--- schema_version: "1" id: b1ce3da4ca931038f9b4ab4eaa57f9e2f9ea7203da18b5e3e65359004a75ab46 title: Category ETL Data Feed collection: admin version: current locale: en-us portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/mktg/264-0-0/mc_pers_etl_category_data_feed.md canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_pers_etl_category_data_feed.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 source_site: help.salesforce.com content_type: documentation content_hash: c9687e1cdc46b3488496a2d856c425aa7ca88bad0a45d8abaf86e1191161eefc description: Use the Category ETL data feed to add categories to your catalog when creating your category hierarchies. You can update categories by uploading subsequent files that include existing category IDs. Categories are configured by default, but you can add attributes for them. products: - Marketing - Salesforce Personalization release: "264" --- # Category ETL Data Feed Use the Category ETL data feed to add categories to your catalog when creating your category hierarchies. You can update categories by uploading subsequent files that include existing category IDs. Categories are configured by default, but you can add attributes for them. ## About Ingesting Category Data Categories support a hierarchy structure that allows individual categories to have both parent and child categories. A category can have only one parent category, but can have multiple child categories. Some example categories are clothes, shirts, jackets, t-shirts, dress shirts, rain jackets, and winter jackets. Some examples of the full hierarchies are clothes>shirts>t-shirts, clothes>shirts>dress shirts, clothes>jackets>rain jackets, clothes>jackets>winter jackets. The Category ETL data feed creates these relationships using the corresponding value of the attribute:parentCategoryId field. - Each category must only appear in a single record in a file. Multiple records with the same ID cause errors, especially if they have different parent category IDs. - Personalization updates all columns (fields) that you include in the file, replacing existing data with the contents in the column’s rows. If a column row is blank, Personalization removes the existing data that maps to the blank row. If you don’t want to update or edit an existing value, don’t include the column for that value in your ETL file. - Category IDs on products, or any other catalog items in Personalization, must match the category IDs provided in the Category ETL file. - The Category ETL data feed doesn’t accept delta files. You must send the entire category structure in the file, regardless of whether each record in the file has changed. Personalization removes existing values from the catalog when a column contains blank values. ## Requirements - ETL files must be in a CSV file format that adheres to the schema for the data feed. Files that don’t follow the file naming conventions or the appropriate schema result in errors and fail to process. - Field names that begin with `attribute:` must match the custom attribute names on the Attributes section of the Catalog and Profile Objects > Category page. ## Filename Format `category-YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS.csv` ## Schema
Field Name Description Example Values Maximum Length Data Type
id

Required. Represents the identifier for the category. Category IDs must not contain any indication of hierarchy. The ETL file constructs the hierarchy for the catalog.

clothes

shirts

pants

cat0001

255

String
attribute:

The custom attributes for the category. Column headers begin with attribute: and are followed by the attribute name as it appears on the Category page. The header value must match the attribute name in the system, and the values must conform to the configured data type.

attribute:commonName

All Clothing

attribute:size

large

1023

Any
attribute:parentCategoryId

Recommended. The singular parent for a category ID. Root categories aren’t expected to have a parentCategoryId and instead are expected to have a value of true in the attribute:department column.

Each ID must have a single parentCategoryId.

Personalization uses parent category IDs to build an internal hierarchy. For example, a category of “slacks” with a parentCategoryId of “dress pants” that has a parentCategoryId of “pants” results in a hierarchy of pants|dress pants|slacks. The maximum hierarchy depth is 10 levels.

clothes

pants

shoes

255

String
attribute:department

Represents whether a category is a top-level category. This value is false by default.

True

False

1023

Boolean
attribute:name

Represents the name of the category, and must contain at least one alphanumeric character.

Shoes

1023

String
attribute:url

An RFC-3986 compliant URL that represents the canonical display page for the category.

https://example.com/products/cat1.html

1023

String
attribute:imageUrl

Fully qualified URL for an image of the category.

https://example.com/img/img1.png

1023

String
attribute:description

Represents the description of the category and must contain at least one alphanumeric character.

Men’s shoes

250

String
attribute:promotable

This field defaults to true. When set to false, Personalization doesn’t return the product in the Einstein Recipes recommendation system.

If no value is set, this field defaults to true.

TRUE

1023

Boolean
attribute:published

An ISO 8601 date and time string for the category’s published date. Timezone offsets aren’t supported.

2022-04-12T10:23:37Z

1023

Date
attribute:expiration

An ISO 8601 date and time string for the category’s expiration date. Timezone offsets aren’t supported.

2022-04-12T10:23:37Z

1023

Date
attribute:rating

The rating value associated with the category. No specific scale is required, however, provide only the value. 9 is valid, 9/10 is invalid.

4.5

1023

Decimal/Float
attribute:numRatings

The number of ratings associated with the category.

57

1023

Integer
attribute:archived

Indicates whether the category is visible in the catalog. When true, the category isn’t visible. The default is false. If this column is omitted from the file, no changes are made to the attribute.

If no value is set, this field defaults to false.

FALSE

false

TRUE

true

1023

Boolean
## Sample File
id attribute:parentCategoryId attribute:department attribute:name attribute:archived attribute:url attribute:imageUrl attribute:description attribute:promotable attribute:published attribute:expiration attribute:rating attribute:numRatings attribute:commonName

cat0001

  

TRUE

Home

FALSE

test.com/c/home

test.com/c/home.jpeg

All Home Goods

TRUE

2020-06-15

2100-01-01

5.0

5

Home Goods

cat002

  

TRUE

Shoes

FALSE

test.com/c/shoes

test.com/c/shoes.jpeg

All Shoes

TRUE

2020-06-15

2100-01-01

4.25

10

Our Shoes

cat003

  

TRUE

Shirts

FALSE

test.com/c/shirts

test.com/c/shirts.jpeg

All Shirts

TRUE

2020-06-15

2100-01-01

4.75

35

Our Shirts

cat004

  

TRUE

Pants

FALSE

test.com/c/pants

test.com/c/pants.jpeg

All Pants

TRUE

2020-06-15

2100-01-01

3.0

31

Our Pants

cat005

  

TRUE

Hats

FALSE

test.com/c/hats

test.com/c/hats.jpeg

All Hats

TRUE

2020-06-15

2100-01-01

3.0

11

Our Hats

cat006

  

TRUE

Accessories

FALSE

test.com/c/accessories

test.com/c/accessories.jpeg

All Accessories

FALSE

2020-06-15

2100-01-01

  

18

Our Accessories

cat0021

cat002

  

Sneakers

FALSE

test.com/c/home/shoes/sneakers

test.com/c/home/shoes/sneakers.jpeg

Sneakers for athletics, walking, running, and more

TRUE

2020-06-15

      

Our Sneakers

cat0041

cat004

  

Slacks

FALSE

test.com/c/pants/slacks

test.com/c/pants/slacks.jpeg

Slacks for work and date night

TRUE

2020-06-15

  

1.0

1

Our Business Slacks

cat0061

cat006

  

Watches

FALSE

test.com/c/accessories/watches

test.com/c/accessories/watches.jpeg

Our classic timepieces

TRUE

2020-06-15

  

4.5

8

Our Watches

cat00211

cat0021

  

Running Sneakers

FALSE

test.com/c/shoes/sneakers/running-sneakers

test.com/c/shoes/sneakers/running-sneakers.jpeg

Sneakers for road races, trail races, track races and more

TRUE

2020-06-15

  

4.0

6

Our Trainers and Racers

cat002111

cat00211

  

Racing Spikes

FALSE

test.com/c/shoes/sneakers/running-sneakers/racing-spikes

test.com/c/shoes/sneakers/running-sneakers/racing-spikes.jpeg

Shoes specifically for racing on tracks

TRUE

2020-06-15

  

2.33

23

Our Track and Field Spikes
#### See Also - [ETL File Requirements](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_pers_etl_file_requirements.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "ETL files contain entries such as users, products, subscription list members, promotions, transactions, and more. These files must be in a CSV format and can be encrypted or compressed. The file formats must follow the explicit schema requirements for each ETL data feed. Typically, you upload ETL files automatically using the SFTP site, but you can also manually upload a file.") - [Monitor ETL Feed Jobs on the Feeds Dashboard](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_pers_etl_feeds_dashboard.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "The Feeds Dashboard provides details about ETL feed jobs.") - [Limits for Marketing Cloud Personalization](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_pers_limits.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Learn about the limits and capabilities in Marketing Cloud Personalization.")