop is skipped, not updated. Changing a value in the CSV and importing that same Id again will not change the saved row.
• Rows without an Id can be imported, but CartKestrel cannot use a source Id to recognize them on a later import. SKU and Handle do not replace Id for repeat import matching.

Each CSV row becomes a saved catalog row. A Handle is useful context, but this import does not create a live parent-and-variant relationship in a connected shop.

• Save or export as UTF-8 CSV. CartKestrel accepts a comma or semicolon separator; choose the same separator shown in your file.
• Keep one header row and use clear column names, such as Id, Title, Image_url, and Inventory_quantity. Column order can vary because you map columns during import.
• If a value contains the selected separator, a line break, or a double quote, wrap the whole cell in double quotes and write an internal quote twice. For example: "Cotton, linen & wool".
• Check a few saved rows in a plain-text or CSV preview after exporting. Make sure spreadsheet software has not changed IDs, prices, quantities, or punctuation.
• Keep prices numeric with up to two decimal places and quantities as whole numbers. Confirm that product and image URLs are public and point where you expect; the importer does not open them to test their destination.

1. Sign in to your CartKestrel account and save a shop profile.
2. In your private catalog workspace, choose the CSV file. It must be 10 MiB or smaller and encoded as UTF-8.
3. Choose comma or semicolon to match the file, then map each CSV column to the catalog field it contains. You do not need to map unrelated columns.
4. Select Check file to validate and preview the rows. Review the row values, validation issues, and any missing-detail flags; correct invalid rows in your source file and upload the corrected CSV if needed.
5. Confirm the import only after you have reviewed the preview. Newly accepted rows are saved to this shop’s private workspace; matching existing Id values are skipped.

The importer allows the catalog fields to be blank. Missing or unmapped details are saved and flagged on each affected row, so review those flags instead of reading a blank as a confirmed value. A blank inventory quantity, for example, means unknown, not zero.

Importing saves the product rows you confirmed to your own private CartKestrel workspace. It does not connect a Shopify, WooCommerce, or other storefront, and it does not provide live catalog or stock access. It does not sync later changes. It does not enable live product-page, inventory, or stock monitoring. The import also does not open each URL or image to confirm that it loads.

Keep your source catalog as the current record. Use this guide to prepare a file, then sign in when you are ready to save a private copy for review.