What CSVFixLab solves
CSV import problems are often caused by encoding, delimiters, quotation marks, headers, or inconsistent row structure. CSVFixLab turns those failures into a row-level report and separates problems that can be normalized safely from problems that require knowledge of the original business data.
Why the service is intentionally conservative
CSV syntax can prove structure, but it cannot prove business meaning. The tool does not invent missing prices, SKUs, identifiers, product relationships, titles, dates, or other source data. When a correction requires a guess, automatic repair is blocked.
How the behavior is tested
The MVP uses known-good and intentionally malformed CSV fixtures covering delimiter changes, column-count mismatches, broken quotes, duplicate headers, non-UTF-8 input, and basic Shopify product CSV scenarios. The Lab Cases publish small downloadable versions of these inputs so the core behavior can be reproduced in the browser.
The testing and safe-repair methodology documents the decision rules behind repair downloads, including why Auto mode confirms UTF-8 but refuses to guess an unknown legacy source encoding.
Privacy by design
The core CSV tools parse selected files locally in the browser using JavaScript and a Web Worker. The selected CSV is not required to be uploaded to a CSVFixLab application server for the analysis shown on the tool pages.
Editorial approach
The guide library explains the same failure modes the tools detect: UTF-8, delimiters, quoted fields, row width, spreadsheet export side effects, and safe repair boundaries. Platform-specific claims are separated from generic CSV rules and linked to official platform documentation where practical.
Scope and limitations
The first release focuses on generic CSV structure and basic Shopify product CSV preflight checks. Rules that require a live account, existing store data, or account-specific validation are outside the offline checker and are identified as such.
Independence
CSVFixLab is an independent utility and is not affiliated with Shopify. Product and platform names are used only to describe compatibility and troubleshooting scenarios.