Help for every step of the feed

What BridgeSFTP does

BridgeSFTP is an independent Shopify app for product feed operations. It scans the complete active catalog, explains which products can be included, validates required feed fields, and delivers a compressed complete snapshot to the SFTP destination created in OpenAI Ads Manager. It does not create the Ads Manager feed connection, campaigns, budgets, or ad spend, and does not prove downstream processing.

Complete workflow:

1. Scan every active Shopify parent product.
2. Review live products, eligible variants, exclusions, and feed-quality issues.
3. Review the recommended plan.
4. Create the product feed in Ads Manager and copy its SFTP credentials.
5. Save and test the connection.
6. Start daily delivery or run a manual sync.
7. Review the transport result in Sync activity.
8. Confirm processing, product counts, and errors separately in Ads Manager.

Before you begin

Concise checklist:

• Permission to install and approve Shopify apps
• Access to Ads Manager product feeds
• An SFTP connection created there
• Permission to copy the generated username and password or register a public key
• Product data authorized for advertising

Install BridgeSFTP

Installation steps:

1. Open the App Store listing from the intended Shopify store.
2. Confirm the store name.
3. Review requested product and legal-policy permissions.
4. Approve installation.
5. Open BridgeSFTP from Shopify Admin.

Note: The app does not request customer records, orders, payment cards, or campaign spend data.

Run your first Catalog Audit

Catalog Audit is free, uploads nothing, and activates no paid delivery plan. The scan covers the complete active catalog, not a five-product sample.

Steps to run an audit:

1. Open the dashboard.
2. Select Scan my store.
3. Let the scan begin and note large catalogs may continue through Shopify bulk processing.
4. Open Products when complete.
5. Review scanned parent products, live products, eligible variants, exclusions, and needs-attention items.
6. Open Feed quality.

Read the dashboard

Complete the four-step setup

Four-step setup summary:

1. Audit the catalog
2. Review the plan
3. Connect the feed
4. Start delivery

Eligible variants stay with the parent and do not create separate charges, the connection should be tested before delivery, and processing must be confirmed in Ads Manager.

How the complete catalog scan works

BridgeSFTP uses Shopify bulk operations to examine the complete active catalog, including parent products, variants, media, collections, availability, pricing, identifiers, and policy fields. The scan updates Products and Feed quality but uploads no file, replaces no feed, and starts no ad spend.

Recommendation: Run a fresh scan after large imports, major inventory changes, collection-rule changes, or before changing plans.

What counts as a live product

A live product is a coverable active Shopify parent product included in the feed. A product is coverable when BridgeSFTP can create at least one eligible feed row and no blocking product-level validation error remains.

Live parent products determine the plan; variant count affects feed size but not merchant charges.

Parent products, variants, and plan counts

Example: One T-shirt with five eligible size variants counts as one live product for the plan. All five variants can be included in the feed, and repeated daily snapshots add no product charges.

BridgeSFTP never drops a coverable product to keep a store in a cheaper plan. If the complete live catalog exceeds the active plan allowance, feed delivery is blocked until the merchant reviews and approves a suitable plan in Shopify.

Ready, active, excluded, and needs-attention products

Note: Draft and archived products are not part of the active catalog scan, and missing required attributes create a needs-attention blocker, not an exclusion.

Fix blocking feed errors

Common blockers:

• Missing or unusable title or description
• Invalid price or compare-at relationship
• Missing required image
• No eligible variant
• Unsupported or inconsistent availability
• Missing identifiers or required policy fields

Steps to fix blocking errors:

1. Open Feed quality.
2. Select the blocker.
3. Open the product in Shopify.
4. Correct and save source data.
5. Run a new scan.
6. Confirm Ready or Active.

Review recommendations and exclusions

Recommendations can improve quality without blocking delivery. Deliberate exclusions come from configured rules.

Action priority:

• Fix blockers before delivery.
• Review recommendations by priority.
• Change an exclusion only when the product should enter the feed.

Product rules, inventory, and availability

Supported feed rules apply during every complete snapshot so delivery is deterministic.

Five safe-change steps:

1. Record current rule and expected count.
2. Save the new rule.
3. Run a complete scan.
4. Compare live, excluded, and eligible-variant counts.
5. Review representative products before upload.

Do not use product selection to create an artificial plan limit. Every coverable parent product is included automatically.

Create the product feed in OpenAI Ads Manager

BridgeSFTP does not create the feed connection inside Ads Manager. Create the destination in Ads Manager first, then enter those credentials into BridgeSFTP.

Five setup steps:

1. Open product feeds in Ads Manager.
2. Create or open the intended feed.
3. Choose SFTP delivery.
4. Copy the generated username and password or register the BridgeSFTP public key.
5. Keep Ads Manager available for later processing verification.

Connect with an SFTP username and password

Seven connection steps:

1. Open BridgeSFTP in the intended Shopify store.
2. Confirm the store name.
3. Open connection settings.
4. Paste the complete Ads Manager username.
5. Paste the password.
6. Save.
7. Select Test connection.

Note: The password is encrypted before storage and is never returned to the browser by later page loads.

Connect with an SSH public key

This option is for destinations supporting public-key authentication.

Five key steps:

1. Reveal the BridgeSFTP public key.
2. Copy the full key including type and label.
3. Register it on the intended Ads Manager SFTP connection.
4. Save remaining destination settings.
5. Run Test connection.

Test the SFTP connection safely

The test signs in and lists the configured destination directory. It does not upload, replace, or delete a feed file. A successful test confirms authentication and directory reachability only.

Five failure checks:

1. Intended feed credentials.
2. No leading or trailing spaces in fields.
3. Correct path and authentication method.
4. Matching SHA-256 host-key fingerprint if pinning is enabled.
5. Retry once and capture the visible error without credentials.

Start the daily feed

Four requirements to start:

• Completed Catalog Audit
• Tested SFTP connection
• Active plan covering the complete live parent-product count
• Production delivery enabled

BridgeSFTP creates complete deterministic snapshots, not incremental patches. Automatic daily refresh stays required for configured feeds.

Run a manual sync

Selecting Sync now creates a current complete snapshot before the next daily refresh. A manual sync can start only when no catalog scan, upload, redelivery, or scheduled retry is already active.

Understand Sync activity

Six labeled job states:

Note: Uploaded to SFTP means the remote file exists and byte size matches the local snapshot. It does not prove Ads Manager processing, approval, serving, impressions, or sales.

Confirm processing in Ads Manager

Five post-upload steps:

1. Open the same feed in Ads Manager.
2. Confirm latest processing time.
3. Compare expected product or row count.
4. Review feed errors and rejected items.
5. Confirm the feed is active for its intended use.

Download or redeliver a retained feed version

Retained versions appear under Feed versions and support auditing, comparison, download, or safe redelivery.

Five checks before redelivery:

1. Correct store and feed.
2. Product count, creation time, and hash.
3. Current plan still covers delivery.
4. No active upload or retry.
5. Replacing the destination with that exact snapshot is intentional.

How BridgeSFTP chooses a plan

BridgeSFTP scans the complete active catalog and counts every coverable parent product, then recommends the smallest current plan that covers the complete live count. The plan is not based on a sample, selected products, variant count, or upload count.

Before approval, BridgeSFTP displays the live parent-product count, matching plan, recurring monthly or annual price, and any Shopify-supported trial or discount. Shopify's approval screen is the final source of truth for the charge.

Catalog Audit and paid plan limits

Catalog Audit is free and scans and validates the complete active catalog but does not deliver a production feed.

Paid plans include a seven-day full-access trial. Eligible variants, daily refreshes, and repeated manual snapshots do not create extra product charges.

Trials, billing approval, and plan changes

Seven billing approval steps:

1. Run a fresh scan.
2. Review count and recommendation.
3. Choose monthly or annual.
4. Continue to Shopify.
5. Confirm exact price, trial, interval, and proration.
6. Approve or decline.
7. Return and confirm the active plan before delivery.

Declining does not start delivery or create a subscription. Plan changes begin inside BridgeSFTP but Shopify shows proration and effective date. A downgrade never silently removes products. If coverage exceeds the allowance, delivery pauses.

Promotions and grandfathered plans

Public discounts and trial extensions must appear in Shopify. Applying a promotion alone uploads no feed and creates no charge.

Versioned plan handles can keep an approved merchant on an older plan version while that subscription remains active, subject to Shopify billing rules. Changing plans, canceling and reinstalling, or accepting a disclosed migration can move the store to a current version.

Catalog scan problems

A catalog scan is still running:

Large catalogs use Shopify bulk operations to index products reliably.

Four resolution steps:

1. Check the latest job in Sync activity.
2. Do not start another scan during an active scan or scheduled retry.
3. Refresh after several minutes and review the job time.
4. If it persists beyond the visible recovery window, record store domain, job time, status, and visible error for support.

The scan found no live products:

Check for active products with at least one eligible variant. Review blockers such as missing images, prices, availability, or inventory, and check for deliberate exclusion rules.

Product eligibility problems

A product needs attention:

Six resolution steps:

1. Open the row.
2. Read the blocking issue.
3. Correct the product or variant in Shopify.
4. Save.
5. Run a complete scan.
6. Confirm Ready or Active.

Note: BridgeSFTP does not edit Shopify content automatically.

A product is excluded unexpectedly:

Review the visible reason, status, inventory, publication state, collections, and feed rules. Before a global rule change, test a representative product and record the expected count change.

SFTP connection problems

The connection test uploads nothing and cannot prove downstream processing.

Six diagnostic checks:

1. Confirm credentials came from the intended Ads Manager feed.
2. Recopy credentials without extra spaces.
3. Confirm correct authentication method (password or SSH public key).
4. Confirm correct destination path.
5. Confirm host-key fingerprint if configured.
6. Retry once and capture visible error without credentials.

Upload, retry, and stale-feed problems

Sync activity displays attempt count, next retry time, and visible error. Transient catalog and SFTP failures retry at most three total attempts with bounded delays. Do not create a duplicate sync during a scheduled retry.

Five checks for a stale feed:

1. Confirm automatic delivery is configured.
2. Check last completed upload timestamp.
3. Check for waiting scan, retry, billing block, or connection failure.
4. Run manual sync only after active state clears.
5. Confirm processing in Ads Manager.

Delivery succeeded but processing did not

Uploaded to SFTP means transport and remote file-size verification only. It does not prove Ads Manager processing or campaign approval.

Five post-delivery steps:

1. Open the same feed in Ads Manager.
2. Confirm path and processing time.
3. Review feed and item errors.
4. Compare expected and processed row counts.
5. Confirm Ads Manager reads the stable file path.

Billing blocks feed delivery

BridgeSFTP verifies the active Shopify subscription before new delivery and retained-version redelivery. Catalog scanning and diagnostics remain available when delivery is blocked.

Five unblocking steps:

1. Scan again.
2. Review the complete live parent count.
3. Open Plans and billing.
4. Confirm coverage.
5. Complete approval in Shopify.

How BridgeSFTP protects SFTP credentials

SFTP passwords and private-key material are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM. Secret values are write-only in the embedded interface, and later page loads return only whether a credential exists. SHA-256 host-key pinning can be configured to verify the server fingerprint before authentication.

Data the app processes

Data processed by BridgeSFTP includes:

• Shopify store identity and installation sessions
• Authorized product and legal-policy data
• Titles, descriptions, prices, inventory, images, identifiers, variants, collections, and publication state
• Catalog coverage, validation results, sync history, billing records, previews, and retained delivery files
• SFTP destination metadata and encrypted credentials
• Limited support or expert-service intake when requested

The app does not request or store Shopify customer records, orders, payment-card data, campaign spend, or advertising-account passwords.

Data transmission: Data is transmitted directly to the SFTP destination configured by the merchant. Infrastructure service providers process data solely to host, secure, monitor, or bill the app. BridgeSFTP does not sell merchant information. It is independent software and is not affiliated with or endorsed by OpenAI.

Retention, uninstall, and deletion

Up to 30 delivered files and 10 previews can be retained while installed; older retained artifacts are deleted automatically, and infrastructure logs may remain up to 30 days.

Uninstalling the app or receiving a Shopify redaction request permanently deletes store configuration, product index, sync records, billing ledger, promotion or expert requests, Shopify sessions, and retained feed files and previews.

Contact support

Support is available at matt@craez.com. Inquiries are reviewed Monday through Friday excluding United States holidays, with a normal two-business-day response target.

What to include in support inquiries:

• Shopify store domain
• Approximate job time and time zone
• Visible job status
• Exact visible error message
• Steps already completed

Five checks before contacting support:

1. Confirm the intended Shopify store.
2. Run Test connection for SFTP issues.
3. Note latest Sync activity time and status.
4. Confirm processing separately in Ads Manager.
5. Copy the visible error without credentials.

Report a security issue

Report security vulnerabilities directly to matt@craez.com.

Please include a concise description, affected URL, reproduction steps, and potential impact.

Note: Do not include live credentials or customer data in your initial report.