Principal catalog overview

The principal catalog is your organization’s master catalog: the single source of truth for the products you make and sell, the attributes that describe them, the groups that organize them, and the bills of materials (BOMs) that define how they are built. It lives under the Principal Catalog section in the sidebar, with pages at /principal/attributes, /principal/skus, /principal/sku-groups, and /principal/boms.

The Principal Catalog section appears only for organizations that are on the principal catalog. Nav labels in this section — SKU, SKU Group, BOM, Attribute, and related terms like Location and Policy — are customizable per organization. Administrators can rename them in Settings → Terminology, so your sidebar may show different names. See Terminology.

What the principal catalog contains

Entity	Page	Purpose
Attributes	`/principal/attributes`	Named dimensions such as Size or Color, each with an ordered list of values
SKUs	`/principal/skus`	Individual sellable or purchasable items, typed as Finished Good, Variant, Bundle, Kit, Virtual Bundle, or Component
SKU groups	`/principal/sku-groups`	Primary SKU Groups (product hierarchy with attributes) and Standard groups (flat lists)
BOMs	`/principal/boms`	Bills of materials describing which components produce which output SKUs

Every SKU belongs to exactly one Primary SKU Group, and can additionally belong to any number of Standard groups. Attributes attached to a primary group drive variant generation, filtering, and grouping across the catalog.

Relationship to the legacy Catalog section

Organizations use either the principal catalog or the legacy Catalog section — never both at once:

When your organization is on the principal catalog, the sidebar shows the Principal Catalog group and hides the legacy Catalog group.
Organizations not yet on the principal catalog see the legacy Catalog group instead, with SKUs and Collections.

If your sidebar shows Collections rather than SKU Groups, the legacy documentation under Product Catalog applies to you.

The four sub-pages

Attributes

Define dimensions like Size and Color, manage their values and display order

SKUs

Create, import, edit, and archive SKUs; manage units, external IDs, and policies

SKU groups

Organize SKUs into primary and standard groups, bulk-create variants, and move members

BOMs

Build bills of materials with components, outputs, and usage tracking

Access and permissions

Access to the principal catalog is controlled by your role’s permissions. Viewing catalog pages requires catalog read access, and editing requires catalog write access; policy changes on SKUs and SKU groups require network write access. If you can see a page but not its edit controls, ask an administrator about your permissions. See Roles and permissions.

Best practices

Model attributes before creating SKUs

Attributes and their values feed SKU code generation, filtering, and bulk variant creation. Set up attributes such as Size and Color first, then attach them to primary SKU groups, so generated SKU codes and names come out consistent.

Keep primary groups as your product hierarchy

A SKU has exactly one Primary SKU Group. Treat primary groups as products (with variants inside) and use Standard groups for cross-cutting lists like seasonal assortments or promotions.

Rename terms to match your vocabulary

If your team says “Style” instead of “SKU Group” or “Recipe” instead of “BOM,” an administrator can rename these terms in Settings → Terminology. The whole app, including the sidebar, updates to use your words.

Use archive instead of delete for retired SKUs

Archiving preserves history and records a reason, and archived SKUs can be restored later. Reserve delete for SKUs created by mistake.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause	Solution
The Principal Catalog section is missing from the sidebar	Your organization is not on the principal catalog, or you lack catalog read permission	Use the legacy Catalog section instead, or ask an administrator to review your access
Sidebar labels don’t match this documentation	Your organization renamed terms in Settings → Terminology	The pages work the same — only the words differ
Edit buttons don’t appear on catalog pages	You have read access but not write access	Ask an administrator to grant catalog write permission
You were redirected to an access denied page	The page requires principal catalog access your organization or role doesn’t have	Contact an administrator

Next Steps

Attributes

Start by defining the attributes that describe your products

SKUs

Learn how to create, import, and manage SKUs

Terminology

Rename catalog terms to match your organization’s vocabulary

Roles and permissions

Understand who can view and edit the catalog

Getting Started

Product Catalog