At various places throughout the app you may encounter a warning or error code. These codes are formatted like ABC001. This document provides more context on the error codes as well as tips to resolve them.

These codes will appear when you upload a spreadsheet to be imported with the app.

There was an error opening the file you uploaded. Please try again and contact us if the problem persists.

You can upload a ZIP file with multiple CSV files to have them processed at once. However in this case the app did not detect any CSV files in the zip file you uploaded.

If you want to process multiple Excel sheets at the same time you can combine them into a single Excel workbook and upload that.

We couldn't determine if your file was CSV, Excel, or a valid ZIP. Please upload either a CSV file, an Excel workbook with the .xlsx extension, or a ZIP file containing CSV files so our system can process it.

Our system tried to read your file but did not detect any sheets with the required structure. Ensure your file includes sheets that match one of our supported object types (for example, a valid Products or Orders sheet) and try again.

You spreadsheet contains columns that Altera does not recognize and these columns will be ignored when you import data through the app.

The most common cause of this is trying to import data that does not match the Atlera/Matrixify format. To fix this, make sure your spreadsheet matches the format in our documentation ( Product Fields for example).

It looks like you are trying to upload an export of your Shopify products to Altera. Please try uploading the file again in the [Altera/Matrixify format]https://help.getaltera.com/en/articles/11490229-product-fields) .

Some columns can appear multiple times in a spreadsheet but others cannot. Make sure that you don't have any columns with duplicate names besides Tags and Image Src.

The ID column should either be empty, contain a number like 8106245782738, or contain a GraphQL identifier like gid://shopify/Products/8106245782738. If it doesn't it may cause problems with the import. If your ID is a number, make sure it is a whole number, like 8106245782738, and not formatted as a decimal number like 8106245782738.0.

Excel has a character limit of 32,767 characters per cell. When metafields with exactly this character count are detected, they will be ignored during import to prevent data corruption in Shopify. This typically happens when Excel has truncated longer text values. For large metafield values, consider using CSV files for importing the values.

It looks like you are trying to upload an export of your WooCommerce products to Altera. Please try uploading the file again in the Altera/Matrixify format instead.

You are using the DELETE command in your import. Please note that deleting items is permanent and cannot be undone. The deletion will also process any hidden rows in your spreadsheet, so make sure to review your data carefully before proceeding.

You are using the REPLACE command in your import. When replacing items, the existing item will be completely deleted and recreated with the new data. This means all existing data not included in your import will be lost. The replacement will also process any hidden rows in your spreadsheet, so make sure to review your data carefully before proceeding.

Error and warning codes that occur when dealing with smart and manual collections

The collection that already exists in Shopify is a smart collection, but the import it trying to treat it as a manual collection. Shopify does not allow you to convert a smart collection to a manual collection. You can replace the collection however by setting the 'Command' column to REPLACE.

The collection that already exists in Shopify is a manual collection, but the import it trying to treat it as a smart collection. Shopify does not allow you to convert a manual collection to a smart collection. You can replace the collection however by setting the 'Command' column to REPLACE.

The collection you are trying to create with the NEW command already exists in your Shopify store. If you want to update an existing collection, use the MERGE or REPLACE command instead.

The collection you are trying to delete cannot be found in your Shopify store. This may be because it was already deleted or because the identifier (ID or handle) provided in your import is incorrect.

When creating a smart collection rule based on a metafield, the system could not find the corresponding metafield definition. Make sure that the metafield definition exists in your Shopify store, and has the 'Smart collection' enabled, before creating a smart collection rule that references it.

Error and warning codes for importing and exporting files.

In some situations stores that are on a Shopify Trial are not able to upload files through the API. (This is related to the store's subscription to Shopify, it has nothing to do with being on a paid or free plan with Altera.) If your files fail to upload you will need to either switch to a paid Shopify plan or reach out to Shopify support for more help.

The file you are trying to delete cannot be found in your Shopify store. This may be because it was already deleted or because the identifier (ID or filename) provided in your import is incorrect.

The file you are trying to create with a MERGE command already exists in your Shopify store. If you want to update an existing file, you must include the 'Alt' column to modify its alt text. To replace the file entirely, use the REPLACE command instead.

Codes related to creating and managing import or export jobs.

In order to provide a reliable service to all users you may have a limit to the number of jobs you can run at the same time. You can either cancel another job or wait for it to finish before starting a new job.

You have reached the maximum number of scheduled jobs allowed by your plan. To create a new scheduled job, you'll need to either disable an existing scheduled job or upgrade your plan for a higher scheduled job limit.

Error and warning codes for importing and exporting menus.

When you import menus you need to have menu item columns like "Menu Item: Resource Type" and "Menu Item: Title". To get these columns in an export, make sure that you select the 'General' and 'Menu items' groups when configuring which fields to export.

Error and warning codes for importing and exporting metafield definitions.

The Shopify API did not return a newly-created metafield definition, possibly because a matching one already exists on the store.

The metafield definition could not be deleted. This may be because the metafield definition was already removed.

Certain namespaces like shopify and shopify--discovery--product_search_boost are protected namespaces that belong to Shopify proper. Third-party apps are not allowed to update these metafield definitions through the API. This often occurs when trying to import metafield definitions for Shopify Product Category Metafields. Unfortunately at this time those still need to be created manually within the Shopify admin.

Required columns are missing from your metafield definition import. For metafield definitions to import correctly, your spreadsheet must include both 'Type: Name' and 'Namespace' columns. These fields are necessary for Shopify to properly create the metafield definitions.

The column for specifying the metafield type should be named 'Type: Name', not just 'Type'. Please rename this column in your spreadsheet before importing.

Error and warning codes related to metafield values during imports.

The value provided for a metafield could not be saved to Shopify because it doesn't match the expected format or validation rules for that metafield. This commonly happens when:

To resolve this issue, check that the metafield value conforms to the requirements of its definition in your Shopify store. You may need to view the metafield definition in Shopify admin to verify the expected type and format.

These codes are related to uploading blog posts (articles) and blogs.

The image for a blog post needs to be a complete URL that starts with http:// or https://.

Shopify needs to associate all blog posts with a blog on your store. If you are unsure of what to set this to, just add the 'Blog: Handle' column to your spreadsheet with the values 'blog' in each row.

Shopify blog posts only support one featured image, but you can include additional images in the body HTML of your post. This warning is raised if there's commas or pipe characters in the Image Src column because those are often used to separate different URLs.

These codes occur when trying to figure out which kind of Shopify object you are importing or exporting (e.g., products, orders etc..)

When trying to export objects, the provided object type wasn't recognized. Ensure you're using a valid object type (e.g., products or orders).

Sheet analysis didn't find a matching type for the label. Double-check your sheet configurations or labels before importing.

You tried to import using an object slug that isn't supported. Confirm it's a valid import type (e.g., products, customers).

A metafield reference value didn't start with gid://shopify/, so it couldn't be processed. Check that all reference handles match the expected gid://shopify/ format.

Error and warning codes that occur when dealing with orders

All order sheets need to have either a Name or ID column to be able to group orders that span multiple rows

Required columns, such as the Line: Type column are missing from the source file.

The Line: Type column must be one of these values:

Importing orders is still in beta. We recommend testing your imports first with a smaller sample of your file. Please let us know if you encounter any errors.

The order specified in your import could not be found in your Shopify store. This typically occurs when trying to update or delete an order that doesn't exist, possibly because it was already deleted or the identifier is incorrect.

Editing existing orders is not currently supported through the application. You may need to delete the existing order and create a new one with your desired changes.

This error occurs when processing a refund with insufficient line item data. When processing refunds, make sure to include all required line item information to properly associate the refund with the correct items.

Shopify limits new orders to 5 per minute on trial and development stores. If your store is on a trial or development plan, order imports will run more slowly due to this limitation. To increase the import speed, consider upgrading to a paid Shopify plan.

Error and warning codes that occur when dealing with product data

The mentioned product was not found on Shopify. Perhaps is has been deleted.

Products with multiple variants need to have the Option1 Value column set to identify the different variants.

The product status field must be empty or one of the following: ACTIVE, ARCHIVED or DRAFT.

The spreadsheet it identifying products by title but more than one product with that title exists in Shopify. A product title needs to be unique when using it to update a product. If you have multiple products with the same title you can either use the ID or Handle column to identify the product you want to update.

The Variant Weight column should just contain a number. If you want to set the unit of the weight you can set that separately in the Variant Weight Unit column.

When importing reference metafields the values need to be in the GID format like gid://shopify/Metaobject/123456789 or ["gid://shopify/Metaobject/123456789"] if it's a list of references. We are working on adding support for looking up references by handle. Please contact us if you feel this feature should be prioritized.

When including an 'Option1 Name' column in your product import, you must also include the corresponding 'Option1 Value' column. Option names define the type of variant (like "Size" or "Color"), while option values define the specific variants (like "Small" or "Red").

For each product with an 'Option1 Name' defined, you must provide a corresponding value in the 'Option1 Value' column. Empty option values will cause errors when creating variants in Shopify. Ensure all products with option names have corresponding option values set.

When updating variant data, you must include at least one column that identifies which variant to update, such as 'Variant ID', 'Variant SKU', or 'Variant Barcode'. Without an identification column, the system cannot determine which variant should receive the updates. Add one of these columns to your import file to resolve this issue.

The product's title is required in each row of your import file. This is necessary for the system to properly group variants belonging to the same product. Make sure every row in your import file has a product title, even when importing multiple variants of the same product.

The price columns ('Variant Price', 'Variant Compare At Price', 'Variant Cost') should contain only plain numbers with a period (not comma) for decimal separation and no currency symbols. For example, use 19.99 instead of $19.99 or 19,99. This ensures that prices are correctly interpreted by Shopify when imported.

The meta description field (Metafield: description_tag [single_line_text_field]) should not contain newline characters. Newlines in meta descriptions can cause issues with SEO and may not display correctly in search engine results. Altera will attempt to remove any newline characters from this field during import, but it's best to ensure your source data does not include them.

The meta description field (Metafield: description_tag [single_line_text_field]) should not contain HTML elements. HTML in meta descriptions is typically stripped by search engines and may cause unexpected display issues in search results. Using plain text in meta descriptions is recommended for better SEO outcomes and proper display across all platforms. Please remove HTML elements like <div> or <p> tags from your meta descriptions.

When setting a compare-at price for a specific market, you must also set the regular price for that same market. Shopify requires that any market with a compare-at price must also have a regular price defined. Update your spreadsheet to include the regular price for any markets where you've specified a compare-at price.

The meta description field (Metafield: description_tag [single_line_text_field]) exceeds Shopify's recommended maximum length of 160 characters. While longer descriptions will be imported, search engines typically truncate meta descriptions to around 155-160 characters. For optimal SEO performance, keep your meta descriptions concise and within the recommended length to ensure they display properly in search results.

The meta title field (Metafield: title_tag [single_line_text_field]) exceeds Shopify's recommended maximum length of 70 characters. While longer titles will be imported, search engines typically display only the first 50-60 characters of meta titles in search results. For optimal SEO performance, keep your meta titles concise and within the recommended length to ensure they display properly in search results.

A title is required to create a new product. This error occurs when trying to create a product without providing a title field. This may also happen when trying to update products by SKU where the SKU doesn't exist on the store. In such cases, the system tries to create a new product but fails because there's no title provided in the import data.

If you are creating new products, ensure that each product row in your import file includes a 'Title' column with the product's name. If you are updating existing products by SKU you can ignore this error if you know that not all SKUs in your import file exist on the store.

Error codes that appear when downloading files from remote sources (HTTP, FTP, Google Drive, etc.)

The URL scheme is not supported. Currently supported schemes are HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP.

The URL format is invalid for the specified source type. Make sure you've entered a valid URL.

The file was not found at the specified URL. Please check that the URL is correct and the file exists.

Authentication is required or you have insufficient permissions to access the file. Check if the file requires login or specific permissions.

An HTTP error occurred when trying to download the file. This could be due to server problems or invalid requests.

The downloaded file is empty (zero bytes). Please check the source file.

Failed to connect to the server. Check your internet connection and verify the URL is correct.

The connection timed out while trying to download the file. This could be due to a slow connection or server issues.

The file download failed due to a general request error. Check the detailed error message for more information.

An unexpected error occurred during the HTTP download. Check the logs for more details.

Failed to connect to the FTP server. Check that the server address is correct and the server is running.

Authentication failed for the FTP server. Verify your username and password.

Unable to access the file on the FTP server. The file may not exist or you might not have permission to access it.

An error occurred during the FTP file transfer. Check your connection and try again.

The downloaded FTP file is empty (zero bytes). Please check the source file.

A general FTP error occurred. Check the detailed error message for more information.

An unexpected error occurred during the FTP download. Check the logs for more details.

Could not extract the file ID from the Google Drive URL. Make sure you're using a valid Google Drive sharing URL.

The file was not found on Google Drive. It may have been deleted or you don't have permission to access it.

Access was denied to the Google Drive file. Make sure the file is shared publicly or with anyone who has the link.

The file requires authentication. Make sure the file is shared with the appropriate permissions.

Failed to access the Google Drive file. Check the detailed error message for more information.

Failed to confirm the download of a large Google Drive file. Try again or download a smaller file.

Received HTML instead of file data from Google Drive. The file may require login or have sharing restrictions.

The downloaded Google Drive file is empty (zero bytes). Please check the source file.

Failed to connect to Google Drive. Check your internet connection.

The Google Drive file download failed. Check the detailed error message for more information.

An unexpected error occurred during the Google Drive download. Check the logs for more details.

Could not extract the file ID from the OneDrive URL. Make sure you're using a valid OneDrive sharing URL.

The file was not found on OneDrive. It may have been deleted or you don't have permission to access it.

Access was denied to the OneDrive file. Make sure the file is shared publicly or with anyone who has the link.

The file requires authentication. Make sure the file is shared with the appropriate permissions.

Failed to access the OneDrive file. Check the detailed error message for more information.

The OneDrive file download failed. Check the detailed error message for more information.

The downloaded OneDrive file is empty (zero bytes). Please check the source file.

Could not extract the file ID from the Dropbox URL. Make sure you're using a valid Dropbox sharing URL.

The file was not found on Dropbox. It may have been deleted or you don't have permission to access it.

Access was denied to the Dropbox file. Make sure the file is shared publicly or with anyone who has the link.

The file requires authentication. Make sure the file is shared with the appropriate permissions.

Failed to access the Dropbox file. Check the detailed error message for more information.

The Dropbox file download failed. Check the detailed error message for more information.

The downloaded Dropbox file is empty (zero bytes). Please check the source file.

Failed to connect to the SFTP server. Check that the server address is correct and the server is running.

Authentication failed for the SFTP server. Verify your username, password or key file.

Unable to access the file on the SFTP server. The file may not exist or you might not have permission to access it.

An error occurred during the SFTP file transfer. Check your connection and try again.

The downloaded SFTP file is empty (zero bytes). Please check the source file.

Failed to access the S3 bucket. Verify your credentials and bucket permissions.

The requested object was not found in the S3 bucket. Check that the path and bucket name are correct.

Authentication failed for the S3 service. Verify your AWS credentials are correct.

The S3 file download failed. Check the detailed error message for more information.

The downloaded S3 file is empty (zero bytes). Please check the source file.

Failed to access the Azure Blob Storage container. Verify your credentials and container permissions.

The requested blob was not found in Azure Storage. Check that the path and container name are correct.

Authentication failed for the Azure Blob Storage. Verify your connection string or SAS token is correct.

The Azure blob download failed. Check the detailed error message for more information.

The downloaded Azure blob is empty (zero bytes). Please check the source blob.

The downloaded file is in a format that is not supported for importing. Please check our documentation for supported file formats.

The remote file exceeds the maximum allowed file size. Please try with a smaller file or contact support for assistance.

Rate limit exceeded when accessing the remote file. Please try again later or with a different source.

An unhandled error occurred during the remote file download process. This is a general error code for unexpected issues.

These codes occur when the app is writing your output to a spreadsheet

You attempted to export using a data type the system doesn't recognize. Please try to reconfigure the job and run it again.

The export format is not recognized. Currently Altera only supports CSV and Excel files in the Altera/Matrixify format.

These codes occur when interacting with the Shopify API.

An error was returned from the Shopify API that was not related to internal server issues or product modification conflicts. This could be due to various reasons such as invalid data, API limitations, or other Shopify-specific constraints. The exact error message from Shopify will be provided with this code to help diagnose the specific issue.

These codes appear when Shopify rejects an operation due to validation issues or business rule violations.

This error occurs when Shopify rejects the data you're trying to submit because it doesn't meet their requirements. Unlike technical API errors, these are usually related to the actual content of your data.

Common reasons for this error include:

The error message accompanying this code will provide specific details about what went wrong, which should help you correct your data before trying again.