Recover a 'deleted' catalogue level and deprecate bottom-up
Learn why a removed group, sub-category or category only disappears from pickers, how to bring it back, and the bottom-up order deprecation must follow.
Nothing in the catalogue hierarchy is ever hard-deleted. When a client removes a group, sub-category or category, the record is only marked deprecated. All catalogue browsing endpoints (categories, sub-categories, groups, warehouse listing, the design-tool division tree) silently exclude deprecated entries by default, so the item simply disappears from every picker and admin list. The underlying rows, the SKUs inside them, and all references from existing designs remain in the database. Most listing APIs accept a show_deprecated flag that brings the hidden entries back, which is the first tool to reach for when a client says 'my category disappeared' - it is almost always deprecated, not gone. Because SKU-to-hierarchy ancestry lookups do NOT filter on deprecation, any design that already uses a SKU from a deprecated group keeps loading and rendering normally; only new placements are prevented because the item cannot be found in the picker. So the two support answers are: (1) disappeared item = deprecated, recoverable in principle since data still exists; (2) old designs are safe - deprecating a group never breaks documents that already use its SKUs.
A deprecated sub-category disappears from pickers and admin lists.
✓ 2026 ഒക്ടോബർ 22-ന് പ്രോഡക്റ്റിൽ പരിശോധിച്ചു
The record and its SKUs remain in the database.
The sub-category can be brought back with the show-deprecated option.
Avoid unintentional deletions.
Keep catalogue data accurately and consistently named.
Clients trying to delete a sub-category or category often hit an error because deprecation is enforced strictly bottom-up. sku_sub_category/deprecate refuses with SKU_SUB_CATEGORY_CHILDREN_GROUPS_NOT_DEPRECATED if the sub-category still contains any non-deprecated group - every group under it must be removed/deprecated first. sku_category/deprecate refuses with SKU_CATEGORY_CHILDREN_SUB_CATEGORIES_NOT_DEPRECATED unless ALL of its sub-categories are already deprecated. There is no cascade: deprecating a parent never auto-deprecates children, and there is no bulk 'delete category with everything inside'. The working recipe for a client who wants an entire category gone: (1) remove every SKU group under each sub-category (which deprecates owned groups), (2) deprecate each sub-category, (3) deprecate the category. Also note only owned levels can be deprecated - items that arrived via a subscribed catalogue belong to the publishing org and can only be unmapped, not deprecated. If a client reports 'it will not let me delete the sub-category', ask whether any groups are still visible under it (including groups visible only with the show-deprecated option off - a group re-added from a sales channel counts as live).