Guide · Selling · For the owner filling a product catalog

Letting Meta's AI fill the catalog behind your WhatsApp: products from your posts, your website or your shop platform, and what Meta's review rejects

Typing every product into a catalog by hand is the job most shops put off. Meta offers to do much of it for you: its AI can pull products out of your Facebook and Instagram posts, and for some businesses it can read them off your website. Here is what Meta's own Help Center says each route does, what you can and cannot edit afterwards, and the rules Meta reviews every catalog product against.

Published 14 October 2026

The catalog behind your WhatsApp

On the WhatsApp Business Platform, your catalog is a product catalog managed in Meta's Commerce Manager (or through its API) and connected to your WhatsApp account, as our guide to WhatsApp catalogs on the Platform explains. If you sell from the WhatsApp Business app, our guide to the catalog and cart in the WhatsApp Business app covers adding items there. This guide is about filling the Commerce Manager catalog itself.

Meta's Commerce Policies name the WhatsApp Business Catalog as one of the places they cover, beside Marketplace and Shops on Facebook and Instagram. Commerce content on WhatsApp must also follow the Policy for WhatsApp Commerce Features. Breaking the rules can lead to rejected or removed listings, or to losing access to Meta's commerce features, and Meta says repeated violations may lead to further action on your account.

Seven ways to put products in

Meta's article Ways to add products to your catalog calls these "data sources", because they supply product data to the catalog. It lists seven:

By hand: Add and edit each product yourself in Commerce Manager. Meta's comparison table says this suits a small inventory that doesn't change often. It is quick to set up but takes a lot of effort to keep up, because every update is manual.
Data feed: Upload a spreadsheet or XML file of your products, once or on a schedule: hourly, daily or weekly.
Your shop platform: If your online shop runs on a platform that has a Meta integration, your products sync to the catalog and you keep managing them on the platform.
Social media: Meta uses AI to find products in posts or ads from your Facebook Page or Instagram profile and adds them to your catalog automatically.
Website: Meta crawls your website and syncs products from it. Meta says this is currently limited to eligible businesses.
For developers: An advanced method for a developer to add and update products in code.
Meta Pixel: A pixel on your website adds and updates products automatically. Meta says you may need a developer's help to install tags on your website.

The same article mentions two extra kinds of feed. Country and language feeds hold local versions of your product data, such as prices in another currency or descriptions in another language. Supplementary feeds can add detail to products you already have, but they cannot add or delete products.

Creating the catalog

Meta's article Create a catalog in Commerce Manager says you need a business portfolio to hold the catalog, and you need full control of that portfolio. A few choices are hard to undo:

The type is permanent: You choose what the catalog holds: products sold online, or travel, vehicles, property, media, software, services or local products. Meta's article About catalogs says you can't switch the catalog type later.
One catalog: Meta recommends using only one catalog per type of product or service, to keep your products in one place.
Who can work on it: You can give people in your business portfolio Partial access or Full control. You can give the same choice to an outside business, such as a marketing agency.
Invitation links: If you invite an outside business by link instead, each link can be used only once and expires in 30 days.

Our reading

Give Full control only to the people who really need it. Meta's article on adding products from your Page says the person who connects your Facebook Page or Instagram profile needs full control of the catalog and of the Page or account. So whoever sets up that route needs Full control, even if Partial access is enough for other catalog work.

Meta's AI and your Facebook and Instagram posts

Meta's article About products automatically detected from your Facebook Page or Instagram profile explains how this works. You pick the Page or profile you advertise with. Meta's AI then looks at your posts and ads from the last 45 days and adds the products it finds to your catalog, with images, descriptions and prices.

Language: It works only if the main language of your posts is Arabic, Chinese, English, Khmer, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Turkish or Vietnamese.
What it reads: Product details can come from the text, images or videos in your posts and ads. Meta may take still images from videos, crop images or generate backgrounds to make product photos.
What it writes: If no title or description is found for a product, AI may write one from the product image.
After the first scan: Meta adds new products daily from new posts and ads, and checks for duplicates. Old posts and ads are not scanned again. Request update asks for a sync sooner.
From Ads Manager: While you make an ad, you may see an offer to show products detected from your Page. If you turn it on, Meta creates a catalog for you, with every product it detected, when you publish the ad.

Meta's article Add products to your catalog from your Facebook Page or Instagram profile gives the steps. You need full control of the catalog and of the Page or Instagram account, and both must be in the same business portfolio or shared with it. In Commerce Manager, open your catalog, go to the Catalog tab, then Products, click + Add and choose Facebook Page or Instagram profile. Pick your Page or profile and click Next. Then go to the Overview tab, click Review products, check each title, description, image and price, and click Update products.

Meta says it plainly: "AI may not always be accurate", so review your catalog and edit, archive or delete anything that does not look right. Your Page then shows as a data source in the Catalog tab. If you click Delete there, every product added from your Page is removed from your catalog.

Our reading

A title the AI wrote from a photo is a guess. A price taken from a post can be an old offer price. Before this catalog sits behind your WhatsApp, read every product the way a customer would.

Products synced from your website

Meta's article on products synced from your website says the feature is currently available to a limited number of eligible businesses. If you are eligible, you get an email or a notification in Ads Manager or Commerce Manager. Your website may already have been connected automatically, or you may be asked to review the missing products Meta found.

Edits happen on your site: Change a price or delete a product on your website and the catalog follows within a few days. You can't edit or delete synced products in Commerce Manager.
Your own products stay: Products already in your catalog are not affected. If Meta syncs a product and you later add the same one yourself, Meta keeps yours and removes the synced copy.
Hidden from Shops: Products synced from your website are hidden from Shops on Facebook and Instagram by default.
Disconnecting is final: Disconnect website removes every product synced from your website, and you won't be able to reconnect it.

Meta's article about its web crawler for ads and business products says the crawler may use what is on your website to improve your ads, to check that your catalog matches your site, and to improve the quality of the answers Meta Business Agent gives your customers. It follows your site's robots.txt file, so you can block it. Meta warns that if you block it from pages like your product pages, some ads and business features may not be available to you.

Our reading

Before you disconnect the website or block the crawler, remember both moves cost you something. Disconnecting cannot be undone, and blocking the crawler can switch off features you use. What Meta's AI agent can learn from your website is covered in our guide to what to give Meta's AI agent to learn from.

Products from your shop platform

Meta's article on importing products from a shop platform with a Meta integration says you connect your account by following the steps on the platform's own website. After that, updates sync to your catalog automatically on a regular basis, and you can see the latest syncs under Catalog, then Data sources.

Make changes on the platform, not in Commerce Manager. Meta recommends against editing these products by hand in Commerce Manager, because any manual change is overwritten every time a fresh sync arrives. Data errors are also fixed on the platform. The one exception is a product rejected for a policy violation: you can request a review of it directly in Commerce Manager.

Two rulebooks: ads and selling

Meta's article on how the Meta Advertising Standards and Commerce Policies apply to products in your catalog says catalog products face two separate sets of rules. A product can pass one and fail the other, so some products can be advertised but not offered for sale in Meta's commerce channels, which include WhatsApp.

Ads yes, selling no: Alcohol, gambling, animals and animal products, and medical and healthcare products are allowed with restrictions in ads, and not allowed in commerce.
Subscriptions: Subscriptions for physical goods may be offered. Digital products, including digital subscriptions, may not.

The Commerce Policies list more that can't be sold, among them tobacco, ingestible supplements, used cosmetics or cosmetics not in their original packaging, downloadable digital content, counterfeits, weapons, jobs, and posts that offer nothing for sale. Event tickets, gift cards and vouchers may be sold only by approved sellers. Selling services is restricted, except on the WhatsApp Business app or through Appointments on Facebook or Instagram.

Our reading

Meta's AI adds the products it detects in your posts, and Meta's page says those products are reviewed against the Meta Advertising Standards. Passing the ads rules does not make a product sellable: a supplement, a used cosmetic or a gift card can still break the Commerce Policies. When a product is rejected, check it against both rulebooks. For what WhatsApp's own messaging rules restrict, see our guide to what a business may not sell or promote on WhatsApp.

When a product is rejected

Meta's article Fix or appeal products with policy violations in your catalog says every product goes through an automatic review. Products that fail show as rejected in your catalog. If you think Meta got it wrong:

Where: In Commerce Manager: open your catalog, go to the Catalog tab, then Products, open Filters on the right, find Issues, click Advantage+ catalog ads or Shops and Marketplace, and select Policy violations. Or in Business Support Home: View my accounts, choose your business account, then the catalog under Commerce accounts and catalogs.
How many: Select up to 100 rejected products at a time and click Request review. You can submit up to 5,000 products for review every 7 days.
How long: Reviews typically take up to a few days. If the review is not approved, the products stay rejected, and you can't ask again for the same products unless you edit them first.
Or fix it: You can edit a rejected product so it follows the rules, in the same place you added it. An edited product is reviewed again automatically. Editing a product cancels any pending review, so Meta suggests waiting for the decision before you edit more.

Keeping the catalog clean

Meta's Tips for building a high-quality catalog in Commerce Manager include:

Match your website: Keep prices, availability, images and other details the same as on your website.
Variants: If you sell the same product in different sizes or colours, set them up as variants so they display correctly.
Edit less: Editing most product data, such as titles, descriptions and images, sends the product back through review each time. Meta says price, availability, quantity and internal labels can be changed without a new review.
Images: At least 500 x 500 pixels, with a white background, showing the product clearly.
Words: A title and description that differ from each other, with the important details, no keyword stuffing, and correct spelling.

For other countries and languages, Meta's article Create a country or language feed says prices, availability, links and sizes go in a country feed, and titles and descriptions go in a language feed. Prices use a three-letter currency code, not a currency symbol. Meta's language list includes Arabic, and its country list includes the United Arab Emirates.

Our reading

These Help Center articles are written for ads and for Shops on Facebook and Instagram. They do not say whether WhatsApp shows the localised versions, or products hidden from Shops. Check how your catalog looks in a real WhatsApp chat before you rely on either.

What this means for your shop

BitByteCore is a verified Meta Tech Provider (since 9 September 2026). This guide repeats Meta's own Help Center articles and Commerce Policies, and is not legal advice.

Our reading

Letting Meta's AI fill the catalog saves hours of typing. It does not save you the checking. Read every product it adds, edit at the source the sync came from, and make sure what you sell is allowed in commerce, not only in ads.

Questions

Can Meta build my catalog from my Instagram posts in Arabic?

Yes, if Arabic is the main language of your posts. Meta's Help Center lists Arabic, Chinese, English, Khmer, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese. Meta's AI looks at posts and ads from the last 45 days and adds products it detects, then adds new products daily from new posts.

Will the AI write product titles for me?

Only when it finds none. Meta says that if no title or description is detected for a product, one may be generated by AI from the product image, and that AI may not always be accurate. Review every product in Commerce Manager.

Why can't I edit a product in Commerce Manager?

If it was synced from your website, Meta says you can't edit or delete it in Commerce Manager; change it on your website instead. If it came from a shop platform, you can edit it, but Meta says the change is overwritten at the next sync, so edit it on the platform.

Can I sell supplements or used cosmetics through my catalog?

Meta's Commerce Policies don't allow medical and healthcare products, including ingestible supplements, or cosmetics that have been used or are not in their original packaging. Medical and healthcare products, apart from unsafe supplements, may still be allowed with restrictions in ads, because ads follow a separate rulebook.

How many rejected products can I send for review?

Up to 100 at a time, and up to 5,000 every 7 days, according to Meta's Help Center. Reviews typically take up to a few days.

Who is BitByteCore?

BitByteCore is a verified Meta Tech Provider (since 9 September 2026). This guide repeats Meta's own Help Center articles and Commerce Policies, and is not legal advice.

Sources

Meta Commerce Policies, read 14 October 2026.
Meta Business Help Center: Ways to add products to your catalog, read 14 October 2026.
Meta Business Help Center: Create a catalog in Commerce Manager, read 14 October 2026.
Meta Business Help Center: About catalogs for products and services, read 14 October 2026.
Meta Business Help Center: About products automatically detected from your Facebook Page or Instagram profile, read 14 October 2026.
Meta Business Help Center: Add products to your catalog from your Facebook Page or Instagram profile, read 14 October 2026.
Meta Business Help Center: Products synced from your website, read 14 October 2026.
Meta Business Help Center: About Meta's web crawler for ads and business products, read 14 October 2026.
Meta Business Help Center: Importing products from a shop platform with a Meta integration, read 14 October 2026.
Meta Business Help Center: How the Meta Advertising Standards and Commerce Policies apply to products in your catalog, read 14 October 2026.
Meta Business Help Center: Fix or appeal products with policy violations in your catalog, read 14 October 2026.
Meta Business Help Center: Tips for building a high-quality catalog in Commerce Manager, read 14 October 2026.
Meta Business Help Center: Create a country or language feed, read 14 October 2026.

This guide describes Meta's pages as we read them, and is not legal advice. More plain-language notes like this one are on the guides page.

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