Troubleshoot Product Catalog Errors & Warnings
Each product catalog has a health score that indicates which, if any, problems are present in your catalog. Issues can appear at any stage: when the file is uploaded or connected, after it is processed, or when your partners try to view and promote your products. Use this guide to work through problems at each stage and get your catalog into the excellent range.
Tip: A healthy catalog is about more than clearing errors. Follow the Product Catalog Best Practices to keep your data complete, well-structured, and set up for strong visibility and performance.
Catalog health scores
From the left navigation menu, select
[Engage] → Content → Products → Product Catalogs.If a catalog has any errors, warnings, or duplicate line items, the Health column shows how many of each are present.
Upload methods that automatically fetch the catalog update on their own the next time a fetch event happens.
Health descriptions
Pending
Your product catalog is awaiting its first upload or data fetch.
Processing
Your product catalog is being processed.
Excellent
Indicates a healthy catalog. This product data set is complete and well-structured, giving it the best chance of performing effectively.
Good
Indicates that certain suggested fields containing crucial data, like category or description, could be missing. Addressing these gaps improves the overall quality of your catalog.
Poor
Indicates that required information is missing in more than 10% of the records you provided. This catalog must be fixed and re-uploaded.
Troubleshoot upload & connection issues
Before a catalog can be processed, impact.com must successfully receive it. The steps below are grouped by the upload method you selected when creating the catalog. If you are not sure which method is in use, select the catalog and review its Upload Method settings.
Direct Upload
Direct Upload issues are usually a format or file-name mismatch, or a file that exceeds the 1 GB limit.
Wrong format selected
The format you chose (for example, TXT) does not match the file you uploaded (for example, XML).
Re-upload and select the format that matches your file. XML files use the .xml extension, CSV files use .csv, and TAB-delimited files use .txt.
File name mismatch
The name of the file you uploaded must exactly match the Upload File Name set in your catalog settings, including the extension.
Rename your file, or update the Upload File Name so the two match exactly.
Compressed file won't process
impact.com supports gzip and standard zip-compressed files. A compressed file can use a second extension to denote compression, for example catalog.xml.gz.
Confirm your compression type is gzip or zip, and that the file uses the correct extensions for both its format and its compression.
impact.com FTP server
Most FTP issues come down to connection settings or credentials.
Can't connect to the server
Confirm you are connecting to host products.impact.com on port 21.
Update your FTP client with the correct host and port, then reconnect.
Missing FTP credentials
You need the FTP login and password issued for your account to connect.
Locate your FTP Product Data System credentials in your account's technical configuration settings. If you cannot find or access them, contact support.
Pull From URL
Supported protocols for Pull From URL are http://, https://, ftp://, and sftp://. If your catalog isn't loading, updating, or processing correctly, use the table below to identify and resolve the issue.
URL isn't a direct download link
Open your URL in a browser. If it redirects to a login page, a cloud storage landing page, or returns a 404 or 403 error, the URL is not a direct download link.
Update the URL to one that downloads the file directly or displays it as raw data when opened in a browser.
File name mismatch
The Upload File Name in your catalog settings must exactly match the actual file name at the URL, including the extension (.csv, .xml, .txt, .gz).
Update the Upload File Name to match your file name exactly. A small mismatch causes a No catalog found for the request error.
Format or delimiter mismatch
Confirm that the format selected (CSV, TXT, XML, GMC) matches your file. If you use a delimited file, confirm the delimiter (comma, tab, pipe) matches what's configured.
Correct the format or delimiter in your catalog settings. A mismatch causes No valid records found errors.
FTP/SFTP: invalid credentials or path
Verify that your URL uses the format sftp://{username}:{password}@{host}/{file_path}. The path must point to the exact file, not just a directory. Special characters in credentials must be URL-encoded (for example, @ becomes %40).
Test your credentials with an FTP client such as FileZilla. Update the URL with corrected credentials and the full file path.
Pull times out or fails to connect
Your server's firewall may be blocking impact.com's requests.
Contact your hosting provider or IT team to allowlist impact.com's IP address ranges.
URL requires authentication
This upload method does not support session-based or cookie-based authentication.
Use a publicly accessible direct download URL, HTTP Basic Auth embedded in the URL (https://user:pass@host/path), or FTP/SFTP with credentials in the URL. If your feed requires browser-based login, switch your catalog to a different upload method, such as Direct Upload or the impact.com FTP server.
URL exceeds 2,048 characters
Signed cloud storage URLs can exceed the 2,048-character limit and may be truncated.
Use a URL shortener that preserves the direct download, or host the file at a shorter URL.
Catalog stuck in Processing or Pending
Check whether the file is still accessible at the URL and whether the file size is unusually large for your pull frequency.
Verify the file is available. If the catalog remains in Processing or Pending, contact support to request a manual reprocess.
Catalog stopped auto-updating
Check whether the file is still available at the same URL, and whether the file name, format, or server access settings have changed.
Restore the file at the original URL, or update your catalog settings to reflect the new URL or file name. For large catalogs (1,000,000+ items), consider reducing the pull frequency to avoid timeouts.
Fields or data missing after upload
Confirm that your field names match the selected format's specification, for example Google Merchant Center fields for GMC format. Map custom fields outside the standard specification to impact.com's custom field slots (Numeric1, Text1, and so on).
Download your uploaded catalog from impact.com and compare it to your source file to find where data is being lost. Update field names or mappings as needed, then re-upload.
Integrated Shopping Cart Import
This method pulls your catalog from an existing e-commerce platform. Most connection problems come down to incorrect credentials or missing read permissions. Select your platform below.
If you see an error such as Unsuccessful HTTP status code when connecting to Shopify: 401 or No valid records found in the catalog file, your authentication details or permissions are usually the cause.
Your password must be the Admin API access token, which starts with
shpat_(orshap_). You'll find it in your Shopify Admin under Apps → API Credentials → Admin API access token.If you don't see the Admin API access token, select Install app in Shopify to generate it.
Confirm the
read_productspermission (scope) is granted to the app. Without it, Shopify returns an error stating the action requires merchant approval for theread_productsscope.For collections, find the collection ID in your Shopify Admin under Products → Collections. Select the collection; its ID appears at the end of the page URL.
For full setup steps, see the Shopify product catalog integration guide.
If you see Connection to WooCommerce was unsuccessful. Please try again, check your credentials and API settings.
Your API Username is your WooCommerce Consumer Key, and your API Password is your Consumer Secret.
Enable the Legacy REST API in WooCommerce: WooCommerce → Settings → Advanced → Legacy API, then select the checkbox to enable it.
For reference, see the WooCommerce REST API documentation.
Connecting BigCommerce requires two values and the correct read-only permissions.
Enter your Store Hash and Access Token in the impact.com UI. Your store hash is the identifier in your store's API path.
Set the Products and Information & settings permissions to read-only when you create the API account in BigCommerce.
For reference, see BigCommerce's guide to creating API tokens.
Your Shoplazza private app needs read access to the following resources: product, collection, and shop.
For setup steps, see Shoplazza's guide to building private apps.
Troubleshoot errors & warnings after upload
Once a file is received, impact.com validates each record. Errors prevent records from being processed, while warnings flag data that was accepted but may cause problems. Use the sections below to interpret and resolve them.
View errors & warnings
In the Health column, select the errors, warnings, or duplicates link.
You'll be redirected to a page with more detail. Only the first item in a set of duplicates is represented in impact.com; all items duplicating the first are ignored.
Optionally, use the Search field and filters at the top of the page to sort through the issues.
Review the issues and make changes as required, then re-upload your product catalog.
Filter descriptions
Error Type
Filter specifically for Errors, Warnings, Duplicates, or All issues.
Required
Filter for any specific missing required product catalog fields, or All fields.
Suggested
Filter for any specific missing recommended product catalog fields, or All fields.
Invalid
Filter for any specific validation-based error, such as a duplicate SKU, an invalid Google Category Code, or other errors.
Common error & warning messages
Record 'X': Required field(s) missing: (field name)
The specified line is missing one or more required fields.
Record 'X': CatalogItemId(CatalogItemId): Required field(s) missing: (field name)
A line in the data file is missing a required field.
No catalog found for the request. Check if the file name of uploaded file is the same as the one registered with the catalog
The Upload File Name set in the Upload Method section when creating the catalog doesn't exactly match the name of the file you uploaded.
No attributes present in the catalog file
The product catalog data file doesn't have any processable data.
Catalog item with ID occurs more than once in the catalog, and those after the first will be ignored
Two or more items have the same ID. All products require a unique value, and duplicate items are not processed.
Record 'X' has an error: (line X) invalid char between encapsulated token and delimiter
A line contains an invalid use of double quotes. Enclose the field in double quotes and replace all other double quotes with two double quotes.
(Startline X) EOF reached before encapsulated token finished
EOF means "end of file". The start line mentioned has an opening double quote without a closing double quote, or an unexpected line break interrupted the data stream.
Error parsing (catalog type) field: with value: (field)
The product field is invalid and cannot be accepted.
Record (recordNumber) has an error: The number of delimited values (FieldsLength) does not match the expected (ColumnNamesLength)
For a given row, data exists in a column that has no header.
No valid records were found in the catalog file
The data file is empty, the data detected isn't valid, or the file name specified is incorrect.
More than 10% of the records in the file had errors
The data file cannot be processed if this occurs. See Understand the 10% error threshold below.
The processing failed because of an internal system error...
No action is required from you. The last catalog that processed successfully continues to be available to media partners. Refer to the impact.com status page for details on service interruptions.
Field (field name) with value (field value) does not have a valid protocol
The field value is not a properly formatted URL.
Formatting & delimiter warnings
Delimiter issues: a wrong comma, tab, or empty line breaks the boundary between fields.
Correct the delimiter usage in the catalog file so each field is separated consistently, then re-upload.
New lines in a description field break record processing.
New lines are not supported in delimited text formats (CSV and TSV). Remove line breaks from text fields such as descriptions before uploading.
Google Merchant Center format errors
If you use the Google Merchant Center (GMC) format, most issues arise around the format's Category section, predefined field values, or the XML structure.
When you select errors on the Product Catalogs screen, you may see Missing Google Product Category in the Suggestions column. This means no Google Category Code or full Google category string was included in your catalog.
To resolve this, refer to your Google Merchant Center account. Google automatically suggests categories for items; use these suggestions when uploading the corrected catalog.
When you select errors on the Product Catalogs screen, you may see Google Product Category Mismatch in the Invalid column. This means the category used for items in your catalog does not match the expected taxonomy code (for example, 7386) or the full category format Google provides, for example:
Animals & Pet Supplies > Pet Supplies > Bird Supplies > Bird Cage Accessories > Bird Cage Food & Water Dishes
To resolve this, correct the format in which the Google Product Categories are listed, then re-upload your catalog.
An error such as Could not parse field: availability with value means a predefined field is using a value GMC doesn't recognize. For GMC catalogs, categories and values must be exact.
Use
availabilityfor the availability field.Supported availability values are
in_stock,out_of_stock,preorder, andbackorder.Check for special symbols that can affect formatting, such as a currency symbol appearing in a value field.
If you upload a Google Merchant Center (XML format) catalog and see No valid records found in the catalog file. Please fix file and re-upload, the XML structure is likely incorrect.
The XML file must contain rss, RDF, or feed in its starting element. Correct the root element and re-upload.
eBay Commerce Merchant Center format: In a .csv file, replace the spaces in the field column values (categories) with underscores. For example, use Item_Title rather than Item Title.
Understand the 10% error threshold
If more than 10% of the records in an uploaded file contain errors, the file is not processed. When this happens:
Your catalog continues to show the version from the last successful upload, so an older last successful submission timestamp is expected.
The View Products option only appears if a file was previously uploaded successfully for that catalog ID.
Fix the flagged records so fewer than 10% contain errors, then re-upload.
Make your catalog available to partners
A healthy catalog still won't reach your partners until you make it available and meet the requirements for partner visibility. Use this section if your catalog processed successfully but partners are encountering issues with visibility, product access, or tracking links.
Partners can't see the catalog
Check the following two settings:
Make sure the catalog is available for use:
Select
[Engage] → Content → Products → Product Catalogs and find the catalog.Select
[More] and then choose Make Available for Use.
Check whether partner access is restricted:
Select
[Engage] → Content → Products → Product Catalogs and find the catalog.Hover over the catalog, then select Edit.
In the Restrict Partner Access section, check whether Allow access to only specific Partners is
toggled on.If it is,
toggle it off and select Save.
Partners can't see or search specific products
For a product to be visible in the partner UI, it must meet all of the following requirements:
The original price is greater than $2.00 USD.
The product's Stock Availability is not Out of Stock.
The product has a valid product URL that leads to a live product details page.
The product has an image URL.
The product is in a catalog without rules applied.
Partner tracking links return a "malformed" error
If partners see "The link you clicked on is malformed" when using tracking links from your products, deep linking is usually not enabled, or the product's landing page domain isn't set as a permitted domain. To enable deep linking, set your permitted domains, and resolve this error, see Set Up Permitted Domains for Deep Linking.
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