Manual for Personal Files: PIF, PCF & Images

Version 2.0 (Updated on September 22nd, 2025)

This manual describes how to use and manage Personal Files, which are a collection of tools on the Icecat platform designed to help you handle product data efficiently. It provides instructions on key processes, such as uploading partner product feeds in various formats (Excel, CSV, and XML), understanding the statistics of your uploaded data matched with the Icecat database, generating Personal Index and Personal Catalog files, and downloading Images.

The document also explains how to automate the process by using hosted feeds and setting up daily updates to retrieve your product files via HTTP.

How to download PIF, PCF & Images

Follow icecat.biz and log in to your account. Choose the Import/Export tab.

❗PIF, PCF and Image Download are available for channel partners and brand contacts!

Upload your product feed

First, you need to have to put the product identifiers into a single file. We accept Excel, CSV, and XML formats

Excel and CSV feed structure

XML feed structure

<Products>
<Product>
    <ProductCode>111-111</ProductCode>
    <Brand>Cisco</Brand>
    <GTIN>000000000000</GTIN>
    <MyInternalID>CiscoServer1</MyInternalID>
</Product>
<Product>
    <ProductCode>111-112</ProductCode>
    <Brand>MSI</Brand>
    <GTIN>000000000001</GTIN>
    <MyInternalID>MSILaptop17</MyInternalID>
</Product>
</Products>

💡We encourage you to use a feed hosted on a URL. It has no limitations on size, and you will also be able to receive Personal Files via permanent links. Read more about it in the section Regular Updates.

Important notes about uploading your pricelist

1. If you upload a file from your PC, it must be less than 10 MB. If you need to upload a bigger file, we have a 🔍 Manual on how to host it.
2. If you use CSV or XML, ensure all the product identifiers (Brand, GTIN, and Product Code) are correctly formatted. All the escape characters – \\ (backslash), “ (quote), or , (comma) are to be correctly encoded. If unsure, convert to Excel (.xslx).
3. If you struggle, contact your account manager and attach your feed.

Matching the Product Identifiers

As identifiers, we accept the Manufacturer product code with the Brand name or GTINs.

Your product ID column is for your internal product identifiers. They will be included in the Personal Catalog.

Statistics

Once your pricelist is matched, you will see the following interface:

💡Click on Skipped products from your total feed to download the codes that did not match to any product. Sometimes it happens because of incorrect formatting. You might use this file to correct the mistakes in the feed.

Please note that You are not authorized field shows only products for which you lack a Brand Subscription.

🔍 Icecat User Access Management Policies

In order to view all the products that you cannot access at the moment, you need to review the Personal Index.

Personal Files overview

Personal Index File

.csv spreadsheet file with XML links for each product in your feed for each language. Available only for the INT locale.

Personal Catalog File

.csv / .xlsx spreadsheet with full data for each product in your feed. The response is the same as for the batch CSV request.

❌ Generate Personal Catalog File with Feature names as headers not checked.

Feature groups are provided, and feature names are provided inside cells.

✅ Generate Personal Catalog File with Feature names as headers checked

Feature groups are not provided, and the feature names are provided as column headers.

Images

.zip archive with all images for your feed sorted by language, then resolution, then product.

Output

Once everything is set up, click on Generate and navigate to the Progress Bar.

On the screenshot above, there are three possible statuses for your Personal Files

• Gray with yellow Progress Bar – the Personal File is being generated.
• White – the Personal File is ready for the current Product Feed.
• Yellow – the Personal File is ready, but belongs to your previous Product Feed.

Personal Index File

Using the Personal Index might simplify your implementation process. You can immediately see all the product links for all locales you are subscribed to.

You can think of a Personal Index as about map that indicates how to access the product data.

Columns

prod_id – unique Product Code, set by the brand. Always unique within a brand.

supplier_name – the name of a product’s Brand, for example, Hasbro.

ean_upc – GTIN (EAN/UPC) numerical product code(s). ean_upc. They are unique within Icecat, but Brands may sometimes reuse them for different products.

For example, Icecat Editor’s team may reassign GTINs to different products according to instructions and information provided by the brand.

Path – for each of the locales you are assigned to, a separate column Path (locale short code) is provided

timestamp – last update date for the product in format DD.MM.YYYY HH:MM

Your product ID – if set during the matching process in the Your product ID column.

error_message – If the product exists in Icecat but you lack permissions to view it, the error message appears here. It is also useful to check the 🔎 Icecat Error Messages

Your product ID can simplify product identification when matched; it actually contains a different product identifier on our side, and the product was matched according to product mapping rules. It allows you to match an Icecat data sheet with your company’s internal product ID.

Personal Catalog

Personal Catalog is a convenient tool that allows you to get product data in convenient CSV or Excel spreadsheets. Essentially, it utilizes the CSV API for each of your products and packs product information into tables.

Because of its reliance on Icecat CSV API and complex structure, the Personal Catalog is described in 🔍 Icecat CSV Manual.

How to automate the retrieval of Personal Files using HTTP

Upload your document via HTTP/FTP

For regular updates to work, this option must be chosen:

Request Daily Updates

Once the file is uploaded and matched, click on the Request Daily Updates button. ⚠️ It won’t appear if the feed is uploaded from a PC.

Our manager will contact you and assign you to regular updates. Essentially, it will unlock for you certain endpoints, which you can access to fetch PIF and PCF regularly.

Get your Access Token

To retrieve them, follow MyIcecat → Access Tokens:

api-token – token that grants you access to the product or Personal File. With this token anyone could access everything you could so keep them secret.

Personal Index Endpoint

Locale is always 🌐 International and outputs is always CSV.

https://icecat.biz/index.cgi?login_form=user_import_report;type=match;layout=csv;api_token=<TOKEN>

Personal Catalog Endpoint

You can choose the locale and the output format — CSV or Excel.

https://icecat.biz/index.cgi?
			login_form=csv_content;
			csv_file=/products_csv_lists_new/<IcecatUserID>_<LanguageCode>.<xlsx/csv>;
			api_token=<API_TOKEN>

In order to download your Catalog, you need to know your IcecatUserID.

Download any Personal Catalog File to clarify yours.

Check the Language Table to view the full list of supported Languages.

❗The default format for PCF endpoint is CSV as we consider it more scalable and easy for to work with in the code. If you need to fetch the Excel PCF, you have to generate it on icecat.biz first.

Example for Personal Catalog in Excel

https://icecat.biz/index.cgi?login_form=csv_content;csv_file=/products_csv_lists_new/99999_INT.xlsx;api_token=<API_TOKEN>

Example for Personal Catalog in CSV

https://icecat.biz/index.cgi?login_form=csv_content;csv_file=/products_csv_lists_new/111111_EN.csv;api_token=<API_TOKEN>

Image Download

Archive in .zip format that includes all images for your feed, sorted by language, then resolution, then product.

The Interface allows you to choose which Resolutions and Languages you want to download.

❗ You can only download the Image pack for product feeds for fewer than 10,000 products.

Resolutions

Languages

🔍 Icecat Locales and Language Code Table

Output

The output file has the following structure: Resolution > Language.

Product code and Brand are provided in the image title.