Rhythm 2.0 Specifications

Appearance

CON-COM-CAT-003Catalog Product

Markdown

CON-COM-CAT-003

Catalog Product

Markdown
  • DocumentDraft
  • Product intentConfirmed
  • ImplementationPartially observed

Planning

Feature
FEAT-COM-CAT-02
Owned by
MOD-COM-CAT
Acted on by
CAP-COM-CAT-005, CAP-COM-CAT-006, CAP-COM-CAT-007, CAP-COM-CAT-008, CAP-COM-CAT-009
Visible to
ACT-COM-001, ACT-COM-004, ACT-COM-005, ACT-COM-006
Not to be confused with
The Accounting product, which retains the name, type, revenue accounts and price rows, An inventory item, which the fulfilment module retains for stock, An entitlement, the right to download or use what was bought, retained by the orders module

Design

Specified by
DOM-COM-CAT-003

KindKey conceptProduct areaCommerceModuleCatalog and Selling ConfigurationRevision1

Read atservices-commerce c8b66a98react-console baf6dae3

Catalog Product ​

What It Is ​

A catalog product is the item staff prepare for selling and shoppers recognize in a store. Accounting supplies the continuing product identity, classification and price rows. Commerce adds the information needed to arrange it on shelves, describe it to buyers and assess merchandise selections. These are connected views of the same product rather than separate copies staff reconcile by name.

Its listing supplies the shopper-facing presentation. Staff can prepare that information without immediately making it public. Categories place the product into browsing groups, while stores decide which groups they offer. A recognizable headline, description and images help a buyer understand the item before asking for a price.

Goods also carry merchandise details, such as delivery mode and selectable variants. A digital item can carry privately stored files used after purchase. Availability describes whether a requested quantity can proceed. Together these facets connect staff preparation, public browsing and checkout assessment without making every sub-record a separate product concept.

What It Is Not ​

The catalog product does not replace the Accounting product or take ownership of its revenue classification. A listing is its public presentation, not the purchased order line. A variant distinguishes a selectable form of merchandise rather than creating another unrelated product. Download files are assets; the entitlement to retrieve them is owned by the orders module.

How It Is Used ​

Administrators create or edit merchandise and its Storefront section together. They select shelves and review how the saved item appears before publishing. Gallery preparation can fail when an asset cannot be read, and saves can fail when an earlier version is submitted. Buyers later browse eligible listings, choose merchandise options and use granted downloads after purchase. Support staff can retrieve files while preserving member download capacity.

Its Facets ​

Shelves. Categories provide ordered, flat browsing groups with presentation choices.

Listing. Publication state, text, slug, gallery, badges and related items describe the store presentation.

Digital delivery. Private files, labels and download settings support purchased digital goods.

Merchandise. Delivery, measures, stock and backorder settings describe how goods are handled.

Selections. Option sets define variant values and modifiers, with SKUs identifying variants.

Availability. Stock assessment supplies descriptive availability and, where requested, a remaining count.

How It Relates ​

Stores admit the product through their assortments, pricing calculates amounts from Accounting data and promotions assess qualifying lines. The merchandise participant supplies sale-time availability, while fulfilment owns stock operations. Recommendations can use related-product selections from the listing. Shared asset preparation keeps images and files connected to their owning records.

What It Could Become ​

The product should connect merchandise variant and modifier data to the running pricing loader before presenting their isolated engine support as ordinary quote behaviour. It should also complete shared upload adoption and resolve the public treatment of unlisted listings before designing the shopper journey.

The Formal Contract

The narrative above explains; the sections below are authoritative — the rules, scenarios and tests this document binds.

Definition
A catalog product is the Commerce presentation of an Accounting product, including its shelves, listing and any merchandise or download details.
Synonyms
Listing (the storefront presentation)Merchandise item (for goods)

Relationships

ToStatementProvenance
CON-COM-CAT-002Category membership makes a listing eligible for an admitting store.test
services-commerce:modules/catalog/tests/integration/services/storefront/storefront-listings.queries.integration.spec.js#says whether a product sits on a shelf the store admits
CON-COM-CAT-004Commerce reads Accounting price rows; supplied variant adjustments exist in the isolated engine but remain absent from the running loader.observed
services-commerce:modules/pricing/services/persistence/catalog-products.ts
CON-COM-CAT-006Listing associations supply candidates for related-item suggestions.observed
services-commerce:modules/recommendations/services/evaluation/evaluate-offers.ts:1

Lifecycle

StateMeaningHow it changes
DraftNot displayed and not sold to the public; customer staff can still sell it.Customer customer staff publish or unlist it.
PublishedOn the shelf of each store that admits one of its categories.Customer customer staff unlist it or return it to draft.
UnlistedDirect-page access remains available without public list inclusion.Customer customer staff publish it or return it to draft.
RetiredThe Accounting product is retired; the merchandise record is retained for history.Accounting controls retirement and this module provides no reversal.

The Markdown files under specs/ in rhythmsoftware/rhythm-v2-docs are the canonical source of truth. This reader is a generated, read-only projection of them.

Rhythm Software