Validation and Error Diagnostics
Table of Contents
- Error Types: Critical, Warnings, Informational
- Error Panel — How to Read Messages
- Most Common Errors and How to Fix Them
- Exporting Error Reports
Sembot continuously monitors the status of source and output files. When a problem occurs with downloading, parsing, or generating a file, the system signals it directly on the feed list and sends a notification. The following sections explain how to interpret these signals and effectively diagnose the causes of errors.
Error Types: Critical, Warnings, Informational
Sembot distinguishes three severity levels for feed issues:
| Level | Icon on List | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Error | Red error icon | The problem prevents the file from being downloaded or processed — the feed is not working correctly |
| Warning | Orange warning icon | The feed is working, but the data is incomplete or does not meet channel requirements — may reduce ad quality |
| Informational | Blue info icon | A status change that requires attention, but is not critical |
In addition to the severity level, each error has a category indicating where the cause lies:
| Category | Meaning | Who Should Act |
|---|---|---|
| Client/Feed-side Error | Problem with the data source — file unavailable, blocked, or invalid format | IT department or store administrator |
| Settings/Mapping Error | Configuration problem in Sembot — incorrect mapping, missing required fields | Sembot user |
| System Error | Problem on Sembot's servers | Sembot customer support |
Error Panel — How to Read Messages
Indicators on the Feed List
On the Feed Settings page, each row with a problem is marked with a colored icon in the first column of the table:
- "This feed contains errors" — the file is not being downloaded or generated correctly
- "This feed contains warnings" — the file is working, but contains incomplete data or data that does not meet requirements
A row with an error is additionally highlighted visually (changed background) to immediately draw attention.
Feed Verification Page
Right-click (or use the menu icon) on the feed with an error and select Verify Feed. The Feed Verification page will open with a full diagnosis.
What You See on the Verification Page
Status flow diagram — a visual diagram showing where in the chain the error occurs:
You → Feed → Sembot Application → Server
[Working] [Error] [Unknown] [Unknown]Each element of the diagram can have one of three states:
- Working (green) — this stage is functioning correctly
- Error (red) — the problem is located here
- Unknown (gray) — stage not examined (when an error stopped processing earlier)
Error code and description — the technical error code (e.g., HTTP 403, HTTP 404, Timeout) and a clear explanation in plain language.
Instructions for IT department — if Sembot knows the solution, the Show IT Instructions button reveals a ready-made text block with technical steps to implement. The entire content can be copied to the clipboard using the Copy to Clipboard button and forwarded to an IT specialist or e-commerce platform provider.
Report to Customer Support button — when the error cannot be resolved independently (system category or unclear), clicking the button automatically sends a ticket to Sembot support. Confirmation: "Ticket submitted! Our support team has been notified of the issue. We will contact you shortly."
Knowledge base — a link to a help article about the given error (available for client-side and configuration errors).
Parsing History
For each source and output file, a task history is available — context menu → History. A modal opens with a table of recent operations:
| Column | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Date | When the parsing / generation took place |
| Status | Success / Error / In Progress / Pending |
| Products | Number of products in the file after this operation |
| Error | Error message if the operation failed |
The history also includes a trend chart — number of products and operation time over time. This allows you to quickly notice if the product count dropped suddenly or if the file started downloading more slowly.
No entries in the history means the feed has not been parsed yet, or the history is older than 7 days: "No parsing history from the last 7 days."
Most Common Errors and How to Fix Them
HTTP 403 Error — Forbidden (no access to file)
Cause: The store or e-commerce platform server is blocking the file download by external servers. This most commonly affects platforms such as IdoSell, which by default restrict access to feed exports.
Message: "We were unable to download the product feed. If you use IdoSell, enable access from an external server in the feed export settings for at least 30 days."
Solution: Add Sembot's IP addresses to the whitelist on the server or in the e-commerce platform panel. IP addresses to add:
52.28.49.250
51.77.44.22
51.77.44.187
51.38.111.87
51.38.107.36Instructions for a specific platform are available by clicking Show IT Instructions on the verification page. The ready-made text block can be copied and forwarded to your IT department.
HTTP 404 Error — file not found
Cause: The URL entered when adding the feed is incorrect, or the file is no longer available at that address (export configuration change in the store).
Solution: Go to Feed Settings, click Edit next to the source file, and update the URL to the current feed file address.
HTTP 401 Error — unauthorized
Cause: The file is password-protected, but the credentials (username/password) were not provided or are incorrect.
Solution: Edit the source file, expand the Advanced section, and enter the correct Username and Password to access the file.
Timeout — download time exceeded
Cause: The store server is responding too slowly, or the file is very large and downloading takes longer than the allowed time.
Solution: Check whether the store server is working correctly. If the file is large (hundreds of thousands of products), consider splitting it into several smaller source files or contact Sembot customer support.
Parsing Error — invalid file format
Cause: The file is accessible at the given URL, but its content is not valid XML or CSV — for example, the server returns an HTML error page instead of the feed file, the file is corrupted, or has an inconsistent structure.
Solution: Open the file URL directly in your browser and check whether a valid file is displayed. If the file looks correct, check the File Type setting on the feed (Advanced section) — it is possible that the wrong format was set. If the file is XML and Sembot is trying to parse it as CSV, change the type to XML or Auto-detect.
Notification: Product Count Drop in Feed
Cause: After the last parsing, the number of products in the feed dropped significantly — for example, from 10,000 to 200. This may indicate: an export failure on the store side, an error in product rules, a change in the source file structure, or intentional product removal.
Notification type: "Product count drop in input feed" / "Product count drop in output feed"
Solution: Check the parsing history (context menu → History) and compare the product count from previous cycles. If the problem is in the input file — contact the feed provider or the store's IT department. If the problem is in the output file — check the product rules and filters for this feed.
Missing Required Fields in Output Feed
Cause: The output file does not contain all fields required by the channel (for example, Google Merchant Center requires the availability field, which is missing from the mapping).
Notification type: "Missing required fields in output feed"
Solution: Go to the output file editor (context menu → Edit), proceed to the Mapping step, and fill in the missing fields required by the selected channel. Check whether the appropriate attribute exists in the product data — if not, it may be necessary to add a supplementary rule or enrich the source file.
Rule Contains an Error
Message: "Rule contains errors." next to a given rule on the rules list.
Cause: The rule references an attribute that does not exist in the current product schema, or contains an invalid action configuration.
Solution: Click Edit on the rule with the error and check the action and filter settings. Rules with errors cannot be activated — message: "The rule contains an error and cannot be enabled."
Exporting Error Reports
Sembot does not have a dedicated button to export an error report to a file. However, the following methods are available for obtaining error data:
Copy instructions to clipboard — on the feed verification page, the Copy to Clipboard button copies the full error content along with instructions for the IT department. The copied text can be pasted into an email, document, or service ticket.
Report to customer support — the Report to Customer Support button automatically sends the full technical error data (code, category, feed identifier, project) to Sembot support. There is no need to manually copy technical data.
Parsing history — the table in the History modal contains a complete log of operations with dates, statuses, and error messages. Data can be browsed and manually copied.
Notifications — Sembot's notification center stores a history of feed error alerts (input error, output error, product count drop), which can be browsed in the Notification Center section.