Overview

Setting up a catalog involves three key stages:

1. Creating a catalog container that defines the catalog settings and metadata.
2. Managing the content lifecycle from authoring through publication.
3. Controlling access to determine which users, applications, companies, or domains can use the catalog.

This guide provides an overview of each stage and links to the detailed instructions for completing each task.

Part 1: Creating a Catalog

Before content can be authored or published, a catalog container must be created. The catalog container stores the catalog metadata and configuration, including language, manufacturer details, measurement system, content type, and visibility settings.

Creating the catalog correctly ensures that it can be properly authored, published, and made available to the intended users and applications.

For complete instructions, see:

Content Studio - How to create a catalog

Next steps

After creating the catalog:

• Continue to Part 2: Publishing & Content Lifecycle to understand how catalog versions move from authoring to production.

Part 2: Publishing & Content Lifecycle

Once a catalog has been created, content is developed and managed through a version lifecycle. Each catalog version progresses through a series of statuses that control when content can be edited, tested, and made available to users.

The standard lifecycle is:

In Progress → Ready → Activated ↔ Deactivated

Key concepts include:

• Creating or duplicating versions.
• Running certification checks before publication.
• Activating content for production use.
• Deactivating content that is no longer required.

When a version is activated, access is controlled by the catalog's access configuration and any version-specific access rules that have been defined.

For complete lifecycle information, see:

Publishing - Content lifecycle

Next steps

After setting up content:

• Continue to Part 3: Controlling Access to understand configuring access settings and version-specific access rules.

Part 3: Controlling Access

SpacesFlex Contracts

SpacesFlex uses Contracts to determine which catalogs are available within a SpacesFlex implementation.

A contract links:

• A Contract Company
• A SpacesFlex application instance
• A set of available catalogs

Contracts can include:

• Public contracts - Open catalogs that do not require user authentication.
• Private contracts - Protected catalogs that require authentication and can be restricted by:
  • Identity Provider (IdP)
  • Email domain
  • Individual accounts

A single Contract Company can have both open and protected catalogs at the same time.

For detailed instructions, see:

SpacesFlex - Contracts