Test connection: what it checks and how to read it

Test connection fetches a small sample from your supplier's feed, runs your field mapping over it, and shows you the result. It writes nothing: not to your store, not to your supplier, and it does not save the connection either.

What the test actually does

Everstock calls your supplier's inventory endpoint once, using the base URL, Inventory path, Records path (optional), Response format and credentials in the form. It reads only the first page of the response, keeps the first three records as a sample, and applies your mapping to them in memory. Nothing is compared against your store and nothing is written, so you can test as often as you need.

You can run Test connection before the connection exists. It is the secondary action in the header of the Connect a supplier wizard, next to Save connection, and saving is a separate click.

Reading a successful test

Success is announced by a toast reading "Fetched 3 sample records", the count being however many came back, up to three. Three things then fill in.

Detected supplier fields appear as clickable buttons under the line "Detected supplier fields. Click one to map it onto the matching canonical field:". Each button is a field path found in the sample, such as stock.available. Clicking one drops that path into the mapping row Everstock thinks it belongs to, or adds a new row when it cannot guess. It is the fastest way to map a feed whose field names you have never seen. Two presets lean on it. Sports South arrives with its records path blank, because Sports South does not document the shape of its response. Kinsey's carries no mapping of its own, so its rows start on the six defaults, each canonical field pointed at a supplier field of the same name. In both cases the first test is what shows you the real paths to type in.

The mapping preview gains real values, read from the first sample record, under the columns Canonical field, Mapped from, Sample value, Normalized and Status. Sample value is what the supplier sent, Normalized is what Everstock made of it. Status reads Mapped when the field resolved, Not mapped when no row points at it, No data in sample when your mapping names a path the record does not carry, Not a number when Quantity could not be read as one, and Not a price when Price could not. SKU and Barcode carry the hint " · matching key", and Quantity carries " · required". The table recomputes as you edit the rows, so you do not have to re-run the test after every change.

Below the mapping preview, a per-record preview lists SKU, Barcode, Title, Quantity, Price and Issues, one row per fetched record. A clean record badges No issues. Two problems are flagged. "no matching key" means the record carries neither a SKU nor a barcode, so it cannot be matched to a product in your store. "quantity missing/invalid" means the quantity did not read as a number; at sync time that record's quantity is not written, so your existing stock is left untouched.

One warning in the same section is not about the test at all. "This mapping can't sync yet" appears whenever neither SKU nor Barcode has a path, or Quantity has none. It reads your mapping rows rather than the sample, so it can show before you have ever pressed the button, and it stays until you map those fields.

When the test fails

A failure shows a critical banner headed "Couldn't reach the supplier feed", inside the "Inventory endpoint & mapping" section beside the fields it is about. Focus moves to it, since the button you clicked sits far up the page.

The body carries the supplier's own reason where there is one. Common ones are HTTP 401 or HTTP 403 (credentials wrong, expired, or not yet approved by the supplier), HTTP 404 (the base URL or Inventory path is wrong), and rate-limited (429) (you tested more often than the supplier allows). Where the supplier gives no reason, the banner reads "Check the base URL, inventory path, and credentials above, then test again." Credentials that ride in the request URL, such as a password sent as a query parameter, are masked before the message is shown.

One further message exists for completeness. A connector that offers no test of its own reports "This connector can't be tested. Check the base URL and inventory path, then save and run a preview." Every supplier connection you build in this wizard supports the test, so this is not a message you should meet.

Testing a saved connection

On a saved connection, the Credentials section has its own Test connection button next to Save credentials. It tests what that form would save, without storing any of it, so you can check a rotated key before committing it. Leave a secret field blank and the test uses the key already stored, exactly as saving would. The result is a banner headed "Connection test passed" or "Connection test failed". A pass reads "Fetched 3 sample records from this supplier." or, when the feed answered but was empty, "This supplier answered but returned no records." A failure carries the supplier's reason followed by "Check the base URL and credentials, then test again."

What comes next

A passing test proves Everstock can reach your supplier and read the feed. It checks nothing about your mapping, and it says nothing about what would change in your store: a test passes even when every sample record is flagged, which is why the two preview tables matter more than the toast. To see what a sync would do, save the connection and use Preview changes, a dry run against your real catalogue, then Sync now once the preview looks right.

Need help? Visit the support page or email hello@usenormalize.com.