Manual for Channel Partners: How to Choose Your Integration with the Icecat Catalog

Version: 1.0
Updated on: October 12th, 2026

Icecat delivers product content in several ways. This manual gives you a short overview of each, explains when we recommend which, and links to the detailed manual for each channel. Read it before you start building, so that you choose the integration that fits your shop, your team, and your catalog.

1. Good to know before you choose

What you receive depends on your subscription, not on the channel. Open Icecat covers the brands that sponsor Icecat. Full Icecat covers all brands. Every channel below applies the same rules.
Most channels need an API token. You create it in MyIcecat. See Manual: Access Tokens as Alternative to IP Whitelists & Basic Auth.
Icecat is not a file host. When you store Icecat content, download the images, documents and videos and host them yourself. Do not link to Icecat file links from your shop pages. The only exception is Icecat Live HTML, which is built to display our content on your pages.

2. Start from your question

Choose in two steps: first, how you want to receive the content, then how you find out which products to fetch.

Step 1: How do you want to receive the content?

You want to…	We recommend
Build a web application, or get product content in real time, in full or only the parts you need	Product JSON
Keep the most complete content in your own database, with all languages of your subscription in one data sheet	Product XML
Show product content on your pages quickly, without storing anything	Icecat Live HTML
Let an AI assistant or agent answer questions about products	Icecat MCP
Get the content of your whole product list as a spreadsheet, without processing XML or JSON	Personal Catalog File (PCF)
Get the content of one product in the same table format as the PCF	Product CSV

Step 2: How do you find out which products to fetch?

Product JSON, Product XML, Icecat Live HTML and Product CSV work one product at a time. An index tells you which products exist, which ones changed, and where to fetch them.

You want to…	We recommend
Work with the whole Icecat catalog, or find products outside your assortment	XML Index Files
Know which of your products Icecat covers, and when their content changes	Personal Index File (PIF)

Icecat MCP needs no index: your AI agent asks for a product when it needs it. The PCF needs none either: it already covers your whole matched product catalog.

3. The channels at a glance

Channel	What you get	How it is delivered	Covers	Effort to build
Product JSON	The complete data sheet of one product, in JSON	One request per product, in real time	Any product	Medium
Product XML	The complete data sheet of one product, in XML	One request per product, in real time	Any product	Medium
Icecat Live HTML	The data sheet displayed on your product page	A JavaScript snippet; content loads in real time on every page view	Any product	Low
Icecat MCP	Product content for your AI assistant or agent	A connection between Icecat and your AI agent; content in real time, one product per request	Any product	Low
Personal Catalog File (PCF)	The content of your matched products: texts, specifications, media links	One CSV file per language, rebuilt after each matching	Your own products	Low
Product CSV	The content of one product, in the same table format as the PCF	One request per product, in real time	Any product	Low
XML Index Files	A list of all products, or of the products changed in the last 24 hours	Files rebuilt every night	The whole Icecat catalog	High
Personal Index File (PIF)	A list of your matched products with links to their data sheets	One CSV file, rebuilt after each matching	Your own products catalog	Low

4. Product content compared

Product JSON, Product XML, Icecat Live HTML, the PCF and the Product CSV all deliver product content, but in different shapes. Icecat MCP delivers the same content too, through a connection to your AI agent. The PIF and the XML Index Files deliver no content themselves: they point to the XML data sheets.

What each format is best at

	Product JSON	Product XML	Icecat Live HTML	Personal Catalog File (PCF)	Product CSV
Shape	One data sheet per product	One data sheet per product	A ready-made content block on your product page	One table per language, one row per product	One table row per product
Products per request	One	One	One per page view	Your whole matched product list	One
When content arrives	In real time	In real time	In real time	In a file rebuilt after each matching	In real time
You store the content	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Opens in a spreadsheet	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Request only part of a data sheet	Yes, for example only the gallery	No	Yes, with granular calls	No	No
Request all locales via one call	Not available	All languages of your subscription in one data sheet	Not available	Not available	Not available
Easiest to build when	You keep a full content database	You keep a full content database	You want content on your pages without a content database	Your team or PIM works with CSV	You need one product at a time in the PCF format

What content each format carries

Product JSON and Product XML carry the same product content, in different formats. PCF and Product CSV have the same structure, so they carry the same content.

Content	Product JSON and Product XML	Icecat Live HTML	Icecat MCP	PCF and Product CSV
Identifiers, category, product family and series names	✓	Brand, product code, GTINs, family, series and model names. No category	✓	✓
Titles, descriptions, marketing and SEO texts, bullet points	✓	Title, marketing text and bullet points	All except SEO texts	✓
Specifications	Full structure: IDs, order, unit, raw value	Name and value as text, with definitions	Name and value as text, with definitions	Name and value as text
Gallery	Image links plus order, main image, type and all sizes per image	Image viewer, starting with the main image	Image links plus order, main image, type and all sizes per image	Image links, resolution, expiry date
Multimedia (PDFs, manuals, videos, 360, product story)	Links plus description, language, size and type of each file	Document list, video player, 360 tours, product story	Manuals, leaflets, videos, 360 frames, product story, size charts and other documents	Links, grouped by type
Reasons to buy	Title, icon, text, plus order and linked specifications	Title, text, image	Title, text, image, order	Title, icon, text
Energy label	Label links, EPREL ID, label type and EPREL link	Label and product fiche in the document list	Label and product fiche as documents. No EPREL ID	Label links and EPREL ID
Product names	All name variants, including local and brand-specific	Title and model name	Title, model name and long product name	One title and one model name
Related products and accessories	✓	–	✓	–
Reviews and review awards	✓	Reviews, without awards	Reviews, without awards	–
Feature logos	✓	✓	–	–
Warranty information	✓	✓	✓	–
Manufacturer product page link	✓	–	–	–
Disclaimers	✓	–	✓	–
Release date and end-of-life date	✓	–	✓	–
Packaging information	✓	–	–	–
Brand organisation details and contacts	✓	–	✓	–
Digital product page and QR code	✓	–	–	–

In short:

Product JSON and Product XML carry everything. Choose them when you need filters and product comparison built on structured specifications, or any content the other channels leave out.
Icecat Live HTML shows what a shopper needs on a product page, ready-made, including feature logos and the video player.
Icecat MCP gives your AI agent the content it needs to answer questions, including related products, warranty, release dates and brand contacts.
The PCF and the Product CSV give you the texts, specifications and media your product pages need, in the simplest form.

5. The channels in short

Product JSON

The same complete data sheet in JSON. You can request the whole data sheet or only selected sections, for example, only the gallery.

We recommend it for modern web applications, and when you need only part of a data sheet. Not for you if you want all languages of your subscription in one data sheet. JSON has no INT data sheet; use Product XML for that.

→ Manual for Channel Partners: Icecat Product JSON

Product XML

The complete data sheet of one product in XML, requested by Icecat product ID, by brand + product code, or by GTIN. It is the most complete source of Icecat content. The INT data sheet combines all languages of your subscription in one file.

We recommend it for a webshop or PIM that keeps its own copy of the content and needs full structure: specifications with IDs and units, related products, galleries with all image details. Not for you if you cannot process one request per product.

→ Manual for Channel Partners: Icecat Product XML

Icecat Live HTML

A JavaScript snippet on your product page. When a shopper opens the page, the Icecat data sheet loads and is displayed. You store nothing.

We recommend it for a fast launch, or when you do not want to maintain a product content database. Not for you if your own search, filters or product comparison need the content, because your shop does not hold it.

→ Manual for Channel Partners: Icecat Live HTML

Icecat MCP

Connects your AI assistant or agent to Icecat, so it can read product content in real time, one product at a time: specifications, descriptions, gallery, reasons to buy, related products and more.

We recommend it for AI shopping assistants, chatbots and internal AI tools. An AI agent can also use Icecat MCP to fetch content into your own systems, for example, to enrich a few products on request. Not for you if you need rule-based automation that imports content into your own database at scale. An AI agent fetches one product at a time and works much slower than a script. Use Product JSON or Product XML for that, driven by the PIF or the XML Index Files.

→ Manual for Channel Partners: Icecat MCP for Your AI Agent (example Claude Desktop App)

Personal Catalog File (PCF)

The content of your matched products in one CSV file per language, one row per product: titles, descriptions, specifications, image and document links, reasons to buy, and bullet points. It is a Product CSV for your whole product list.

We recommend it when your team works in spreadsheets, or your PIM or webshop imports CSV but not XML or JSON. Not for you if you need related products, reviews, feature logos, warranty information or structured specifications for filters. Use XML or JSON instead (see section 4).

→ Manual for Channel and Brand Partners: Personal Catalog File (PCF)

Product CSV

The content of one product in a single table row, with the same columns as the PCF. You request it by Icecat product ID, by brand + product code, or by GTIN.

We recommend it when you need one product at a time in the same format as your PCF, for example, to add a new product between two PCF updates. Not for you if you need many products: use the PCF.

→ Manual for Channel Partners: Icecat Product CSV

XML Index Files

Lists of products in the whole Icecat catalog, with a link to each data sheet: all products, products changed in the last 24 hours, or products currently on the market.

We recommend it when you want to mirror the full catalog or find products you don’t sell yet. Not for you if you only need your own products. Then you would have to match your assortment against the full catalog yourself, and you must process the daily index every day to avoid missing changes. The PIF does both for you.

→ Manual for Channel Partners: XML Index Files

Personal Index File (PIF)

A CSV list of the products from your own product file that Icecat matched. Each row has the Icecat identifiers, a link to the data sheet in every language of your subscription, and the date the product content last changed. You don’t have to match products yourself, and you can check for changes on your schedule without missing any.

We recommend it when you have a defined catalog and want to drive an import of XML or JSON data sheets, or to monitor your coverage. Not for you if you need the content itself in a file (use the PCF).

→ Manual for Channel Partners: Personal Index File (PIF)

6. Channels work best together

Combination	How it works	Best for
PIF + Product XML or JSON	The PIF tells you which of your products are new or changed, and XML or JSON delivers their content.	A webshop or PIM with its own content database. This is our most recommended setup.
PIF + Icecat Live HTML	The PIF tells you which of your products have Icecat content; Icecat Live displays it only on those pages.	A fast launch without a content database and without empty content blocks.
XML Index Files + Product XML or JSON	The index files list the whole catalog, and XML or JSON delivers the content.	A full mirror of the Icecat catalog.
PCF + Product CSV	The PCF delivers your whole product list daily; the Product CSV fetches a single product in the same format when you need it sooner.	Spreadsheet-based teams, and catalogs that need text and images but not full structure.
Icecat MCP next to any of the above	Your AI agent reads the same content in real time.	Adding an AI assistant to an existing integration.