Setting up a supplier feed.

1. Choose your feed source

   SintoData supports 10 source types — pick the one your supplier uses. Each source has a Test Connection button that validates credentials before you save.

   • HTTP / HTTPS URL — paste a public or authenticated URL. Supports Bearer, API Key, Basic Auth, and OAuth2.
   • SFTP — connect with a password or SSH key. Files are pulled on schedule.
   • Cloud Storage — S3, GCS, or Azure Blob. Provide an access key and bucket path.
   • Drive / Sheets — authorize Google Drive, OneDrive, or a Google Sheet via OAuth.
   • File Upload — drag and drop a CSV, XML, or JSON file directly into the dashboard.
   • SOAP — connect to legacy supplier systems via WS-Security.

   All third-party credentials are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM. Every download URL is validated against a private IP blocklist (SSRF protection) before any connection is made.

2. Name your feed and set the schedule

   Give your feed a human-readable name (e.g. "Acme Corp Inventory") so you can identify it at a glance across your dashboard. Then configure when and how often it syncs:

   • Pick specific hours in your store's timezone for syncs to run.
   • Choose 1–4 syncs per day depending on your plan.
   • Each feed runs on its own independent schedule — your weekly supplier can sync once on Monday while your daily supplier syncs three times.
   • Unconfigured feeds default to 1 sync/day at a hash-distributed minute for load balancing.
   Manual sync-now: In addition to scheduled runs, you can trigger a sync manually at any time with the "Sync Now" button. Manual syncs count toward your daily allowance — they share the same counter as webhook-triggered syncs. Scheduled runs follow your per-feed time picker independently.

3. Run a dry-run preview

   Before your feed writes anything to your live store, always run a dry run. SintoData downloads the file, parses it, and shows you the exact list of SKU changes (quantity, price) that would be applied — without writing a single mutation.

   The dry-run report includes: total rows parsed, rows with quantity changes, rows with price changes, rows with no matching product (errors), and any pricing anomalies detected. Review this before enabling live syncs.

   Pro tip: Run a dry run every time you set up a new feed or when a supplier changes their file format. It's the safest way to verify everything maps correctly before going live.

4. Review your AI column mapping

   On the first dry run, SintoData's AI reads your supplier's file headers and proposes a column mapping. Example: "ListPrice" → price, "OnHand" → inventory_quantity, "ProductCode" → sku.

   Each mapping comes with a confidence score. All first-time mappings are held for your review — you must approve them before any data reaches your store. Once approved, the mapping is cached and reused on every subsequent sync.

   If your supplier later changes their column headers, SintoData detects the drift automatically. In strict mode, the sync stops and waits for your review. In flexible mode, the AI suggests a remap and holds it for approval.

5. Configure price rules (optional)

   If you want SintoData to manage pricing from this feed, set two options:

   • Margin percentage: a percentage markup applied to the supplier's cost price. A margin of 50 on a $10.00 cost yields a $15.00 retail price.
   • Rounding: exact, nickel, dime, half-dollar, charm (.99), or whole dollar.
   • Price behavior: "new products only" sets the price once and never updates it. "every sync" recalculates and overwrites on every run.
   Pricing anomaly detection is automatic: When price sync is enabled, every price change is checked against the last-known price. Suspicious swings (more than 3× or less than ⅓ the previous price) are held back for your review. You can approve or dismiss each one.

6. Choose automatic or manual mode per AI feature

   Each of SintoData's 7 AI features can be set to automatic or manual mode — independently and per feed. This is where you decide how much human oversight each feature needs.

   • All four generative features (Attribute Extraction, Translation, Category Matching, SEO Metadata) default to automatic — clean output is written to your store immediately after each sync, with guardrails intercepting only genuinely risky results.
   • Three safety features (Column Mapping, Pricing Anomaly Detection, Duplicate Detection) are always-on and run automatically — they're gates and detectors, not content generators.
   • You can switch any generative feature to manual per feed if you prefer to inspect every AI suggestion before it reaches your store, or if a specific feed has inconsistent supplier data.

   See our Automatic vs Manual guide for a detailed breakdown of pros, cons, and recommendations per feature.

7. Set inventory thresholds (optional)

   Set a low-stock threshold per feed. After each sync, SintoData scans every SKU and generates an alert for any variant at or below your threshold. Alerts appear in your dashboard immediately after the sync completes.

   Thresholds are per-feed, so your fast-moving supplier can alert at 50 units while your slow-moving supplier alerts at 5. Alerts are generated once per sync — you won't get duplicates for the same low-stock state.

8. Save and go live

   Click Save Configuration. Your feed is now active and will sync on its configured schedule. The first scheduled run will occur at the next sync hour you selected.

   You can always return to any feed's settings to adjust the schedule, pricing rules, AI modes, or threshold — no need to recreate the feed. All changes take effect on the next sync.

   You're in control: Every sync run produces a detailed history entry showing rows parsed, changes applied, and any errors. Drill into any historical run from the Sync History tab. If something looks wrong, you can pause the feed, fix the configuration, and resume.

Schedule Examples

Sync schedules for common scenarios.

Your sync cadence should match how often your suppliers update their files. Here are three common patterns.

Next Steps

What to do after your first feed is running.

Once your feed is syncing on schedule, explore these to get the most out of SintoData.

1. Add more feeds

   Repeat the setup process for each supplier. Every feed gets its own schedule, column mapping, pricing rules, and AI feature settings. Manage them all from a single dashboard.

2. Enable AI enrichment

   Turn on Attribute Extraction to populate color/size/material filters. Enable Category Matching to automatically assign product types. Run Translation to serve international shoppers. Decide which features to run automatically vs manually.

3. Monitor sync health

   Check your Sync History tab periodically. Every run is logged — rows parsed, changes applied, errors. Missing SKU reports tell you which supplier rows don't match your catalog, so you can add products or fix SKU mismatches.

4. Set up low-stock alerts

   Configure per-feed reorder thresholds. After each sync, SintoData flags variants at or below your level. Catch stockouts before they happen — no need to manually scan inventory spreadsheets.