12. Categories
[← Coupons & Discounts]/11-coupons-and-discounts/ · [Index]/00-index/
12. Categories
Verified against: Medusa admin dashboard 2.18.0 (category-create schema and form,
category-detail page composition — source-read directly).
STATUS: Planned / Not yet used. The screen is real and part of default Medusa — see [Section 2]/02-admin-dashboard/#sidebar-structure — but no category has ever been created. This store’s 2 products have never needed grouping (
.ai/features/catalog.md). Everything below documents what the create form actually supports.
Creating a category — real fields
(from the dashboard’s own validation schema)
| Field | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Name | REQUIRED | |
| Description | OPTIONAL | |
| Handle | OPTIONAL, auto-generated | URL slug — same pattern as products ([Section 3]/03-product-management/) |
| Status | REQUIRED — active or inactive | Two states, simpler than a product’s four ([Section 3]/03-product-management/#status—publishing) |
| Visibility | REQUIRED — public or internal | A real toggle that doesn’t exist on products — an internal category can be used for organizing without exposing it on the storefront |
| Parent Category | OPTIONAL | This is how subcategories work — pick an existing category as the parent |
| Rank | Set automatically (drag-to-reorder in the list), not typed in directly | Controls display order among sibling categories |
IMPORTANT — gap vs. the original brief: there is no Category Image field anywhere in this admin (confirmed by searching the category screens’ source directly — zero references to an image/thumbnail field). If the storefront ever needs a category banner/image, it isn’t supported by this admin today; it would need a workaround (e.g. metadata + custom storefront code) or a feature request.
There are also no dedicated SEO fields beyond the Handle — the same gap already noted for products in [Section 3]/03-product-management/#seo.
Editing a category
Same fields as creation. The category’s detail page has three real sections: General (the fields above), Products (add/remove which products belong to this category), and Organize (parent category / nesting).
Assigning products
Products are added to a category from the category’s own Products section (or from a product’s own Organize section — see [Section 3]/03-product-management/#basic-information, where Categories is listed as a real, optional field on the product form).
Categories vs. product attributes
The original brief asks when to use categories vs. attributes. In this system specifically:
- Category — a real, navigable grouping (with its own page, parent/child nesting, and public/internal visibility) — use this for how products should be browsed on the storefront (e.g. “Oils,” if the catalog ever expands beyond two products).
- Product attributes/metadata — free-form data on the product itself (like the
hsn_code/gst_rate/fssai_numbermetadata described in [Section 3]/03-product-management/#hsngstfssai-metadata-real-fields-used-by-this-store) — use this for information that describes the product but isn’t meant to be a browsable grouping.
Given this store has exactly 2 products today, categories haven’t been needed — this becomes relevant once/if the catalog grows.
[← Coupons & Discounts]/11-coupons-and-discounts/ · [Index]/00-index/ · [Next: Shipping →]/13-shipping/