Catalog setup

Create products, sellable items, and versioned recipes

Build a catalog record that can be sold now and completed operationally over time without publishing incomplete production assumptions.

15 minute guide Catalog managers, owners, and production leads

After this guide

A product has a clear selling structure, an intentional SKU, and an approved production method—or an explicit draft that can be completed later.

1. Create the product identity

The three-step product flow separates customer-facing identity from selling and production details.

1
Choose how to start
Select Blank product for manual entry or Import from product URL to submit a retailer or supplier reference. The mock UI accepts the URL now; the backend will own extraction later.
Start a product
2
Describe the product
Enter the name, category, description, and image. These fields identify the product family and feed the draft summary.
3
Choose the selling structure
Use one sellable item for one SKU, multiple sellable items for variants with independent SKU/price/stock, or combination for a bundle of existing items.
4
Continue or save
Continue validates the current step. Save draft & exit preserves the product and the furthest unlocked step without publishing it.

A sellable item carries the commercial and stock behavior that should not be stored on the broader product family.

1
Set the SKU and price
Use a stable SKU that identifies the exact sellable item. Confirm the base price before publishing to a channel.
2
Choose stock tracking and source
Decide whether MakerDesk tracks finished stock and whether the normal source is your workshop or an external supplier.
3
Choose the recipe timing
Assign now opens recipe setup for the item. Set up after creation lets you finish the catalog identity first and return later.
4
Set fulfillment behavior
Record whether the item is made to order or fulfilled from stock so Orders can present the right decision context.

Recipes express consumption, equipment use, and expected output quality as versioned operating knowledge.

1
Name the recipe family
Choose the product output and give the method a name operators will recognize.
Create recipe
2
Add material consumption
Select every required material and record the amount consumed for the recipe output quantity.
3
Add tool usage
Select molds, machines, fixtures, or stations and record how long the recipe occupies them.
4
Assign the policy role
Default drives normal planning. Fallback is an approved alternate material or consumption pattern. Reference records learning without becoming the normal plan.
5
Attach quality evidence
Add images and notes showing the produced quality so future operators can compare the expected finish.
6
Create an improved version
Open the recipe family and choose Improve version. The new version starts from the prior method while preserving every build that used the old version.

A clean review prevents catalog gaps from surfacing only after an order arrives.

1
Review the product summary
Confirm identity, structure, SKU, price, stock behavior, source, recipe timing, and fulfillment before creating the product.
2
Check recipe approval
Production should use an approved version with complete materials, tools, output quantity, and quality expectations.
3
Review channel readiness
Resolve recipe, material, packaging, and channel mapping issues before publishing the item.
Open readiness

The product groups what customers recognize. The sellable item is the exact SKU that is priced, stocked, sourced, and fulfilled.

When material choice, consumption, tool time, or output quality improves, create a new recipe version.

Core concepts

MakerDesk stays understandable by separating identity, catalog, supply, production execution, and fulfillment while preserving links between them.