Advanced Settings for Update Feed
Automatically manage product visibility and lifecycle states based on real-time stock levels. Use these settings to auto-publish in-stock items across specific sales channels or automatically archive and hide out-of-stock products.
How to Set Up Product Visibility and Lifecycle Rules
Go to App → Feed Settings → Step 4: Advanced Settings
- Verify Prerequisites: Confirm that Track Quantity is enabled under Step 2: Matching Column by adding the Track Inventory field.
- Configure Auto-Publish: Choose your publishing trigger under Auto publish products and select target sales channels via Manage sales channel.
- Configure Archive or Hide Rules: Select the appropriate scope under Auto archive products or Auto unpublish/hide products to handle out-of-stock inventory.
Product Visibility Smart Settings / Detailed Breakdown
1. Auto Publish Products
Automatically publishes products to your store whenever at least one variant has a quantity greater than zero.
(a) No Action
Does not modify the publication state of any products.
(b) All Filtered Products in Store
Automatically publishes all products within the store that pass your Step 3 filters if any one of their variants has a quantity greater than zero.
(c) Matching Products Within a Feed File
Automatically publishes only products matched from the current feed file, provided their variant quantity is greater than zero.
(d) Manage Sales Channel
Select the exact sales channels where published products should appear.
2. Auto Archive Products
Automatically changes product status to Archived when all variant quantities reach zero across all locations and overselling is disabled.
(a) No Action
Leaves the current product status unchanged.
(b) All Filtered Products in Store
Automatically archives any product in your filtered store scope where variant quantities are zero or less across all locations, provided Continue selling when out of stock is disabled.
(c) Matching Products Within a Feed File
Automatically archives only items matched from the feed file whose scanned variant quantities are zero or negative.
3. Auto Unpublish/Hide Products
Automatically unpublishes or hides products from sales channels when all variant quantities are zero across all locations and overselling is disabled.
(a) No Action
Does not alter sales channel visibility for out-of-stock items.
(b) All Filtered Products in Store
Automatically unpublishes or hides all filtered store products if all variant quantities are zero or less across all locations, provided Continue selling when out of stock is disabled.
(c) Matching Products Within a Feed File
Automatically unpublishes or hides only items matched from the incoming feed file whose variant quantity is zero or less.
Key Rules & Technical Details
- Field Mapping Override: If the Published or Status field is mapped in Step 2: Matching Column, feed file values take absolute precedence, disabling these automated settings.
- Inventory Tracking Requirement: Products must have Track Quantity enabled in Shopify for Stock Sync to evaluate stock-based visibility triggers.
- Overselling Check: Auto-archive and auto-unpublish rules trigger only when "Continue selling when out of stock" is disabled in Shopify. If overselling is allowed, the product remains active and published regardless of quantity.
- Multi-Location Total: For products with multiple locations, Stock Sync checks total stock across all locations. If any location holds quantity greater than zero, the item is not hidden or archived.
- Execution Pipeline:
Troubleshooting Steps
- Issue: Products with zero stock remain published and visible → Solution: Confirm that Continue selling when out of stock is disabled in Shopify, and check that the product has zero quantity across all store locations.
- Issue: Auto-publish and auto-unpublish options are greyed out or ignored → Solution: Go to Step 2: Matching Column and remove the mapping for the Published or Status field so Step 4 automated controls can take effect.
- Issue: In-stock products are not automatically publishing → Solution: Verify that Track Inventory is mapped and active, and check under Manage sales channel to confirm your active storefront is selected.
- Issue: Unrelated catalog products were archived unexpectedly → Solution: Change the scope from All filtered products in store to Matching products within a feed file, or apply strict Store Product Filters in Step 3.
Good Articles to Continue
- How to Set Up Store Product Filters → Isolate specific vendors, tags, or collections to safely apply lifecycle and visibility rules.
- How to Set Up the Out of Stock Strategy → Automatically set missing feed products to zero quantity before running archive or unpublish actions.
- How to Set Up and Configure the Quantity Field → Manage inventory tracking and multi-location quantity configurations.
Updated on: 28/10/2026
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