Documentation

Getting started

1. Install and run your first scan

After installing Origova from the Shopify App Store, open the app from your Shopify admin. On the Scan & fix tab, click Run scan now.

A scan reads your active product catalog, syncs current data from Shopify, and checks every product and variant against six rules. Depending on the size of your catalog, this can take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes.

2. Understand what got flagged

Once a scan finishes, the Issues to fix panel groups every problem by type. Click an issue type to see the specific products and variants it affects.

Missing country of originVariant

No country of origin set on the variant

Missing HS codeVariant

No HS code set on the variant

Invalid HS code formatVariant

HS code set, but not 6–10 digits

Missing product weightVariant

No weight set on the variant

Invalid product weightVariant

Weight is zero or negative

Missing materialProduct

No material set — applies to every variant of the product

Generic material valueProduct

Material is set but too vague (e.g. "mixed", "fabric")

Vague product titleProduct

Title is empty, generic, or under 3 meaningful words

Missing product descriptionProduct

No description set

Issue	Level	What triggers it
Missing country of origin	Variant	No country of origin set on the variant
Missing HS code	Variant	No HS code set on the variant
Invalid HS code format	Variant	HS code set, but not 6–10 digits
Missing product weight	Variant	No weight set on the variant
Invalid product weight	Variant	Weight is zero or negative
Missing material	Product	No material set — applies to every variant of the product
Generic material value	Product	Material is set but too vague (e.g. "mixed", "fabric")
Vague product title	Product	Title is empty, generic, or under 3 meaningful words
Missing product description	Product	No description set

3. Apply a fix

Select an issue type, enter the correct value, and choose which affected items to apply it to. Two ways to apply:

Bulk — set one value and apply it to every selected item at once. Use this when the same value applies to a whole group (for example, setting country of origin to the same value for a batch of items you manufacture in one place).
Per-item — enter a different value for each row. Use this when items need different corrections (for example, distinct HS codes per product).

Some fields give you the right control for the job. Country of origin is always a searchable list of ISO country codes, never a free-text box, so a typo can't reach Shopify. Weight pairs a number with a unit selector — kg, lb, oz, or g.

Click Apply fix. Origova writes the new value directly to the product or variant in Shopify — not just inside the app — so the correction is real and permanent until changed again.

Quality checks A value has to clear a basic quality bar before it can be applied — titles need at least three meaningful words, HS codes need 6–10 digits, weights must be greater than zero. This prevents a fix from being accepted only to get flagged again on the very next scan.

4. Ignore items that don't apply

Some products — gift cards, digital items, services — will never have a real HS code or weight. Select those rows and click Ignore selected instead of trying to fix them. Ignored items stay excluded from future scans until you undo the ignore.

5. Review fix history

The Issues fixed tab lists every applied batch, grouped by issue type, with the field that was set, the value used, and how many items it affected — for example, Set Country of origin to CA · 12 items fixed. Each batch can be:

Expanded to see the exact items and their before/after values.
Edited per item, if a specific value needs correcting later. Editing uses the same controls as the original fix — a country picklist, a weight unit selector — and writes the correction straight to Shopify.
Undone, which reverts every item in that batch back to its original value in Shopify and reopens the related finding.

When one issue type has been fixed across several batches, the group header shows the combined item count and an Undo all button. Undoing a group reverts its batches in reverse order — newest first — so overlapping corrections unwind exactly the way they were applied.

Fix history is an audit trail, not a live mirror

Each history entry records what Origova set, and when. It is deliberately never rewritten. If a value changes afterwards — someone edits it in the Shopify admin, or a later fix overwrites it — the original entry stays as it was, and the affected row is marked instead:

Changed since this fix Shopify now has TM. This history entry records what Origova set at the time; run a scan to refresh current values.

This matters for customs paperwork. An audit trail that quietly updates itself can't tell you what was declared on the day a shipment left. Origova keeps the record honest and flags the drift rather than hiding it.

If a product is deleted in Shopify, its catalog entry is deactivated rather than erased, so the fix history that references it survives.

6. Export for a broker or your own records

On the Export tab, click Run export to download a CSV of your full active catalog with every compliance field. If any issues are still open, Origova will ask you to confirm before exporting incomplete data.

Exports are saved to the export history list, where you can re-download or delete them later.

7. How Origova stays in sync with Shopify

Origova keeps its own copy of your catalog so it can compare, group, and export compliance data quickly. That copy is kept current in two ways.

Automatically, as you edit Shopify

When a product, variant, or its customs data changes in your Shopify admin, Shopify notifies Origova and the affected items are refreshed within seconds. No action needed. This covers:

Product title, description, status, category, and images
Variant SKU and title
Country of origin, HS code, and weight — these live on Shopify's inventory item, not on the product itself, which is why the app needs inventory permissions to see them change

New products appear in the catalog automatically. Deleted products are marked inactive and drop out of scans and exports, while any fix history that mentions them is preserved.

Completely, when you run a scan

A scan re-reads your entire active catalog from Shopify and re-evaluates every rule. It is the reconciliation step: if anything was ever missed, a scan catches it. Run one whenever you want a guaranteed-current picture — before an export, after a bulk import, or after a long stretch of manual editing.

Origova only writes when you tell it to Automatic syncing is read-only. Origova writes to Shopify in exactly two situations: when you click Apply fix, and when you click Undo. It never changes your catalog on its own.

8. Weights and units

Enter a weight in whatever unit you actually use — kg, lb, oz, or g. Origova writes that value to Shopify in the unit you chose, and shows it back to you in that same unit everywhere: in the fix preview, in fix history, and in Shopify's own admin.

Internally, weights are stored in kilograms so that rules and comparisons work consistently across a catalog where different products were entered in different units. That conversion is invisible: if you type 50 lb, you will see 50 lb, not its kilogram equivalent.

9. Permissions Origova requests

Shopify asks you to approve a specific set of permissions when you install or update the app. Here is every one, and why it exists.

read_products
Read product titles, descriptions, variants, SKUs, categories, and images so they can be scanned against the compliance rules.
write_products
Apply your fixes to products — including the material metafield — and revert them when you undo.
read_inventory
Read country of origin, HS code, and weight. Shopify stores all three on the inventory item, not the product, so this permission is what lets Origova see them at all — and what lets it notice when you change them in the Shopify admin.
write_inventory
Write corrected country of origin, HS code, and weight values back to Shopify when you apply a fix, and restore the previous values when you undo.
read_locations
Required by Shopify as a technical dependency of inventory access — an inventory item is linked to the locations that stock it. Origova reads no location data of its own, shows none in the app, and never requests write access to locations.

What Origova never touches Inventory permissions in Shopify are broad, but Origova uses only the customs fields on an inventory item. It does not read or change stock quantities, inventory levels, transfers, or shipments — and it never accesses customers, orders, or payment data. Location records are synced because Shopify requires them to resolve inventory items; Origova never reads, displays, or exports them, and never asks for write access to locations.

If you installed Origova before inventory permissions were introduced, Shopify will ask you to approve the updated set the next time you open the app. Until you approve, the app cannot read or correct customs fields.

Rescanning

Run a new scan any time you want a full reconciliation — after a bulk import, before handing an export to a broker, or whenever you simply want certainty. Each scan re-reads current Shopify data, so it always reflects what's actually live in your store.

Related reading: bulk-editing HS codes in Shopify and setting country of origin in Shopify. Still stuck? The support and FAQ page covers the questions merchants ask most.

Last reviewed 8 July 2026.