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# Bulk Updates

> How tieback processes large product updates as background jobs, with queued and processing states, per-item outcomes, retries, and progress tracking.

## What It Does

When a product update involves more than 50 products, **tie*back*** processes it as an asynchronous background job. The Bulk Updates system tracks progress and surfaces status in the Product Library.

## Who It's For

Brand administrators performing large-scale data updates (e.g. post-import attribute corrections, compliance field rollouts).

## How It Works

### Job Lifecycle

1. **Queued**: the update request is accepted and items are staged.
2. **Processing**: items are applied in batches. Progress is tracked per item.
3. **Completed**: all items succeeded with zero errors.
4. **Failed**: processing finished but some items encountered permanent errors.
5. **Cancelled**: the job was cancelled before completion.

### Status Indicator

A status indicator appears in the Product Library toolbar:

| State               | Indicator      | Meaning                                                                    |
| ------------------- | -------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Updating…**       | Green pulse    | An active job is in progress                                               |
| **Needs attention** | Amber triangle | The latest job has failed, or has stalled (no progress for over 5 minutes) |
| **Idle**            | Grey icon      | No active jobs, or the latest job completed successfully                   |

### Completion Banner

When a job completes, a banner appears in the Product Library confirming the result. You can dismiss it; the dismissal is remembered per brand.

### Resume

If a job stalls or fails with retryable errors:

* A **Resume** button appears in the indicator.
* Clicking it re-triggers processing for remaining eligible items.
* Items that have failed three times are marked as permanently failed and will not be retried.

### Per-Item Outcomes

Each item in a job records:

* **Success**: the product was updated.
* **Error**: the update failed, with an error message explaining why.
* **Validation warnings**: informational warnings about value-set mismatches (saved alongside the item outcome).

## Limits & Notes

* Each processing cycle handles up to 50 items.
* Items are retried up to 3 times before being marked as permanently failed.
* Idempotency is supported: submitting the same update request twice returns the existing job rather than creating a duplicate.
* Only one job per brand is typically active at a time.

## FAQ

#### How do I know if a job is stuck?

If the indicator shows 'Needs attention' (amber triangle), the job has either failed or stalled
for more than 5 minutes. Use the Resume button to re-trigger processing.

#### Can I cancel a running job?

Job cancellation is not currently available from the UI. Contact support if you need to stop a
running job.

#### What happens to items that fail permanently?

Items that fail after 3 attempts are marked as permanently failed. You can view the error
message for each failed item and address the underlying issue manually.

## Related Docs

* [Bulk Editing](/product-module/bulk-editing)
* [Products](/product-module/products)
* [Product Import](/product-module/product-import)
* [API: Bulk Updates](/api-reference/api-bulk-updates)