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How cobby Works

Understanding cobby's architecture helps you work more effectively and troubleshoot issues. This article explains the three-tier system that powers cobby and how data flows between your shop, our service, and Excel.

The Three Components​

cobby consists of three interconnected parts that work together to enable real-time product management:

┌─────────────────┐         ┌──────────────────┐         ┌─────────────────┐
│  Magento/       │ ←─────→ │  cobby Service   │ ←─────→ │  Excel Add-in   │
│  Shopware Shop  │  HTTPS  │  (Cloud)         │  HTTPS  │  (Your PC)      │
└─────────────────┘         └──────────────────┘         └─────────────────┘
     cobby                       Central                      cobby
    Extension                 Orchestrator                   Add-in

Let's explore each component and its role.

1. The cobby Extension (In Your Shop)​

Location: Installed in your Magento or Shopware shop

Primary Responsibilities:

Two-Way Communication Bridge​

The extension acts as the communication gateway between your shop and the cobby service:

  • Outbound: Notifies the cobby service whenever product data changes in Magento/Shopware
  • Inbound: Receives and processes product updates from the cobby service

Change Processing​

When the cobby service sends product updates from Excel:

  1. The extension validates the changes
  2. Applies them to your Magento/Shopware database
  3. Triggers Magento's standard indexing and cache processes
  4. Confirms success or reports errors back to the service

Authentication & Security​

Uses Magento's native web service interface with role-based access control. This means:

  • cobby respects your Magento user permissions
  • All API communication is authenticated
  • The extension can only access data you've granted permission for
info

The extension doesn't store any product data - it's purely a communication and processing layer.

2. The cobby Service (Cloud)​

Location: Hosted on EU servers

Primary Responsibilities:

Performance Optimization Through Data Caching​

The cobby service maintains a copy of your product data for crucial performance reasons:

Why cache data?

  • Speed: Instant access without querying Magento for every Excel interaction
  • Reduced load: Minimizes database queries on your shop server
  • Multi-user support: Enables multiple users to work simultaneously
  • Differential sync: Only transmits what changed, not entire datasets

Intelligent Change Management​

The service acts as an intelligent orchestrator:

  1. Receives changes from both Excel and Magento
  2. Calculates differentials - determines exactly what changed
  3. Transmits minimal updates - sends only the deltas, not full datasets
  4. Pushes notifications - alerts all active Excel clients in real-time
  5. Manages conflicts - handles simultaneous edits from multiple users

Example: If you change a product name, cobby only sends:

{
  "sku": "PROD-001",
  "name": "New Product Name"
}

Not the entire product record with hundreds of attributes.

Workspace Data Storage​

Beyond product data, the service stores:

  • Presets - your custom column configurations
  • User settings - individual user preferences
  • Rules & filters - your workflow customizations
  • Job history - logs of all save operations

3. The Excel Add-in (Your Computer)​

Location: Installed in Microsoft Excel on your computer

Primary Responsibilities:

Real-Time Data Presentation​

  • Displays product data from the cobby service in Excel
  • Updates instantly when changes occur in Magento or by other users
  • Provides a familiar spreadsheet interface for bulk editing

Rich Editors​

Includes specialized editors for complex data types:

  • Category editor - assign products to categories with tree view
  • Image editor - upload, arrange, and manage product images
  • WYSIWYG editor - edit HTML descriptions visually
  • Custom options editor - manage configurable product options
  • Formula support - use Excel formulas for calculations

Change Tracking​

  • Tracks which cells you've modified (yellow status)
  • Shows what changed compared to Magento
  • Validates data before sending to the service
  • Provides immediate feedback on errors

How Data Flows​

Loading Products (Shop → Excel)​

1. You click "Load Products" in Excel
                ↓
2. Excel requests data from cobby service
                ↓
3. Service returns cached product data (instant)
                ↓
4. Excel displays data in spreadsheet

Result: Your products appear in Excel within seconds, even for large catalogs.

Saving Changes (Excel → Shop)​

1. You click "Save Products" in Excel
                ↓
2. Excel sends only changed data to cobby service
                ↓
3. Service calculates differential and forwards to shop extension
                ↓
4. Extension applies changes to Magento/Shopware
                ↓
5. Magento confirms success
                ↓
6. Service updates cache and notifies all Excel clients
                ↓
7. Excel shows green status (synchronized)

Result: Only your changes are transmitted, keeping traffic minimal.

Background Sync (Shop → Service → Excel)​

When someone changes a product directly in Magento:

1. Product changes in Magento admin
                ↓
2. Extension notifies cobby service
                ↓
3. Service updates its cache
                ↓
4. Service pushes notification to all active Excel clients
                ↓
5. Excel shows red status (out of sync)

Result: You see immediately when shop data changes.

Security & Privacy​

Encryption​

All communication uses HTTPS with TLS encryption:

  • Magento ↔ cobby service: encrypted
  • cobby service ↔ Excel: encrypted

Data Location​

  • All servers are hosted in the European Union
  • Data never leaves EU territory
  • No data is shared with third parties

Access Control​

  • Uses Magento's native authentication system
  • Respects Magento role-based permissions
  • Each user's access is individually controlled

Data Storage​

  • Product data is cached temporarily for performance
  • Workspace settings and presets are stored permanently
  • No sensitive payment or customer data is stored

Why This Architecture?​

This three-tier design solves several challenges:

Performance at Scale​

By caching product data, cobby can:

  • Handle catalogs with 100,000+ products
  • Support 10+ simultaneous users
  • Respond instantly to Excel interactions
  • Minimize load on your shop server

Real-Time Collaboration​

The centralized service enables:

  • Multiple users editing different products simultaneously
  • Instant notifications of changes
  • Conflict detection and resolution
  • Unified view of current product state

Excel Flexibility​

By separating data processing from presentation:

  • Excel remains responsive even with huge datasets
  • Complex editors can run locally without network lag
  • You can use full Excel functionality (formulas, macros, pivot tables)

Reliability​

The architecture provides:

  • Fault tolerance - if one component fails, others continue
  • Automatic retry logic for failed saves
  • Complete audit trail via job history
  • Easy rollback of changes

Practical Implications​

Understanding this architecture helps you:

Diagnose Issues

  • Excel slow? Check your internet connection to the service
  • Changes not appearing in Magento? Check the extension status
  • Other users not seeing your changes? Service might be updating

Optimize Workflows

  • Use filters to load only needed products (reduces service load)
  • Save in batches to minimize round trips
  • Let differential sync handle large updates efficiently

Plan Maintenance

  • Extension updates require brief Magento downtime
  • Service updates are transparent (no downtime)
  • Excel add-in updates are per-user

Troubleshoot Conflicts

  • Red status = shop changed, reload to sync
  • Yellow status = you changed, save to sync
  • Multiple yellows across users = coordinate saves
  • Understanding Data Synchronization (coming soon)
  • Performance Optimization (coming soon)
  • How to Troubleshoot Connection Issues (coming soon)
  • Multi-User Workflows (coming soon)
Learn By Doing

Now that you understand how cobby works, try the First Steps Tutorial to see this architecture in action!