Items & Catalog: Update Items in Bulk with an LLM

Changing the same field on dozens or hundreds of items is slow in any screen. With the Flourish MCP server, you can describe the change once and let your AI assistant apply it across every matching item. It shows a preview before anything is saved. For connection steps, see Connecting to Flourish with an LLM Using Our MCP Server.

Items belong to your whole company, not one facility. A change applies everywhere the item is used. This includes case sizes.

Core things it can do

1. Find the right items

Search by item name, retail display name, part number or SKU, and filter to active or inactive items. The assistant pages through every match, so a change covers the full list, not just the first page.

2. Change approved fields

The item update tool works from an approved list of fields, including:

Tracking: lot tracking, sell by lot, serial number tracking
Selling: sellable, purchasable, retail display name, SKU, part number, barcode
Catalog and online menu: pack size, e-commerce category, e-commerce sub-category, e-commerce active
Handling: storage instructions, special instructions, helpful tips, shelf days, reorder point
Product details: serving size, servings per unit, THC/CBD per dose, allergens, ingredients
Reference fields 1–5

Ask your assistant "which item fields can you change?" for the current list.

Pack size is written as a number and a unit with no space: 3.5g, 100mg, 30ml. Multipacks use the total weight, so a 5 × 0.7g, 7 × 0.5g or 10 × 0.35g pre-roll pack is 3.5g. Put the pack count in servings per unit instead.

E-commerce categories come from your existing list. The assistant looks them up by name, so you can say "Vapes > Cartridges" instead of an ID. To add or rename a category, see Configuring Item E-commerce Categories and Subcategories.

3. Set case sizes in bulk

Case sizes (units per case) let you sell, pack and label items by the case. Setting them one item at a time in Flourish is slow; the assistant can do a whole product line in one request. For what case sizes do in Flourish, see Case Label Item Configuration and Printing.

Find gaps. Ask which items have no case size. The assistant lists them and reports coverage, for example "140 of 212 items have a case size."
Apply. Give the case sizes once, for example a 12-pack as the default and a 24-unit master case, and the assistant adds them to every matched item.
Confirm changes to existing sizes. If the request would replace an item's default case size, or deactivate or reactivate a case size, nothing is saved. The assistant shows you what would change and asks you to confirm first.
Deactivate only on request. Leaving a case size out of a request never removes it. The assistant deactivates a case size only when you ask it to.
All or nothing. If any item in the request has a problem, nothing is saved. The assistant tells you what to fix.

4. Preview, then apply

For field updates, the assistant shows a table with each item's current value and new value, and skips items that already have the new value. After you approve, it updates the items one at a time and reports how many changed, were skipped, or failed.

5. Work from a spreadsheet

Attach or share a spreadsheet with item names or SKUs and new values (for example, reorder points or pack sizes). The assistant matches each row to exactly one item and asks about any row it can't match.

Things to know

Metrc-integrated companies: some fields sync from Metrc and can't be changed here, such as brand (when it syncs to Metrc), item description, allergens, serving size and dosing fields. The assistant will tell you which fields are excluded. Pack size and the e-commerce fields can be changed for every company.
SKU can be changed but can't be left empty.
Pack size must use the format above. Values like 3.5 g, 3.5G or 0.50g are rejected, not corrected, so one size isn't split across several spellings.
Case sizes must be a whole number of 2 or more, and each item can have only one default case size. One request can cover up to 5,000 items. Requests that change more than 200 case sizes need one extra confirmation of the total.
Creating items isn't available through the assistant. Create new items in Flourish first, then use the assistant to update them. NOTE: you may use the MCP with the item CSV export to do updates with a spreadsheet review. You also may stage a CSV and submit a support request for Flourish to import items.
Big batches: for large changes, ask the assistant to update the first few items, check them in Flourish, and then continue.

Recommended Tool Permissions

Tool	Type	Recommended Setting	Notes
Items: Query (`items_query`)	Read	Always allow	Searches items by name, display name, part number or SKU.
Item Categories / Classes: Query (`item_categories_query`, `item_classes_query`)	Read	Always allow	Reference data for narrowing a selection.
Brands: Query (`brands_query`)	Read	Always allow	Lists brands.
E-commerce Categories: Query (`ecommerce_categories_query`)	Read	Always allow	Lists your active online menu categories and sub-categories. Company-wide.
Item Case Configs: Query (`item_case_configs_query`)	Read	Always allow	Lists the case sizes on items, or only the items that have none.
Items: Update (`items_update`)	Write	Needs approval	Updates approved fields on one item per call; the assistant repeats it for each item in a batch.
Item Case Configs: Apply (`item_case_config_apply`)	Write (destructive)	Needs approval	Sets the same case sizes on up to 5,000 items in one call, all or nothing. Can replace a default or deactivate a case size, and asks you to confirm before it does.

Example Prompts

"Make lot tracking required on every active item from the Alpine brand." (write — asks first)
"Set storage instructions to 'Keep refrigerated' on all our gummy items." (write — asks first)
"Apply the reorder points in this spreadsheet." (write — asks first)
"Which of our active items don't have a barcode?"
"Mark all the Summer 2025 items as not sellable." (write — asks first)
"Which active vape cartridge items have no case size?"
"Add a 12-pack as the default case size and a 24-unit master case to all of those." (write — asks first)
"Set pack size to 3.5g on every eighth and every 5-pack of 0.7g pre-rolls." (write — asks first)
"Put all the Alpine gummies in the Edibles > Gummies menu category and turn on e-commerce." (write — asks first)

Troubleshooting

The assistant says a field can't be changed.

It isn't on the approved list, or it's controlled by Metrc for your company. Change it in Flourish instead.

Some items failed.

The assistant lists each failure with the reason. Fix the cause (for example, an empty SKU), then ask it to retry just those items.

A pack size was rejected.

Use a number and a lowercase unit with no space, such as 3.5g or 100mg, with no extra zeros (0.5g, not 0.50g). Only g, mg and ml are accepted.

A case size request saved nothing.

Either an item had a problem, or the change needs your confirmation (a new default, or a case size being deactivated or reactivated). Read what the assistant reports, fix or confirm, and ask it to send the request again.

The menu category I want isn't listed.

The assistant sees only active categories and sub-categories. Add or activate the category in Flourish first, then ask again.