Meta Product Feed — catalog for Facebook and Instagram Shops

The "Meta Catalog" extension (that is exactly how the card is labelled in the App Store) exports your store's catalog to Meta Commerce Manager (business.facebook.com/commerce) — Meta's catalog hub. This catalog powers:

Facebook Shop and Instagram Shop — product showcases in your profiles;
shopping tags in Instagram/Facebook posts and Stories;
dynamic ads and Advantage+ Shopping — product ads that Meta automatically matches to the audience;
catalog retargeting (showing viewed products).

Checkout usually leads to your store's storefront website (except for Meta in-app checkout scenarios, which are not available in all countries).

The extension works on a feed model without API keys: the platform generates a public product feed in the Google Product Feed format (Meta accepts this schema) and refreshes it whenever product cards change. You just point Commerce Manager to the feed URL once.

The card is available on a plan with marketing tools (advertising and SEO) and is hidden if no location of the account is in a Meta market: the extension is unavailable in Russia, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria.

Step 1. Connecting in Cenaly and getting the feed URL#

Open the App Store (admin.cenaly.ru/app-store): integration cards sit in the single grid of the "Account" tab together with the other extensions.
Find the "Meta Catalog" card — searching by name is the quickest way.
Click "Configure": the settings open in a modal window right on top of the storefront, without taking you off the page.
Pick the location you are enabling the export for in the window header.
Click "Connect" — no API credentials are needed, the feed model has no keys.
The card then shows feed links in XML and CSV; each row has a copy button ("Copied" appears after the click). URL shape: https://cdn.cenaly.ru/feeds/metafeed/{account-id}/{location-id}.xml (and .csv).

The label of the links block and the hint under it are currently shared by all product feeds and mention Yandex Goods — that is an interface inaccuracy: the links themselves point to your Meta feed.

The feed is built from the location's catalog (retail mode) and is regenerated on connect and when a product card changes — when a product is created or edited (title, price, stock in the card). A stock decrement caused by a sale and the deletion of a product do not reach the feed on their own yet — they land there with the next card edit. Variations are exported as separate items with a shared item_group_id.

Step 2. Adding the feed in Commerce Manager#

Open Commerce Manager in your Meta Business account.
Create a catalog of type "Products" (Ecommerce) if you don't have one.
Inside the catalog go to "Data sources" and choose adding products via a Data feed.
Choose the "Scheduled feed" method — specify a file URL.
Paste the feed link from step 1 (XML recommended), set the catalog currency.
Configure the update frequency (daily/hourly) and save.

Meta will load the feed and process the products. Initial processing usually takes from a few minutes to a few hours; then the products go through a review against Meta's commerce policies.

Commerce Manager labels change — look for catalog → data sources → a scheduled feed by URL.

Which format to choose: XML or CSV#

Meta accepts both. XML is preferable for stores with variations and multiple photos. CSV is handy for a manual check.

Key feed fields:

Field	Contents
`id`	Unique product identifier
`title`	Name
`description`	Description
`link`	Link to the product page in the web catalog
`image_link`	Main photo
`additional_image_link`	Additional photos
`availability`	`in_stock` / `out_of_stock`
`price`	Price
`sale_price`	Discounted price
`brand`	Brand
`gtin`	Barcode
`mpn`	SKU
`condition`	Condition (`new`)
`item_group_id`	Variation group
`product_type`	Category

How Meta fetches the feed#

Meta downloads the feed itself on a schedule from the URL. The recommended frequency is once a day; for active stores you can fetch more often. The platform regenerates the feed when a product card is edited, so Meta gets the data as it was last saved in the catalog. There is no need to push the feed manually.

Requirements and common problems#

Working product links. link must lead to a working product page — enable the web catalog (the location's storefront). The platform fills in the storefront address itself: the location's own domain is used as is, and a bare platform subdomain is expanded to the full address (demo → demo.cenaly.ru).
Photo required. Without image_link a product won't pass. Meta also has image-quality requirements.
Meta commerce policies. The catalog is moderated — prohibited product categories are rejected and the account may go to review.

Currency. The feed currency must match the catalog currency in Commerce Manager. There is currently no currency selector in the connection settings: the feed is exported in USD. If the Meta catalog runs in another currency, this is being fixed too — until then the platform may reject the items.
Business verification. For Shops and ads Meta may require business and domain verification.
Description and title. Fill in text — empty cards pass moderation and sell worse.

Catalog and Products — feed data source
Storefront and Domains — where feed links point to
App Store — where the integration is connected
Facebook Ads — ads you can feed this catalog to

Frequently Asked Questions#

Do orders happen inside Facebook/Instagram?#

Usually no — the shopper clicks through to your store's storefront website and orders there. Meta's built-in checkout is not available in all countries.

Is it paid?#

The extension is paid and is connected per location. The Meta catalog and Shops are free; you pay for ads in the Meta ads manager.

Do I need to export the feed manually?#

No. The platform regenerates the feed when a product card is edited, Meta fetches it on schedule. If a product stopped selling or the stock changed only through a sale, open and save the card — that refreshes the export.

Products were rejected — why?#

Usually: no photo or low-quality image, the product falls under Meta commerce policy restrictions, business/domain verification not done. Product links and the feed currency are currently being checked — until they are fixed, Meta may reject items for a location without its own domain or for a catalog not in USD (see "Requirements and common problems").

How are product variants exported?#

Each variant is a separate item with a shared item_group_id, so Meta groups them into one product with a variant selector.

📘 Meta Product Feed