Onboard to PromoSync

Onboard to PromoSync takes pre-existing Shopify products that weren’t imported through PromoSync and brings them under PromoSync’s management in one tracked job. Internally it runs Update Metafields and then Link to PromoSync on each candidate, so the product ends up with the hidden PromoSync data filled in and registered in the backend.

After onboarding, the products are ready for the rest of the PromoSync workflow: Update Inventory, Update Prices, Add New Variants, the storefront tier pricing block, and scheduled syncs.

Looking for the version that scans your whole catalog for unboarded products? Open Apps > PromoSync > Quick Sync and use the Onboard to PromoSync card there. The bulk action documented here only processes the products you select in Shopify’s product list.

When to Use It

Before You Run It

Each product needs, at minimum, the two identifying metafields so PromoSync knows which supplier product to onboard it as:

If those are present, PromoSync can resolve the rest (psrestful.extra_id at the product level and psrestful.part_id on each variant) during onboarding.

If a product doesn’t have these two metafields, see Connecting Existing Products for the workflow that attaches them.

Products that already have all three of the product-level metafields (supplier_code, product_id, and extra_id) are treated as fully onboarded and are filtered out of this job. Running the action again is therefore safe and cheap; only the candidates that still need work are touched.

How to Run It

  1. In Shopify Admin, go to Products.
  2. Tick the products you want to onboard. You can filter by tag or vendor first and “Select all” to cover a whole supplier in one go.
  3. Click the ... button, then Apps > Bulk Product Sync.
  4. In the dropdown, pick Onboard to PromoSync.
  5. Click Submit.

The job runs in the background as a single tracked job, even though it does two things under the hood.

What Happens Next

You’ll get an email when the job finishes, summarising:

If a candidate fails the metafield phase, it still moves into the link phase; both steps are reported independently so you can see exactly where each one stopped.

Why Something Might Be Skipped

What the email saysWhat it meansWhat to do
”Already onboarded” (filtered out)The product already has supplier_code, product_id, and extra_id metafields.No action needed.
”Missing supplier_code or product_id”PromoSync doesn’t know which supplier product this is.Use Connecting Existing Products to attach the metafields, then re-run.
”Could not determine extra_id”The supplier code and product ID are set, but PSRESTful couldn’t find a matching product.Check for typos in the metafield values, or confirm the supplier still carries the product.
”Backend registration failed”The metafield phase succeeded but the link phase couldn’t register the product.Re-run; if it persists, the backend may be temporarily unreachable.

Common Questions

That’s what runs under the hood, yes, but as a single tracked job with one email and shared filtering, so you don’t have to run them separately and you don’t pay for products that are already onboarded.

What if I already have some products fully imported and others not?

Mix freely. Onboard to PromoSync filters out the fully-onboarded ones up front and only touches the candidates that need work.

Does this set prices or import images?

It populates PromoSync’s metafields, which include the data the storefront tier pricing block reads. It does not change the visible variant price in Shopify (use Update Prices for that) and it does not upload images.

What’s the right order of operations after onboarding?

  1. Onboard to PromoSync to get the metafields and the registry entry in place.
  2. Update Inventory to populate fresh stock numbers.
  3. Update Prices if you want the visible Shopify price to match your formula.
  4. Apply Default Location Decorations and Enrich Location Decorations if you sell decorated products.

How is this different from re-importing the product?

A re-import would create a new product (or fail because the product already exists). Onboard to PromoSync keeps the same Shopify product (same ID, URL, handle, and any hand-edited copy) and fills in the missing PromoSync data around it.