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

# Data ingestion overview

> The ways product data gets into MerchantOps, from the dashboard to the API.

Before you can enrich, price, or publish a product, it has to exist in your
catalog. This page covers the ways product data gets into MerchantOps and points
you to the details for each. For the vocabulary used here — product, variant,
attribute, [Job](/getting-started/concepts), enrichment — see
[Core concepts](/getting-started/concepts).

Everything you ingest lands as [products](/catalog/products-variants) scoped to
your organization, validated against a
[product type](/catalog/product-types-properties). Batch imports and enrichment
create a [Job](/jobs/overview) you can monitor for progress and per-row errors.

## Ways to add products

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="In the dashboard" icon="table-cells">
    Create a product by hand, filling in its name, brand, product type, and
    attributes. Best for one-off additions and corrections.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Paste a product URL" icon="link">
    Point MerchantOps at a product page and it creates the product, then
    [enriches](/enrichment/how-it-works) it from that page and the brand site.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Upload a CSV" icon="file-csv" href="/data-ingestion/uploading-products">
    Bring in many products at once from a spreadsheet export. Columns map to
    product fields and attributes; the batch runs as a tracked Job.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Import connectors" icon="arrows-rotate" href="/data-ingestion/import-connectors">
    Scheduled, automated feeds — for example a nightly file drop over SFTP —
    that keep your catalog in sync with a partner or ERP system.
  </Card>

  <Card title="The API" icon="code" href="/tools/cli">
    Create products programmatically, one at a time or in batches, from your own
    systems or the [`mo` CLI](/tools/cli).
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Which method to use

| You want to...                       | Use                                                    |
| ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| Add or fix a single product          | The dashboard                                          |
| Enrich from a known product page     | Paste a product URL                                    |
| Load a batch from a spreadsheet      | [CSV upload](/data-ingestion/uploading-products)       |
| Keep a catalog continuously in sync  | [Import connectors](/data-ingestion/import-connectors) |
| Wire ingestion into your own systems | The [API](/tools/cli)                                  |

<Note>
  There is also a shared [Lakehouse](/data-ingestion/lakehouse) — a knowledge base
  of product, technology, and document data that enrichment draws on. It is not a
  way to add products to your catalog directly; it is a source enrichment consults
  to fill them in.
</Note>

## What happens after ingestion

However a product arrives, the flow is the same:

<Steps>
  <Step title="The product is created and validated">
    MerchantOps checks it against its [product type](/catalog/product-types-properties)
    and initializes its attributes.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enrichment runs, if requested">
    You can ask for enrichment at ingestion time — searching the
    [Lakehouse](/data-ingestion/lakehouse), scraping the brand site, and
    generating missing content. See [How enrichment works](/enrichment/how-it-works).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Progress is tracked as a Job">
    Batch imports and enrichment create a [Job](/jobs/overview) with live counts
    of processed, succeeded, and failed items, plus per-row error detail.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Uploading products" icon="file-csv" href="/data-ingestion/uploading-products">
    Column mapping, batch imports, and how uploads become products.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Import connectors" icon="arrows-rotate" href="/data-ingestion/import-connectors">
    Scheduled feeds that import a partner or ERP catalog automatically.
  </Card>

  <Card title="The Lakehouse" icon="database" href="/data-ingestion/lakehouse">
    The shared knowledge base enrichment reads from.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Jobs" icon="list-check" href="/jobs/overview">
    Track the progress of any batch import or enrichment run.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>