Skip to content

Data Source Settings Guide

Overview

Data source settings control how Lucit connects to an external source, how often it refreshes that data, and how it processes the results. For data sources that create Inventory Items, these settings also control automatic campaign posting, import limits, missing prices and images, and filtering before items are created.

This guide covers the shared settings. Connection and provider-specific options are documented separately for each app in the Lucit Apps Reference.

Open Data Source Settings

  1. Open the appropriate account in Lucit.
  2. Select Apps & Data.
  3. Click the data source you want to configure.
  4. Open SETTINGS, the first tab on the data source page.

Navigation: Apps & Data → {Your Data Source} → SETTINGS

The page begins with provider-specific Feed Settings, followed by Schedule. If the data source creates Inventory Items, additional sections appear after Schedule:

Settings depend on the data source type

Not every data source creates Inventory Items. A source that supplies key/value data for templates or triggers does not necessarily expose the inventory-processing sections described below. Consult the app's reference page to confirm its data source type and capabilities.

For other areas of the interface, see the General Navigation Guide. To inspect imported records and refresh timestamps, use the DATA tab described in Data Source Monitoring.

Provider-Specific Feed Settings

The first section of Feed Settings is custom to each data source. Its fields define the connection and configuration required by that provider; there is no single set of connection settings that applies to all apps.

To find an explanation of every provider-specific setting:

  1. Open the Lucit Apps Reference.
  2. Select your data source's application.
  3. Find Data Source Providers.
  4. Locate the relevant provider and read its Settings subsection.

For example, the Google Sheets Automotive Inventory settings describe the Google Sheet URL required by that provider. Other apps have their own fields, requirements, and validation rules.

Complete the required provider settings before testing a refresh. If a connection does not work, check the app's prerequisites as well as its Settings subsection.

Schedule

The Schedule section controls how often this data source refreshes its data. Click EDIT to choose a schedule type from the dropdown.

Schedule Type Behavior Typical Use
Manual Runs only when you manually refresh the data. Testing a connection or updating a source only when needed.
Scheduled Interval Refreshes automatically at the selected interval while the feed is active. Sources that need a consistent refresh frequency.
Custom Schedule Uses customized schedule entries with date ranges, days of the week, time ranges, and refresh intervals. Sources whose refresh needs change throughout the week or during specific periods.

Manual

Choose Manual when you do not want automatic scheduled refreshes. Refresh the data manually when you are ready to import the latest source values.

Scheduled Interval

Choose Scheduled Interval, then select how frequently the source should refresh:

Available Interval
Every Minute
Every 5 Minutes
Every 10 Minutes
Every 15 Minutes
Every 30 Minutes
Every Hour
Every 6 Hours
Every 12 Hours
Every Day

Choose an interval that reflects how often the upstream data changes and how quickly those changes need to reach Lucit. Refreshing more often does not make the external provider update its own data more frequently.

Custom Schedule

Choose Custom Schedule when a single repeating interval is not enough. You can add multiple schedule entries, using date ranges, days of the week, or time ranges during the day to define different refresh behavior.

For example, to refresh hourly on weekdays and every 15 minutes on weekends:

Schedule Entry Days Refresh Interval
Weekday refresh Monday–Friday Every Hour
Weekend refresh Saturday–Sunday Every 15 Minutes

Other useful patterns include:

  • More frequent refreshes during business hours than outside business hours.
  • A separate refresh schedule for a promotion's date range.
  • Different time windows for morning and evening operations.

When creating multiple entries, review their date, day, and time boundaries so the combined schedule matches your intent. Use non-overlapping entries where practical to make the configuration easier to understand and verify.

Active and Inactive Feeds

The Schedule section also controls whether the feed is active:

Setting Behavior
Feed is Active The feed will run according to its configured schedule. A Manual schedule still requires a manual refresh.
Feed is Inactive The feed will not run on schedule.

An interval or custom schedule does not cause automatic refreshes while the feed is inactive. When troubleshooting stale data, check both the schedule and the active/inactive setting.

Refreshing data is different from scheduling ads

The feed schedule determines when Lucit reads source data. Campaign date/time rules and triggers determine when imported items are eligible to play. The campaign's Creative Build Schedule is another separate setting. See the Campaign Page Navigation Guide for campaign-level controls.

Inventory Item Settings

The following sections appear only for data sources that create Inventory Items. These sources turn incoming records into items that can be used to generate creatives and populate campaigns.

For template assignment instructions, consult your app's reference page. Inventory data sources use the TEMPLATES tab to associate imported items with templates; the Template Designer General Navigation Guide explains how to build those templates.

Campaigns

The Campaigns section controls how items from this data source are automatically posted to campaigns.

Option UI Description Behavior
Manual I will add them manually on my campaigns page. You select and add imported items from the campaign page yourself.
Automatic Items will be automatically posted to the following campaigns. You select the campaigns to which the data source should automatically add items.

Configure Automatic Campaign Posting

  1. Select Automatic in the Campaigns section.
  2. Find each campaign you want to receive items from this source.
  3. For each campaign, configure any date/time restrictions using its calendar icon.
  4. Configure any triggers or filters using its folder/star icon.
  5. Use the + icon to select the campaign for automatic posting.
  6. Repeat for any additional campaigns that should receive the items.

Each campaign can have its own date/time rules and triggers. For example, the same source can supply one campaign during weekday hours and another during weekend hours, with different eligibility conditions for each.

This connects three parts of the workflow: the feed creates an item, automatically adds it to a selected campaign, and applies the configured date/time restrictions and triggers when it is added. Posting an item to a campaign does not bypass those eligibility rules or other campaign requirements.

See the campaign creative controls for the calendar, trigger, and activation icons. The Filter Builder Reference explains trigger conditions and scheduling rules, and the Field Map Specification describes data source auto-add triggers.

Use Reader Macros in Triggers

Automatic campaign triggers support Reader macros, which substitute values from the actual incoming source record into the trigger configuration.

The macro format is {Reader.FieldName}, for example:

Macro Value Supplied
{Reader.body_style} The incoming record's body_style value.
{Reader.latitude} The incoming record's latitude value.

This lets you configure a reusable trigger whose values differ for each imported item. For example, where a trigger condition needs the item's body style, a Reader macro can supply that value from the feed instead of requiring a separate hard-coded rule for every record.

Reader fields are the actual fields coming in from the data source. Use the field names exposed by your source; do not assume every app provides body_style, latitude, or any other example field. Inspect the source data before configuring a macro, and make sure its value is suitable for the chosen condition.

Reader macro substitution in automatic posting rules is different from selecting a Reader field in an import filter. The Custom Filter section below explains filtering rows before item creation. For general macro concepts, see Macros and the Field Map Specification.

Limits

The Limits section controls the maximum number of items this data source can import.

Option Behavior
No Limit No item-count limit is imposed by this setting.
Limited Imports are constrained to the maximum count you configure.

Use a limit when testing an integration or when you want to constrain the size of an imported inventory set. A limit controls quantity; it is not a substitute for choosing which records qualify. Use Custom Filter to select records by their field values.

Zero Items

The Zero Items section controls what happens when the source produces zero results, meaning the feed is empty.

Option Behavior
Stop processing and do nothing Stops processing without deleting old items in response to the empty result.
Continue processing and delete all old items Continues processing the empty result and deletes old items from this data source.

Choose based on what an empty result means for your source. If an empty feed legitimately means that no inventory remains, deletion may be appropriate. If an empty result may be temporary or unexpected, stopping processing avoids removing old items solely because the source returned no records.

An empty feed can remove existing inventory

Continue processing and delete all old items is a destructive choice. Confirm that this is the intended behavior before enabling it, especially when items from the source are used by active campaigns.

An empty result is not the same as a failed connection. See Dynamic Feed Error Handling for feed failure and fallback creative behavior.

Prices

The Prices section controls what happens when an item has no price, an empty price, or a price of zero.

Option Behavior
Allow the item Allows the item even without a nonzero price.
Skip the item Skips the item when its price is missing, empty, or zero.

Allowing the item can be useful for creatives that do not display a price or use messaging such as “Contact us for pricing.” Skipping the item can help when a valid price is required for the creative. Make sure your template handles the choice appropriately.

Images

The Images section controls missing-image behavior, the image fields available to templates, and how many source photos are processed.

Items Without Photos or Images

Option Behavior
Allow the item Allows the item without a source photo.
Skip the item Skips items that have no photos or images.
Set to account logo Uses the account logo when the item has no photos or images.
Set to feed provider logo Uses the feed provider logo when the item has no photos or images.

Choose a fallback that fits your creative design. If using a logo, verify the result in your template rather than assuming a logo will fill the same space as a product or inventory photo.

Add All Images to Item Fields

Enable Add all images to item fields to expose images found in the data source as available item fields for templates, such as feed_photo_1, feed_photo_2, and additional numbered photo fields.

When this setting is disabled, only the first available image is added as the primary photo. Enable it when your template needs access to more than one source image, and review the processing limits below to determine how many photos are processed.

See Lucit Template Custom Fields for image field guidance.

Limit Images Processed by This Data Source

Setting Purpose
Get first (count) photos Sets how many photos to process. The maximum is 5.
But skip first (count) photos Sets how many photos to skip before processing.

For example, if the first source photo is a generic dealership banner, set But skip first to 1 and Get first to 3 to process up to the next three photos instead.

The skip count applies before processing. Check that representative records contain enough photos after the skipped images, and review both the primary photo and any numbered image fields in the resulting items.

Custom Filter

The Custom Filter section filters incoming rows before Lucit creates items from them. It uses Reader data—the original fields supplied by the source—not the campaign's playback eligibility rules.

Enable and Configure the Filter

If the section displays Refresh your data to enable this filter, refresh the data first so the source fields are available to the filter builder.

Then:

  1. Inspect the incoming data and identify the field you want to filter.
  2. Add a condition using that Reader field.
  3. Choose an appropriate operator and comparison value.
  4. Add any additional conditions needed for your import rules.
  5. Refresh the source to check which records are imported under the configured filter.

All Reader fields from the source are available for filtering. Use operators that fit the field's values and data type.

Example: Import Only F-150 Models

For an automotive source that supplies a model field, configure:

Field Condition Value
Reader.model Contains F-150

Only rows matching this condition qualify for item creation through this filter. Similarly, a source with a make field can be filtered using Reader.make.

In the filter builder, you select the Reader field itself, such as Reader.model. The brace-wrapped form, such as {Reader.model}, is used when substituting a source value into a macro-enabled setting.

For the available standard conditions, see Available Operators in the Form Fields Specification. For condition groups and more advanced filter behavior, see the Filter Builder Reference.

Import Filters vs. Campaign Triggers

Control What It Decides
Custom Filter Whether an incoming source row qualifies for item creation.
Campaigns → Automatic Which selected campaigns receive items from this source.
Campaign date/time rules and triggers When and under what conditions an item in a campaign is eligible to run.

For example, use a Custom Filter to import only F-150 inventory, then use campaign triggers to restrict when or where those imported items play. A campaign trigger does not replace an import filter: it can make an item ineligible to play without preventing that item from being created.

  1. Read the app's reference page. Confirm prerequisites, provider settings, source type, and available data fields.
  2. Configure the connection. Complete the provider-specific Feed Settings.
  3. Choose the refresh behavior. Select Manual, Scheduled Interval, or Custom Schedule, and confirm whether the feed should be active.
  4. Review inventory safeguards. For Inventory Item sources, check limits, zero-item behavior, price requirements, and image handling before a production refresh.
  5. Inspect source data. Refresh and review the DATA tab to verify field names and values. Configure a Custom Filter once the fields are available.
  6. Set up templates and campaign posting. Confirm template assignments on the TEMPLATES tab, then choose Manual or Automatic campaign posting and any date/time rules or triggers.
  7. Verify the result. Refresh again as needed, inspect imported items and creative proofs, and check campaign eligibility. See the Campaign Page Navigation Guide and LucitXR Preview and Proofing.
  8. Monitor ongoing updates. Compare refresh timestamps with the configured schedule using Data Source Monitoring, and review your fallback creative.

Troubleshooting Checklist

Symptom Settings or Areas to Check
Data does not refresh automatically Manual schedule, inactive feed, or custom schedule date/day/time restrictions.
Provider-specific settings are unclear The app's Data Source Providers → Settings documentation.
Fewer items are imported than expected Limits, Custom Filter, price rules, and missing-image rules.
Old items disappear after an empty result Zero Items → Continue processing and delete all old items.
Additional photos are unavailable to templates Add all images to item fields, photo count, skip count, and the number of source photos.
Custom Filter cannot be configured yet Refresh your data to make Reader fields available.
Items are imported but are not added automatically to a campaign Campaigns → Automatic and the campaign's + selection.
An item is in a campaign but is not running Campaign date/time restrictions, triggers, creative state, and other campaign eligibility requirements.