Home, Sync and Index controls

Use this guide for catalog health, synchronization, exclusions, availability, profile capabilities, image sources, and Google Tag Manager.

HomeOperational summary and shortcuts. It reads status from other admin areas.

OverviewSynchronization actions, progress, history, failures, and index health.

ConfigurationEligibility, availability, profile capabilities, images, and tracking output.

1Read HomeIdentify whether the issue belongs to setup, data, usage, or search quality.

2Check indexConfirm the last successful update and current job state.

3Change scopeAdjust eligibility, availability, profile, or image inputs only when required.

4ProcessAllow the queued update, profile activation, or full sync to finish.

5VerifyTest stable queries, missing products, and visual search where relevant.

The complete Sync and Index admin page with catalog status, synchronization progress, recent jobs, and actions.

Home

Home is the operational summary. It does not replace the detailed controls in Sync and Index, Appearance, Analytics, or Plan and Billing.

Area	What it means	What to do
Sessions	Current monthly shopper-session usage against the plan allowance	Review before a traffic peak; open Plan and Billing for exact terms
Search on your store	Whether a VIBE search surface is live on the selected theme	Follow the setup action if it is not live
Search style	Active storefront presentation	Open Appearance before changing search-box or card mode
Product data	Age and status of the catalog index	Open Sync and Index if data is old, partial, or failed
What’s helping search	Active profile capabilities, filters, rules, and controls	Use it as a summary, then edit on the owning page
Date range	Reporting period for Home metrics	Compare equal periods around a known change
Quick actions	Direct links to Preview, Rules, Explore, and Sync	Open the area that owns the problem

After using a Home action, confirm the owning page saved successfully. Test the storefront when the action affects shoppers.

Read Home dashboard.

Sync and Index: Overview

Overview controls full synchronization and reports catalog-index health.

Index status

• Products indexed compares searchable product records with the catalog total visible to the job.
• Exclusion rules counts active product, collection, and tag exclusions.
• Last index update is the latest successful index change, including automatic updates.
• Last full sync reports the most recent complete rebuild attempt.

Job states

Status	Meaning	Merchant action
Not indexed	No usable first index has completed	Run the first full sync
Pending	The job is queued	Wait and do not submit another run
Running	Products, variants, or collections are processing	Watch progress; other admin work can continue
Healthy or Completed	The run completed without unresolved items	Test important queries
Partial	Some items failed after retry	Select Finish sync, then inspect repeat failures
Cancelled	A merchant stopped the run	Start a new full sync when ready
Issues or Failed	The job could not finish	Read the error, correct the cause, and retry

Cancel sync stops current work but does not intentionally delete the last usable index. Finish sync targets unresolved items after a partial run.

When to run a full sync

Run one after:

• A bulk import or broad catalog rewrite.
• A search-profile capability or image-source change.
• A large collection or variant-model change.
• Adding or removing broad exclusions.
• A relevance audit that proves indexed data is stale.

Do not run repeated full syncs to fix CSS, app embeds, app blocks, rule priority, translations, or broken theme-card selectors.

Read Sync and Index.

Sync and Index: Configuration

Configuration changes which catalog data VIBE can use. Several settings activate a new profile or require synchronization before the storefront changes.

Hidden from search

Exclusion	What it affects	Best use
Product	One selected product	Internal, placeholder, or exceptional item
Collection	Products belonging to a selected collection	Clearance, wholesale, or campaign catalog group
Tag	Every product with the tag	Repeatable governance such as discontinued

An exclusion removes the item from VIBE results. It does not delete or unpublish the Shopify product.

After changing exclusions, allow the queued update to finish. Run a full sync when the change is broad or urgent.

Out-of-stock products

Setting	Shopper effect	Tradeoff
Hide	Sold-out products are removed	Highest availability precision, lowest discoverability
Show last	Sold-out products remain after in-stock items	Preserves discovery without leading with unavailable products
Mix in	Availability does not force sold-out products lower	Natural relevance remains, but unavailable products can lead

Search profile status

The status card summarizes the active catalog-understanding preference and whether collections, variants, and images are available.

Select Analyze catalog again after a substantial product-structure or presentation change. Analysis chooses or refreshes a profile. It does not repair incomplete Shopify data.

Catalog understanding

Choice	Favors	Use when
Balanced	Text, structured details, and images together	Most mixed catalogs
More visual	Product and context imagery	Appearance, composition, style, or shape carries meaning
More text	Titles, descriptions, types, tags, and structured data	Technical or text-rich catalogs

Changing the preference guides the next profile refresh. Test a stable query set after the profile and required sync are active.

Collection search

When enabled, matching collections can appear with products. Use it when shoppers browse by category, department, artist, room, style, or another collection concept.

Changing it activates a new profile and queues collection indexing.

Variant search

When enabled, variants are indexed separately so precise colors, sizes, materials, capacities, and other options can match. It requires the plan shown in the app and can trigger a full sync.

Search by image

This switch exposes shopper image uploads where the plan and selected surfaces allow it. It remains unavailable until image matching has a usable indexed source.

Product photos

Choose the primary image used for product-level visual matching:

• A Shopify product image position.
• An image URL stored in a product metafield.
• No product photo when context images should be the only visual input.

Variants use their own Shopify variant photo when available.

Context photos

Choose an optional image source for lifestyle, room, model, detail, or editorial context. The source can be another product-image position, an image URL metafield, or none.

After changing either image source, run the required sync and re-test Similar and image search.

Google Tag Manager

When enabled, VIBE pushes configured search events to window.dataLayer. The store must already load and configure Google Tag Manager.

Use browser developer tools or a tag-debugging workflow to verify events before relying on them in another analytics system.

Read Privacy, sessions, tracking, and attribution.

Verification checklist

1. Wait for profile activation or synchronization to finish.
2. Confirm the expected indexed-product count.
3. Test an exact product title.
4. Test a broad query and a previously weak query.
5. Verify an excluded and an out-of-stock product.
6. Test collection, variant, Similar, or image search when the changed setting affects it.
7. Record the date and setting so later Analytics comparisons have context.

Next: configure search boxes, cards, translations, style, and theme installation.

Appearance controls