Release 257 brings more flexibility to content delivery while continuing Icecat’s work on platform reliability and modernization. Account Managers gain greater control over taxonomy priorities for channel partners; the next-generation Gallery moves closer to migration with stronger safeguards for image updates, permissions, and data consistency; and several behind-the-scenes improvements strengthen monitoring, Brand Cloud, search visibility, testing, and infrastructure.
For additional details, please refer to the previous Icecat Release Notes.
In this release, Icecat has improved the way taxonomy-specific content is prioritized for channel partners. Account Managers can now define exactly where the Icecat taxonomy should appear in relation to other assigned taxonomies. That improvement gives us more control over which content source takes precedence when exporting content to channel partners.
Previously, Icecat effectively acted as the default fallback. With the new approach, Icecat is included in the same configurable priority sequence as other taxonomies.
The Access to taxonomies section in the Brand Cloud channel partner profile now includes Icecat as a mandatory taxonomy.
Icecat cannot be removed, but its position can be changed. Account Managers can move Icecat above or below other taxonomies using drag-and-drop, and the updated priority is applied automatically. A channel partner can have up to five taxonomies in total, including Icecat.
For example, a partner configuration could be:
or:
The order directly determines which taxonomy is checked first when content is exported to a specific channel partner.
For every supported content block, Icecat checks the assigned taxonomies according to their configured priority.
If the highest-priority taxonomy contains the requested content, that content is delivered, and lower-priority taxonomies are not checked for that block.
If content is unavailable in the requested language, the backup language of the same taxonomy is checked first. Only when the content is missing there as well does the system continue checking the next taxonomy in the priority list.
This means that Icecat is no longer automatically treated as the final fallback. If Icecat is positioned first, Icecat content can win. If another taxonomy is positioned above Icecat and contains the required content, that taxonomy takes precedence.
Taxonomy priority is applied at the content-block level.
When a taxonomy wins a block, the complete block is taken from that taxonomy. Missing fields inside that block are not filled with values from Icecat or another lower-priority taxonomy. This prevents a single logical content block from being assembled from several different sources.
For example:
As a result, different blocks may come from different taxonomies, while each individual block remains internally consistent.
The configured order is applied consistently across Icecat content delivery, including XML, JSON, Live HTML, CSV, and PCF requests. International XML continues to resolve every locale independently before combining the results.
When an external taxonomy supplies XML or JSON content, the existing taxonomy source indication is preserved. When Icecat content wins, the current Icecat output structure remains unchanged.
Existing channel partners receive Icecat automatically at the lowest priority during migration. This keeps their current content output unchanged unless an Account Manager deliberately changes the taxonomy order.
For newly created channel partners, Icecat is assigned automatically. The configuration is therefore available without requiring an additional taxonomy setup step.
Configurable taxonomy priority gives Account Managers more precise control over partner-specific content strategies.
It makes it possible to determine whether partner-specific, Icecat, or other taxonomy content should take precedence, rather than relying on a fixed fallback model. This reduces manual workarounds, helps avoid content-quality escalations, and enables taxonomy-specific content configurations for partners whose requirements could not previously be supported by the fixed Icecat priority model.
The result is a more flexible content-resolution model while preserving existing integrations and export behavior for partners that do not need to change their current setup.
In Release 256, Icecat connected the main building blocks of the next-generation Gallery, including image processing, permissions, ownership, content traceability, and synchronization with product publishing.
Release 257 moves the Gallery another step closer to migration. This time, the focus is on reliability: ensuring image updates are not missed, existing content remains accessible, access rules stay accurate, and the platform can recover when something goes wrong.
When a product image is updated, this change still needs to reach all Icecat delivery channels after the Gallery moves to a separate service.
Release 257 ensures that image updates, including re-cropping, remain part of the product data used for exports and integrations. When a Gallery image changes, the Product API also updates the product’s modification timestamp, allowing partners to detect the change.
Why it matters: partners using incremental synchronization can still detect image updates and download the latest product content, rather than keeping an outdated image.
Sometimes image data can become inconsistent between the new Gallery and the rest of the platform.
Release 257 adds a recovery mechanism that allows Icecat to retrieve the complete current state of an image and automatically rebuild the affected records. If the system cannot get a complete answer, it does not use partial data as the source of truth.
Why it matters: Gallery synchronization issues can be corrected faster and with less manual intervention, reducing the risk of images remaining missing or incorrectly accessible.
Release 257 also improves the quality of the Gallery data prior to migration.
In some cases, the same image could previously be stored more than once because the files contained different embedded metadata, such as EXIF data. Icecat now recognizes these cases and reuses the existing image source instead of creating a duplicate.
Why it matters: cleaner Gallery data means fewer duplicates and fewer unnecessary inconsistencies to carry into the new service.
The new Gallery also improves the handling of taxonomy-specific images.
New images cannot be added to a taxonomy that does not exist or is no longer active. At the same time, images already published under an inactive taxonomy remain available instead of disappearing.
Why it matters: existing content is preserved, while new images are protected from being assigned to an invalid taxonomy.
Icecat has developed a dedicated Product Permissions service that the new Gallery can use to apply the correct access rules. Instead of each new service implementing its own permission logic, they can rely on the same centralized source.
The Gallery can also retrieve the latest user role information from Icecat, so permission changes are reflected without relying on outdated information saved earlier.
Why it matters: one shared permission model reduces inconsistencies between Icecat services and makes it easier to add new services without rebuilding access rules from scratch.
Release 256 connected the main components of the next-generation Gallery. Release 257 focuses on making them ready for a reliable migration.
Image updates remain visible across Icecat integrations; synchronization issues can be recovered automatically; Gallery data is cleaned before migration; and access rules remain consistent.
Together, these improvements reduce migration risks and help ensure that partners continue receiving up-to-date and reliable product galleries.
Release 257 also includes several improvements that may not be immediately visible but help make Icecat more reliable, easier to maintain, and better prepared for future development.
The Skipped Products Report is now included in Icecat’s internal health monitoring. The team can see when a distributor import is incomplete or when a report is not delivered, rather than discovering the issue only after a partner reports it.
Several improvements were made to help search engines better understand Icecat.biz. Product data feeds are excluded from unnecessary crawling, and product-page structured data more clearly identifies Icecat as the content creator.
Several improvements were made behind the scenes in Brand Cloud. Login handling was improved to reduce instances of failed or stuck login attempts. Error notifications were also made more consistent across Brand Cloud.
Automated test coverage was expanded for the API that provides new product data sheets displayed on Icecat.biz. The development process was also strengthened with additional checks that help catch potential problems before changes reach users.
The team also continued cleaning and simplifying the code behind Icecat. Unused files were removed, icecat.biz configuration was reorganized, and unnecessary development warnings were reduced. These changes do not alter the visible functionality, but they make future development and troubleshooting easier.
Release 257 also includes infrastructure work supporting Icecat’s growing service architecture and data center capacity. New services are being prepared to automatically scale processing as workloads increase, while physical infrastructure continues to be expanded and maintained.
Release 257 combines greater control over partner-specific content delivery with another important step toward the next-generation Gallery and continued improvements to the reliability of the Icecat platform. Together, these developments help keep product content consistent, imagery up to date, integrations dependable, and the platform ready for future growth.
Want to learn more about the new taxonomy priority options or how the upcoming Gallery changes may affect an integration?
Contact the Icecat team for more information.
Walmart’s latest results have raised questions about the strength of the U.S. consumer. However, behind…
Robots played music, boxed, mixed drinks, directed traffic, and demonstrated increasingly human-like movements at this…
Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of everyday life, but enthusiasm is not necessarily growing…
The Icecat team will attend IBC2026, taking place from 11 to 14 September 2026 at…
Icecat Hexagon is Icecat's internal platform for connecting retailers, Akeneo users, and marketplaces like Mirakl.…
Rehza, the digital platform designed to simplify the homeownership journey, has integrated Full Icecat to…