FTP Seller Connector

Sync Products, Orders, Inventory, Fulfillments, and Locations over FTP.

Pipe17 supports the following flows for the FTP Seller Connector:

• Pull Orders from FTP Seller
• Push Fulfillments to FTP Seller
• Pull / Push Inventory from FTP Seller

• Pull / Push Products from FTP Seller

• Pull Locations from FTP Seller

 

In this article

• Requirements
• Connecting FTP Seller to Pipe17
• Connection Flow Settings
• Integration Specific Settings
• Mappings
• FAQs
• Recommendations
• Sample Files

 

Requirements

• Pipe17 Account
  Ensure you have a Pipe17 account. If not, book a demo with a Pipe17 representative.

• FTP Seller Account
  Ensure you have access credentials (host, port, username, password) for your FTP server.

Connecting FTP Seller to Pipe17

1. In your Pipe17 portal, navigate to Integrations > Add Integration.

2. Search for and select FTP Seller Connector, then click Add.

3. The Connection Flow Settings page appears. You can configure settings now or later via the Integrations tab.

Required Connection Details

• Connection Protocol: Choose from FTP, FTPS, or SFTP.

• Host: Domain or IP of your FTP server (e.g., myftpserver.cloudhost.com).

• Port: Common ports include 21 (FTP), 22 (SFTP), 990 (FTPS).

• Username/Password: Credentials for your FTP account.

• Import/Export Filetype: Choose from JSON, CSV (flatten/unwind), or connector-specific formats.

• Post-processing Action: Either remove the file or move it to a processed folder.

• CSV Delimiter: Default is comma (,), can be changed.

• Case-insensitive Field Matching: Optional; applies only to inbound CSV files.

• Whitelisted IPs: Your server must allow the following IPs:

  • develop: 54.244.107.167

  • stage: 52.32.223.95

  • master: 52.32.167.96

Click Connect to complete setup.

 

Connection Flow Settings

Each entity has configurable directions and behaviors:

• Products: Pull or Push

• Orders: Pull only

• Inventory: Pull or Push

• Fulfillments: Push only

• Locations: Pull only

Integration Specific Settings

Note: Entity files uploaded by Pipe17 to FTP server will have 1 entity per file. However, Entity files downloaded by Pipe17 from the FTP server can have multiple entities per file, it will be processed accordingly.

Orders – Pull

Overview

This entity handles importing order data from your FTP Seller channel into Pipe17. These orders represent customer purchases from that channel and are managed alongside orders from other connected sources.

Settings

• FTP Input Path for Orders: The folder path on your FTP server where Pipe17 will read order files.

• Exclude orders created before this date: By default, Pipe17 will begin pulling orders at the date/time of the integration becoming active. If you would like to modify this date/time, you can add an earlier or later date to this field. Otherwise, leave it blank.

• Process only orders with matched numbers (regex): Only the Orders with matching ids will be processed, you can even specify a regular expression to match.

Sync Behavior

The sync runs continuously on a schedule, importing new orders as they appear in the specified FTP folder. It supports both full creation and updates of existing orders.

Data Filtering and Rules

• Filters on date, id - noted above in settings will be applied when available.

• Orders already in Pipe17 (matched by external order ID) are updated, not duplicated.

Additional Notes

• File format must conform to Pipe17’s expected structure.

• File errors trigger retry on the next sync cycle.

• Large files may impact processing time but are supported.

• Orders from this connector are labeled as "FTP" in Pipe17.

Fulfillments – Push

Overview

Fulfillment records are pushed from Pipe17 to your FTP Seller channel. These include shipment confirmations, tracking numbers, and related order status data.

Settings

Specify the path where fulfillments should be uploaded to: specify the folder path on your FTP server where Pipe17 can upload Fulfillments.

Select components for file name generation during upload: choose from a combination of Timestamp, Entity Id, Entity Type in generation of the uploaded filename.

Sync Behavior

Syncing occurs on a schedule when fulfillments are created or updated in Pipe17. All fulfillment data is transmitted to the FTP Seller server.

Data Filtering and Rules

• All records are included—no filtering is applied.

• Sync includes both new and updated fulfillment records.

Additional Notes

• Fulfillment syncing depends on orders already being present in Pipe17.

• Failures are retried automatically until successful.

• There are no sync rate limits or batching constraints for this entity.

Inventory – Pull

Overview

The Inventory entity synchronizes stock level data from your FTP Seller channel into Pipe17. This allows you to view and manage inventory quantities across all your sales channels directly within the Pipe17 platform.

Settings

• FTP Input Path for Inventory: The folder path on your FTP server where Pipe17 will read Inventory files.

• Inventory SKUs: Optionally specify a list of SKUs to include in the inventory sync. Leave blank to sync all inventory items.

Sync Behavior

Inventory sync runs on a recurring schedule. Pipe17 continuously monitors your FTP folder and processes files as they become available. Upon detecting changes, it imports the latest stock levels into your Pipe17 workspace.

Data Filtering and Rules

• Only records matching specified SKUs (if any) are imported.

• Records missing a location ID are assigned the default location.

• Skipped inventory items are logged but not imported.

Additional Notes

• Syncing may experience minor delays after file uploads.

• Errors during import trigger automatic retries in the next cycle.

• Pipe17 updates inventory quantities during each sync but does not maintain historical stock records.

Inventory – Push

Overview

Pipe17 pushes inventory updates to your FTP Seller channel, keeping your external storefront or systems in sync with real-time stock levels.

Settings

• Inventory SKUs: Optionally specify a list of SKUs to include in the inventory sync. Leave blank to sync all inventory items.

Sync Behavior

The connector pushes the updated records to your FTP Seller channel.

Data Filtering and Rules

• • Only records matching specified SKUs (if any) are pushed.

Additional Notes

• This is a one-way sync—data from FTP does not override Pipe17.

• To avoid conflicts, inventory changes should be made within Pipe17, not externally.

Products – Pull

Overview

Pipe17 can pull product data—including SKUs, descriptions, pricing, and inventory—from your FTP Seller channel, providing centralized catalog visibility.

Settings

• FTP Input Path for Products: The folder path on your FTP server where Pipe17 will read PRoduct files.

• Product SKUs: Sync only specific SKUs if desired.

• Significant Product Fields: Used to detect changes that justify syncing.

Sync Behavior

Product sync runs automatically on a set schedule. Pipe17 continuously checks for changes and processes them in batches to optimize performance.

Data Filtering and Rules

• Syncs only SKUs listed in the filter (if any).

• Skips unchanged records based on the fields marked as significant.

• Parent/configurable products are always synced.

Additional Notes

• Failed imports are retried.

• Large catalogs may be split into multiple batches.

• Custom fields (e.g., hashes) are included during sync.

• New products are created in Pipe17 if not already present.

Products – Push

Overview

This flow exports your Pipe17 product catalog to the FTP Seller channel. It ensures your product listings are up-to-date across all connected systems.

Settings

• Specify the path where products should be uploaded to:

  specify the folder path on your FTP server where Pipe17 can upload Fulfillments.

• Select components for file name generation during upload: choose from a combination of Timestamp, Entity Id, Entity Type in generation of the uploaded filename.

• Product SKUs: Sync only specific SKUs if desired.
• Only update products when changes in source document are applied to the fields below: product updates are pushed only when specified fields are updated.

Sync Behavior

Product data is pushed whenever changes occur in Pipe17. Product images and variants are included in the export.

Data Filtering and Rules

• Only active, non-archived products are pushed.

• Deletions in Pipe17 are reflected in the FTP Seller channel during the next sync.

Additional Notes

• Product variants and matrix configurations are preserved.

• Images hosted in Pipe17 are also pushed alongside metadata.

Locations – Pull

Overview

Pipe17 imports location data from your FTP Seller channel, representing your warehouses, retail stores, or fulfillment centers. Accurate location data ensures proper inventory tracking and order routing.

Settings

• Locations Mode:

  • Default Only: Creates a single default business location.

  • FTP Only: Only imports locations defined in the FTP files.

  • Both: Combines the above, creating a default and importing additional locations from FTP.

• FTP Input Path for Locations: The folder path on your FTP server where Pipe17 will read Location files.

Sync Behavior

The connector periodically checks a designated FTP directory and processes new location files. Depending on the chosen mode, it either creates or updates locations in your Pipe17 account.

Data Filtering and Rules

• Records without valid identifiers are skipped.

• Duplicate location prevention is based on matching IDs.

• Only active and relevant locations should be present in the files.

Additional Notes

• Location data must be synced before inventory or orders.

• FTP location sync relies on your external system to provide updated files.

• Sync processes only the most recent files—no backfilling is done.

• Locations managed via this connector cannot be manually edited in Pipe17.

Mappings

Mappings can be applied to either data coming from FTP channel to Pipe17 or going to FTP channel from Pipe17.

Mappings can be used to do simple renaming of field names between source and destination. It can also be used to limit the fields for input or output to/from the FTP channel.

 

An additional way of doing mappings is by using a csv file called mappings.csv placed under the root folder of the FTP server.

 

Sample mapping file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/160dlutrTPMU5jDM4swDiwZMpyj0CSCZm/view?usp=share_link 

 

The mapping file has 3 columns, first column is the entity type, second column is the field name in Pipe17 and third column is the field name expected in FTP. The renaming of fields works in both directions. The mappings do not affect the structure of the data, only the names of fields.

 

Please note that if there are any errors in the mappings.csv file the mappings will not be applied and you will not see any changes on the field names.

 

FAQs

1. What happens when a file has an error and does not process properly?
   1. The file is moved to the processed folder regardless of whether the data in the file was processed without error. 
   2. Support engineers will be able to help recover from such errors.
2. What happens if a specified folder path is not available on the FTP server?
   1. For the folders that Pipe17 will download from – The connector fails silently and the action configured for that path does not process. Ex: if the locations folder is missing, then locations will not be pulled in to Pipe17.
   2. For the folders that Pipe17 will upload to – A failed event with details can be seen for the related Entity.
3. How many rows / entities can a file that is downloaded by Pipe17 have?
   1. 5000 rows on average is okay. 10000 rows is a lot to process.
4. What happens if a large file is available for Pipe17 to download?
   1. Pipe17 will try to load a file. If we are unable to load it, then we keep retrying.
   2. In the case where Pipe17 loads the file but does not process it completely, it will keep trying the last location in the file where processing stopped until it can completely process the file. In a situation where Pipe17 is unable to process the file, it keeps retrying until this file exists.

Recommendations

1. Can a file that has been uploaded to the FTP server for Pipe17 to download be updated?
   1. We recommend that the files not be altered once they are placed on the FTP server.
   2. If there are any updates that need to be made, you can create a new file
2. Is there any restriction on the filenames that are uploaded to FTP?
   1. We recommend that the files be named uniquely, this will help in troubleshooting any issues.

Samples Files

See attached "FTP Seller Sample Files.zip" for sample files.