Phoenix Catalog Proof

Compare two ecommerce product catalogs, detect risky changes, verify important links, and download an evidence-ready report. Phoenix Catalog Proof accepts CSV, JSON, XML, inline product arrays, public feed URLs, and existing Apify datasets.

Use it before a store migration, feed upload, marketplace sync, campaign launch, or client handover. No browser, store login, or external API key is required.

What Phoenix Catalog Proof checks

• Products added to or removed from the current catalog
• Price and currency changes
• Stock and availability changes
• Product title changes
• Duplicate SKU, GTIN, ID, or product URL values
• Products without a usable matching identity
• Missing image and product URLs
• Broken image URLs and unexpected non-image responses
• Broken product URLs and redirects
• Canonical URL mismatches, when canonical inspection is enabled

The Actor keeps the complete finding list in the Apify dataset and creates three readable evidence files:

• REPORT.html, a branded report for review or client delivery
• REPORT.csv, a spreadsheet-ready finding list
• REPORT.json, a portable summary and finding bundle

Common use cases

Ecommerce migration quality assurance

Compare the approved export with the live export after a Shopify, WooCommerce, marketplace, PIM, or ERP migration. Find dropped products, changed prices, missing images, and broken links before customers do.

Product feed approval

Create a repeatable proof before sending a feed to Google Merchant Center, Meta, a marketplace, or an affiliate partner. The output records both old and current values.

Agency and client reporting

Run the same comparison during onboarding, release approval, or scheduled maintenance. Share the HTML report with non-technical stakeholders and keep the dataset for automation.

Catalog monitoring

Save an Actor task and schedule it. Feed it two snapshots from your existing export or data pipeline and send the output to Make, Zapier, a webhook, or another Actor.

Quick start

1. Open the Actor's Input tab.
2. Set the baseline source to the older or approved catalog.
3. Set the current source to the new or live catalog.
4. Keep the default matching order, sku, gtin, id, and productUrl, unless your catalog needs another order.
5. Disable URL checks for a fast data-only comparison, or keep them enabled to audit live links.
6. Click Start.
7. Open Output to view the dataset and download the HTML, CSV, or JSON report.

The prefilled sample is safe to run and demonstrates price, stock, addition, removal, and missing-image findings.

Supported catalog sources

Each side of the comparison supports three source types.

Source	When to use it
Public feed URL	The catalog is available through an HTTP or HTTPS CSV, JSON, or XML URL
Inline data	You want to paste CSV, JSON, XML, or a JSON product array directly into the input
Apify dataset	An earlier Actor or workflow already stored the catalog in an Apify dataset

For nested JSON or XML, set Product array path to a dot path such as catalog.products. If it is empty, the Actor searches common containers such as products, items, entries, offers, and data.

Automatic field recognition

Common names are detected automatically, including:

Meaning	Common aliases
ID	id, product_id, item_id, offer_id
SKU	sku, variant_sku, merchant_sku, mpn
GTIN	gtin, ean, barcode, upc, isbn
Title	title, name, product_name
Price	price, sale_price, regular_price, amount
Currency	currency, currency_code, price_currency
Stock	stock, availability, inventory_quantity, quantity
Image	image, image_url, image_link, thumbnail
Product URL	product_url, url, link, product_link

Use Common field mapping for different names or nested values. For example:

{
  "sku": "variant.code",
  "price": "pricing.current.amount",
  "currency": "pricing.current.currency",
  "image": "media.primary.url"
}

If the two feeds use different structures, add only the differences under Baseline-only field overrides and Current-only field overrides.

Input example

{
  "baseline": {
    "sourceType": "url",
    "label": "Approved export",
    "url": "https://example.com/catalog-approved.csv",
    "format": "auto"
  },
  "current": {
    "sourceType": "url",
    "label": "Live export",
    "url": "https://example.com/catalog-live.csv",
    "format": "auto"
  },
  "matchingKeys": ["sku", "gtin", "id", "productUrl"],
  "settings": {
    "checkImageUrls": true,
    "checkProductUrls": true,
    "inspectCanonicals": false,
    "maxUrlChecks": 500,
    "priceTolerance": 0.01
  }
}

Dataset output

Every dataset row is one finding with stable fields:

{
  "findingId": "22f7f9efc6b6cb53",
  "severity": "medium",
  "category": "price_changed",
  "message": "Price changed from 19.99 to 21.99.",
  "matchField": "sku",
  "matchValue": "PHX-100",
  "baseline": {
    "sku": "PHX-100",
    "title": "Black mug",
    "price": "19.99",
    "currency": "EUR"
  },
  "current": {
    "sku": "PHX-100",
    "title": "Black mug",
    "price": "21.99",
    "currency": "EUR"
  }
}

Severity values are critical, high, medium, low, and info. Category values are stable for API and automation use.

Limits and performance

• Default maximum: 5,000 products per catalog
• Hard maximum: 50,000 products per catalog
• Default feed download limit: 25 MB per source
• Default URL audit limit: 500 combined product and image URLs
• Default URL concurrency: 10
• HTML, CSV, and JSON evidence files include up to 5,000 findings to remain easy to download
• The Apify dataset always contains the complete finding list

For a quick test, disable URL checks. For a full audit, enable them and raise maxUrlChecks only as needed.

Security and privacy

Phoenix Catalog Proof is read-only. It does not submit forms, modify stores, or request ecommerce credentials.

• Only HTTP and HTTPS catalog URLs are accepted
• Embedded URL credentials are rejected
• Localhost, private network, link-local, and common metadata destinations are blocked
• Redirect destinations are validated before they are followed
• Feed size, product count, timeout, redirect, and concurrency limits are enforced
• HTML output is escaped and CSV formula injection is neutralized
• Catalog data remains in the storage attached to the user's Apify run

Use only catalog data and URLs you own or are authorized to process. Do not place customer records, secrets, API tokens, or personal data in product feeds.

Pricing

The Actor records one catalog-block-processed event for every started block of 1,000 products in the larger catalog. The exact price is shown in the Actor's Apify Pricing tab before a run starts. Normal Apify spending limits remain available to the user.

FAQ

Does it scrape a store automatically?

No. It compares structured catalog sources you provide. This makes it faster, cheaper, and more predictable than browser scraping.

Can it compare CSV with JSON or XML?

Yes. Baseline and current sources can use different supported formats and different field mappings.

Does it require identical column names?

No. Common aliases are recognized automatically. Custom mappings and side-specific overrides handle different structures.

Will URL checks change the website?

No. URL checks use read-only HTTP requests. The Actor does not log in or submit data.

Can I automate recurring checks?

Yes. Save the input as an Apify task, schedule the task, or run the Actor through the API, Make, Zapier, webhooks, or MCP.

What should I send when requesting support?

Open the Actor's Issues tab and include the run URL, feed format, relevant mapping, and the category that looks wrong. Remove secrets and personal data first.

Support

For defects or feed compatibility questions, use the Actor's Issues tab. Phoenix Tools maintains the Actor and reviews reproducible reports.