# products domain — developer notes
DOC-4 (SD-0002 §11): the import/export spine as built in SLICE-5, extended by
SLICE-6–8. Operator-facing material is in [`OPERATIONS.md`](./OPERATIONS.md);
the spec is SD-0002 in the content repo.
## Layout and pipeline
`backend/app/domains/products/` is layered like the rest of the app
(main → domains → platform, enforced by import-linter):
- `models.py` — canonical row model + the column registry.
- `codec.py` — bytes → `ParsedFile`; file-level gates only.
- `validate.py` — rows → `CanonicalProduct` blocks + per-row errors.
- `diff.py` — catalog × canonical products → apply plan + preview records.
- `repo.py` — SQL only: catalog snapshot, draft/run CRUD, apply primitives.
Never commits or rolls back.
- `service.py` — use-case orchestration; owns every transaction boundary and
emits the TEL events via `backend/app/platform/telemetry.py`.
```mermaid
flowchart LR
subgraph validate_path [import_validate]
A[parse_csv] --> B[build_products] --> D[compute_diff] --> E[(import_draft)]
C[load_catalog] --> D
end
subgraph confirm_path [confirm_draft]
E --> F[re-derive: parse → build → diff] --> G{fingerprint match?}
G -- yes --> H[one-transaction apply
run + products + delete draft]
G -- no --> I[PreviewStale
draft kept]
end
```
Confirm re-derives everything from the draft's stored `file_bytes` against the
live catalog, then checks the fingerprint — so what lands is exactly what the
preview showed, or the confirm refuses (`preview_stale`). A confirm with no
adds and no updates refuses with `nothing_to_apply`.
## Canonical model and blank-vs-absent
`models.py` is the one model every dialect maps to (INV-17). `KNOWN_COLUMNS`
is the registry header detection, unknown-column warnings, and validation all
read; `CLEAR_DEFAULTS` holds the reset values for clearable fields
(`status`, `published`, `product_type`, `tags`).
The §6.5.1 cell semantics, as implemented:
- **Absent column** → the field never enters `fields{}` → untouched by diff
and apply (never a change).
- **Present-but-empty cell** → `fields[name] = None` (an explicit clear) →
resolved at diff time to its `CLEAR_DEFAULTS` entry, or NULL where none
exists.
- **The position exception:** a cleared `Variant Position` has no
`CLEAR_DEFAULTS` entry — `diff.resolved_variant_fields` resolves it to the
variant's 1-based file order within its product, never to NULL.
Option names live both in `CanonicalProduct.option_names` (the values) and in
`fields{}` (the file-presence marker the diff needs for the absent-vs-clear
distinction).
## Error granularity
`validate.py` never raises on a row problem: every violation is recorded as a
merchant-language `RowError` and **poisons its whole product block** — the
product previews as `kind="error"` and is excluded from apply, while parsing
continues so one pass yields a complete accounting (BUC-1a). On apply, error
rows are recorded per line in `import_run_error`; `rows_errored` on the run is
the **error-row count**, while the preview's errors tile counts error
**products** — the two numbers legitimately differ.
File-level problems (`not_csv`, `missing_required_column`, `too_many_rows`,
`file_too_large`) raise `FileRejected` in `codec.py` instead: no draft is
created. The BFF adds an early 413 for oversized uploads (`main.py`).
## INV-11 mechanics
`compute_diff` makes **one walk** that produces two views of the same
computation: the typed apply `plan` (resolved natives — `Decimal`, `bool`,
lists) that `confirm_draft` executes, and the JSON-safe preview `records`
stored as draft JSONB and served verbatim to the SPA. Because both derive from
the same walk they cannot diverge. The `fingerprint` is
`sha256(json.dumps(records, sort_keys=True, separators=(",", ":")))`; a
mismatch at confirm means the catalog drifted since preview → `PreviewStale`
(409 `preview_stale`, draft kept for re-validation). The whole apply — run row,
product/variant/image writes, error rows, draft delete — is one transaction;
any exception rolls it back and emits TEL-6.
## Named seams (what later slices replace)
- **`import_draft.file_bytes` → objectstore key (SLICE-7).** The upload
currently lives as BYTEA on the draft row (`0002_products.sql`); SLICE-7
moves the bytes to object storage and stores a key.
- **`codec.detect_dialect` → Shopify (SLICE-8).** Today it always returns
`"canonical"`; SLICE-8 recognizes Shopify's exact header set here (INV-17).
- **Run-status complete shortcut → `fetching_images` (SLICE-7).**
`confirm_draft` inserts the run with `status="complete"` directly; SLICE-7
inserts it as `fetching_images` and hands off to the image-fetch task.
Relatedly, image rows are created with the schema default
`status='pending'` **today and stay pending** — placeholder behavior until
SLICE-7's fetch phase (the run-detail payload already carries the stable
`image_progress` / `image_outcomes` shape, zeroed).
## Test map
| File | Covers |
| --- | --- |
| `backend/tests/test_products_codec.py` | file-level gates: parse, caps (INV-18), required columns, dialect |
| `backend/tests/test_products_validate.py` | every §6.5.1 row-error rule, one fixture each |
| `backend/tests/test_products_diff.py` | classification, blank-vs-absent, option matching, fingerprint |
| `backend/tests/test_products_service.py` | draft lifecycle: validate/preview/discard, expiry, TEL-1 |
| `backend/tests/test_products_invariants.py` | INV-10 (never deletes), INV-14 (storefront isolation), apply transactionality, TEL-6 |
| `backend/tests/test_products_endpoints.py` | §6.4 API scenarios + auth/storefront gates |
| `e2e/tests/import-preview-confirm.spec.ts` | happy path: upload → preview → confirm → history |
| `e2e/tests/import-errors.spec.ts` | actionable row errors at preview and on the run report |
| `e2e/tests/import-file-rejected.spec.ts` | file-level rejection, picker stays live, no trace |
| `e2e/tests/import-cancel.spec.ts` | cancel at preview leaves no trace |