# Importing Your Catalog with AI
> Source: https://www.fuze-store.com/docs/store/ai-connections/importing-your-catalog

# Importing Your Catalog with AI

Typing a hundred menu items into a new store is the slowest part of getting
started. If you've connected an AI assistant, you can skip it: share a photo of
your menu, a price list, or a spreadsheet, and ask the AI to import it. You get a
preview of exactly what would change, and **nothing is written until you approve
it in the chat**.

This is the only thing an AI connection can write to. Everything else is
read-only.

## Before you start

  
    Follow [Setting up an AI connection](/docs/store/ai-connections/setting-up-oauth)
    if you haven't already.
  
  
    On the approval screen, tick **Catalog Import**. It is never granted
    automatically — if you skipped it, disconnect the tool and reconnect to be
    asked again. See [Understanding permissions](/docs/store/ai-connections/understanding-scopes).
  
  
    Catalog Import needs the **Import** feature, which is off on the free Basic
    plan. If you're on Basic, the AI will tell you the feature isn't enabled.
  

  Imports only work if you granted the **Catalog Import** permission on the
  Fuze Store approval screen when you connected. If you unticked it — or you're
  not sure — reconnect and leave it ticked. See
  [Connecting ChatGPT](/docs/store/ai-connections/connecting-chatgpt).

## How it works

The import always runs in two steps, and you sit between them.

  
    Send the AI a photo, a PDF, a spreadsheet, or just type the items out. Ask it
    to import them into your Fuze Store catalog.
  
  
    It reads your list, matches it against what's already in your store, and
    reports back: how many items would be **created**, how many **updated**, and
    how many **skipped**. Nothing has been written yet.
  
  
    Read the preview. If it looks right, tell the AI to go ahead. If it doesn't,
    correct it and ask for a new preview. Without your approval nothing happens,
    and the preview expires on its own after **30 minutes**.
  
  
    On approval everything is created in a single batch. If any part fails, the
    whole import is rolled back — you never end up with half a menu.
  

## What it can import

| Section | Notes |
|---|---|
| **Products** | Name, price, description, SKU, barcode, category, modifiers, tax, and an opening stock count |
| **Services** | Same as products, plus a duration |
| **Categories** | Including sub-categories |
| **Modifier groups** | With their options and prices (e.g. Size → Small / Medium / Large) |
| **Taxes** | Needs the Taxes feature on your plan |
| **Bookable services** | For appointments and reservations; needs Events on your plan |

Items reference each other, so a single import can create a "Drinks" category, a
"Size" modifier group, and twenty products already linked to both.

  If your plan doesn't include Taxes or Events, those sections are dropped and
  the AI tells you so — the rest of the import still goes through.

### Stock counts

If your price list or stock sheet includes quantities, the AI can set them — but
only on products it **creates**. Say something like "track stock, and use the
quantities in the sheet".

  On a product you already have, the quantity in the file is deliberately
  ignored (settings like the low-stock level still update). This is what makes
  imports safe to re-run — a file from last week can't roll your stock back to
  last week's numbers. To correct a count that's already there, edit the product
  or use a stock adjustment, which is recorded against your name.

## What it will never do

- **It never deletes anything.** There is no delete path at all.
- **It never touches orders, payments, customers, staff, or settings.**
- **It never overwrites your existing items unless you ask.** By default a
  matching item is left completely alone and reported as "skipped". If you want
  existing items updated, say so explicitly — "update the prices on items I
  already have".
- **It never writes without your approval**, and the approval only counts for
  that one preview.

## How existing items are matched

The AI compares what you sent against your current catalog so a second import
doesn't duplicate everything:

- **Products and services** match on SKU or barcode first, then on name.
- **Categories, modifier groups, taxes, and bookable services** match on name.

Matching ignores capitalisation, so "Iced Latte" and "iced latte" are the same
item. This means you can safely re-run an import after fixing a few lines —
unchanged items are skipped rather than duplicated.

## Size limits per import

| Section | Maximum |
|---|---|
| Products | 500 |
| Services | 200 |
| Categories | 100 |
| Modifier groups | 100 |
| Options per modifier group | 50 |
| Bookable services | 100 |
| Taxes | 20 |

A larger menu still works — ask the AI to import it in batches (for example, one
category at a time). Your plan's overall catalog limit still applies, and the
preview will tell you before anything is written if the import would exceed it.

## Getting a good result

  The AI can only import what it can read. A sharp, straight photo in good light
  beats a blurry angled one, and a typed list beats both.

- **Include prices.** An item without a price still imports, but you'll have to
  fill each one in by hand afterwards.
- **Do one store at a time.** Each connection is tied to a single store.
- **Say what you want the categories to be** if your menu doesn't have obvious
  headings — otherwise everything may land uncategorised.
- **Always read the preview.** It's the point of the two-step flow. Check the
  created / updated / skipped counts against what you expected before approving.

## After the import

Open **Catalog → Products** in the app to see what landed. Everything imported
is a normal catalog item — edit, archive, or price it exactly as you would an
item you'd typed in yourself.

If something came in wrong, fix it in the app rather than re-importing; a
re-import matches on name or SKU and will skip the item it already created.

## Troubleshooting

- **"That feature isn't enabled"** — Catalog Import needs the Import feature,
  which is off on the free Basic plan. Upgrade to import.
- **The AI says it can't write** — the Catalog Import permission wasn't granted.
  Disconnect the tool and reconnect, then tick it on the approval screen.
- **The preview expired** — previews last 30 minutes. Just ask for a new one.
- **Prices came in wrong** — check whether your list showed prices with tax
  included, and tell the AI which it is before re-previewing.
- **Nothing happened after you approved** — ask the AI for the import status; it
  can look the session up and tell you whether it completed or failed.

## Related guides

- [AI Connections Overview](/docs/store/ai-connections/overview)
- [Setting up an AI connection](/docs/store/ai-connections/setting-up-oauth)
- [Understanding permissions](/docs/store/ai-connections/understanding-scopes)
- [Which tools work with Fuze Store](/docs/store/ai-connections/tool-availability)
- [Importing from a spreadsheet](/docs/store/import/overview)