# Reviewing and applying recommendations

> Approve, edit, apply and revert Sphen's catalog recommendations in Shopify — including bulk generation and what the measuring status means.

Canonical URL: https://sphen.ai/help/recommendations/
Last updated: 2026-08-14

## What it does

**Recommendations** is where every proposed change waits for your decision. Sphen shows the evidence, the current value and the drafted replacement side by side; nothing reaches your storefront until you press **Apply**. The tab has three views: **Inbox** for the highest-impact picks, **All** for the full approval table with bulk actions, and **Done** for everything already applied.

### Why it matters

Most catalog fixes are individually trivial and collectively decisive: a missing brand field, a description that never names the material, alt text nobody wrote. Working them one at a time in Shopify costs hours per hundred products. Here you review a batch, apply it, and get a revert button for anything you regret.

## Setup

1. Open **Recommendations**. Start on **Inbox** — it surfaces **This week's picks**, each with a **Why this matters** explanation.
2. Expand a recommendation to see **Before / after** and the **Evidence** block (**Current**, **Target**, **Signal**). Press **Edit** to change the wording yourself, or **Refine with AI** with an instruction like “make it shorter”.
3. Press **Apply** to write it to Shopify, or **Dismiss** if it doesn't fit your brand. Editing or refining an already-approved change reopens it for re-approval.
4. For volume, switch to the **All** tab. Pick an object type (**Products**, **Collections**, **Pages**, **Blog posts**) and use **Proposal state** to filter to **Needs generation**, **Ready to apply** or **Manual review**.
5. Select rows and press **Bulk AI generate content** to draft, then **Apply changes** to write the approved drafts. A confirmation dialog names how many changes across how many items go live.
6. Check the **Done** tab afterwards. Each applied change carries **Revert** and a **Live on store** badge verifying it against the real storefront value.

## Reading the results

Statuses run in one direction: **Draft** → **Ready for review** → **Approved** → **Applying** → **Applied** → **Measuring** → **Done**, with **Dismissed**, **Failed** and **Reverted** as exits. **Draft** is what the **Needs generation** filter returns: an action that has no AI proposal yet. **Measuring** means the change is live and Sphen is waiting for enough data to judge it — that window is normal and runs about two weeks.

On **Overview**, **Measured impact** resolves those measuring changes into **Improved**, **Worsened**, **No measurable movement** or **Insufficient data**. Expect a mix; the number that matters is improved minus worsened over a quarter.

Two badges deserve attention. **No AI fields** means every open action on that item is a field no AI can invent — vendor, category, GTIN, image alt — and needs a manual edit in Shopify. **Differs on store** means someone changed the field in Shopify after Sphen applied it.

## Troubleshooting

### A recommendation says the proposal is unavailable.

Some fields can't be drafted from catalog data. **Proposal pending** means generation hasn't finished; a permanent “no value could be generated” means you update the field manually in Shopify. Product category is the common case — add a product type, or pick the category directly in Shopify.

### Reverting warns that the store content changed.

Somebody edited that field in Shopify after Sphen applied the change. Reverting would overwrite the newer edit. Check the current value in Shopify first, then choose **Revert anyway** or cancel.

### Bulk apply reports a partial failure.

Some writes didn't land. Your open-actions list carries the true status — reload the tab and re-apply what is still open. Persistent failures appear as failed jobs under **Activity**; see [Troubleshooting](/help/troubleshooting).

## Frequently asked questions

### Can I let Sphen apply approved changes on its own?

Automatic applying is part of the Growth plan and offers two settings, **Review every change** and **Apply approved changes automatically** — but it is currently a private beta and not enabled for every store. Ask support if you want it switched on for yours. Until then you apply every change yourself. Once it is on, auto-applied changes are still fully revertable from **Recommendations → Done**.

### Why do some items say AI Trust actions are review-only?

Those recommendations concern your theme, policy pages, schema or app configuration — things Sphen won't rewrite for you. Follow the guidance, make the change, and the next audit verifies the signal.

### Where do translations get approved?

Under **Recommendations → All → Translations**. See [Translations](/help/translations).

## Still stuck?

Support answers installation, catalog sync, audit, billing, privacy, and account questions for the SPHEN.AI Shopify app. https://sphen.ai/support/