Articles on: Shopify

Auto publish or hide and archive products

Automatically control product visibility and lifecycle states based on real-time stock levels. Configure rules to publish restocked products as live or automatically archive, unpublish, or unlist sold-out items across your store and sales channels.


Available on: ✔️ Update


This feature is available in Step 4: Advanced Settings of Update feeds. If the Published field is mapped in Step 2: Matching Column, automated publish and hide actions are disabled. Unmap the Published field to use these settings.



How to Set Up Product Lifecycle Automation


Go to App → Feed Settings → Step 4: Advanced Settings


  1. Verify Inventory Tracking: Go to Step 2: Matching Column → Quantity → Smart Settings and ensure Track Quantity / Inventory Tracked is enabled.
  2. Configure Auto Publish: Choose whether to publish restocked items for matched feed products or all filtered store products.
  3. Configure Out-of-Stock Actions: Select your preferred out-of-stock behavior under Auto archive products, Auto unpublish products, or Auto unlisted products.


Products published through Auto Publish are always set to live status, never draft.



Product Visibility Smart Settings / Detailed Breakdown


1. Auto Publish Products

Restores product visibility on your storefront whenever at least one variant has an inventory quantity greater than zero.


(a) No Action

Does not alter the publishing state of any products.


Auto Publish No Action


Select this option if you prefer to manage product publishing manually in your store admin.


(b) Matching Products Within a Feed File

Automatically publishes matching products from the feed file as live if at least one variant has a quantity greater than zero.


Auto Publish Matching Products


For example: If your supplier updates five items with available inventory, only those five products will be published as live.


Auto Publish Match Feed Example


(c) All Filtered Products in Store

Evaluates all store products matching your Step 3 filters and automatically publishes them if any variant has a quantity greater than zero.


Auto Publish Filtered Products


For example: To publish only two updated items, configure a store filter for those specific products and select this option.


Auto Publish Filter Example


2. Auto Archive Products

Removes products from the storefront by changing their status to Archived while retaining them in your store admin dashboard.


Auto-archiving triggers only when all variants have zero quantity across all locations and Continue selling when out of stock is disabled.


(a) No Action

Leaves current product lifecycle statuses unchanged.


Auto Archive No Action


Select this option if you want out-of-stock items to remain in their current Active or Draft state.


(b) Matching Products Within a Feed File

Archives only products matched from the current feed file where all variant quantities are zero or less.


Auto Archive Matching Products


For example: If a supplier feed updates five matched items with zero stock, only those five products are archived.


Auto Archive Match Feed Example


(c) All Filtered Products in Store

Archives all store products matching your Step 3 filters if all variant quantities across all locations are zero or less and overselling is disabled.


Auto Archive Filtered Products


For example: To archive only two specific zero-stock products, target them using Store Product Filters and select this option.


Auto Archive Filter Example


3. Auto Unpublish Products

Unpublishes products from all sales channels so customers cannot view or purchase them, while keeping the product records active in your store dashboard.


Unpublishing occurs only when all variant quantities are zero across all locations and Continue selling when out of stock is disabled.


(a) No Action

Does not modify sales channel visibility for out-of-stock items.


Auto Unpublish No Action


Select this option if you prefer to keep out-of-stock items visible on sales channels.


(b) Matching Products Within a Feed File

Automatically unpublishes matched feed items from all sales channels when their variant quantities are zero or less.


Auto Unpublish Matching Products


For example: If five matched products in the incoming feed file have zero quantity, those five products will be unpublished.


Auto Unpublish Match Feed Example


(c) All Filtered Products in Store

Automatically unpublishes all store products within your Step 3 filter scope if all variants across all locations have zero or negative stock.


Auto Unpublish Filtered Products


For example: Target two out-of-stock products with a store filter to unpublish only those two items from sales channels.


Auto Unpublish Filter Example


4. Auto Unlisted Products

Unlists products by removing them from public store navigation, collections, and search results while keeping them accessible via direct URL and active in your store backend.


Unlisting triggers only when all variant quantities are zero across all locations and Continue selling when out of stock is disabled.


(a) Matching Products Within a Feed File

Automatically unlists matching products from the feed file when their variant quantities are zero or less.


Auto Unlist Matching Products


For example: If five matched products in the incoming feed have zero quantity, they will be automatically unlisted from public view.


Auto Unlist Match Feed Example


(b) All Filtered Products in Store

Automatically unlists all store products that meet your Step 3 filter conditions when all variants across all locations have zero or negative stock.


Auto Unlist Filtered Products


For example: Target two specific zero-stock products using store filters to unlist only those items from public storefront listings.


Auto Unlist Filter Example



Key Rules & Technical Details


  • Field Mapping Override: Mapping the Published field in Step 2: Matching Column overrides and disables auto-publish, auto-unpublish, and auto-archive rules.
  • Shopify Overselling Priority: If Continue selling when out of stock is enabled in Shopify, the product remains active and published regardless of whether stock drops to zero.
  • Multi-Location Evaluation: Stock Sync evaluates inventory across all locations. If any single location has a quantity greater than zero, the product will not be archived, unpublished, or unlisted.
  • Metafield Independence: Automated archiving does not evaluate metafield values (such as incoming inventory or restock due dates); decisions are based purely on physical quantity and overselling status.
  • Discontinued Feeds: If products disappear from a feed rather than reporting zero quantity, check any linked Auto Clear Discontinued Remove Feeds or the Out of Stock Strategy, which handle missing items independently.


Troubleshooting Steps


  • Issue: Products with available stock are being archived → Solution: Ensure Auto archive products is not set to evaluate non-zero items, verify that inventory tracking is active on all locations, and check if a linked Remove Feed is removing products no longer found in the feed file.
  • Issue: Sold-out products remain live and active → Solution: Confirm that Continue selling when out of stock is disabled in Shopify and that variant stock is zero across all locations.
  • Issue: Auto-publish and auto-unpublish settings are greyed out or not working → Solution: Go to Step 2: Matching Column and remove any mapping on the Published field.
  • Issue: Restocked products are published as drafts instead of live listings → Solution: Enable Auto publish products in Step 4, which ensures restocked items are republished directly as live.



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Updated on: 28/10/2026

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