---
title: "Choose an Integration | Documentation"
description: "Every new Stokkd company must choose how it manages inventory data — Manual (file upload) or API — before onboarding can finish. The choice hands you off to a dedicated API Setup or Manual Setup page, each with its own step indicator."
canonical_url: "https://website-staging.stokkd.com/docs/getting-started/onboarding/onboarding-choose-an-integration"
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> Index of every page on this site: [llms.txt](https://website-staging.stokkd.com/llms.txt)

## What It Is

After entering your company details (step 2 of onboarding), step 3 — **Choose your path** — asks  
you to pick one of two ways to manage your inventory data:

- **Manual** — you upload a sample stock file and Stokkd identifies your system automatically, or  
  walks you through confirming a few columns if anything needs a closer look.
- **API** — you pick a system from a list of available API integrations and connect it directly,  
  so locations, users, and stock sync automatically.

This choice is **mandatory** — there's no "skip for now" option, and you can't reach your  
dashboard until it's made. You'll also need to add at least one site before onboarding can finish.

Making your choice takes you to a dedicated setup page — **API Setup** or **Manual Setup** — each  
with its own step indicator tracking only what's left for that path. This replaces the three-step  
indicator you saw on the previous two pages (Account Setup, Company Details, Choose your path);  
once a path is chosen, that indicator's job is done and the new page's indicator takes over.

## Why It Matters

Your integration choice determines how your locations (sites) and stock data are managed for as  
long as your company uses Stokkd:

- **Manual** companies add and edit sites themselves, upload stock files before a stocktake, and  
  download results afterwards to update their own system.
- **API** companies have their locations synced automatically from the connected system. Sites  
  can't be created manually once an API integration with location sync is active — they're  
  managed in the connected system and pulled into Stokkd.

Choosing up front — rather than defaulting or skipping — avoids a company reaching an inconsistent  
state where stocktakes, users, or sites exist with no clear source of truth behind them. It's the  
same reason the Sites step can't be skipped either: a stocktake needs at least one location to  
count, so Stokkd asks for one before letting you start using the app.

## How It Works

Every onboarding page shows a step indicator at the top, but it's scoped to the page you're on —  
it doesn't follow you across the whole journey. **Account Setup → Company Details → Choose your  
path** tracks only the first three pages; once you pick Manual or API, you land on that path's own  
setup page with its own indicator for the steps still ahead.

**If you choose Manual — Manual Setup:**

1. Upload a sample stock/inventory file (CSV, TXT, or XLSX).
2. Stokkd tries to automatically recognise your system from the file's columns. What happens next  
   depends on the result:
   - **Exact match** — confirm it and continue.
   - **Match found, but a few columns don't line up** — map just those extra columns before  
     continuing.
   - **No match found** — AI proposes a full column mapping for you to review, in two short steps  
     (confirm how each column should be read, then confirm how results export back out).
3. Add at least one site (a physical location you'll count stock at).
4. Finish setup.

Manual Setup's step indicator reflects whichever of these you actually hit — shorter for a  
straightforward match, longer only when extra mapping is genuinely needed — so it's normal to see  
a different number of steps than someone else who uploaded a different file.

**If you choose API — API Setup:**

1. Pick your system from the list of available API integrations. Shopify is the only one live  
   today, but this list is built to grow — new systems appear here as they're added.
2. Connect it — see [Connecting an API Integration](https://website-staging.stokkd.com/connecting-an-api-integration) for the  
   store-URL and sign-in steps.
3. Your locations sync in automatically — review them before finishing.
4. Finish setup.

API Setup's step indicator always shows the same three steps: **Select Integration → Connect →  
Review Locations**.

> **Signing up with Shopify?** If you used the "Sign up with Shopify" option, your company  
> details, integration, and locations are all imported automatically — you'll land straight on  
> the location review step with nothing else to set up.

## Key Settings

- **Have your file ready (Manual):** a sample export of your current stock/inventory list, with  
  clear column headers, gives the best automatic match and the shortest path through Manual Setup.
- **Have your connection details ready (API):** see  
  [Connecting an API Integration](https://website-staging.stokkd.com/connecting-an-api-integration) for what's needed to connect.
- **More integrations will appear over time:** the API selection list isn't limited to Shopify —  
  new options show up automatically as they're added, each with its own connect steps.
- **At least one site is required either way** — Manual users add sites directly; API users get  
  them from the sync.
- **Your progress is saved as you go:** if you close the browser partway through API Setup or  
  Manual Setup, coming back to onboarding resumes you on the same path — usually at the same step.

## Best Practices

- Pick the path that matches how your business actually manages inventory today — don't choose  
  API "to try it out" if you don't have an account with a supported system ready to connect.
- For Manual, use a real (even if small) export from your current system rather than a blank  
  template — it gives Stokkd's automatic detection the best chance of matching your setup exactly  
  and skipping the extra mapping steps.
- If the system you use isn't in the API list yet, check with your team before starting onboarding  
  — switching integrations later is possible from **Company Settings → Integration**, but it's  
  easier to get it right the first time.

### **Related Articles **

[<h4>**Signing Up with Shopify**</h4>For businesses already running on Shopify — sign up directly with your store and get your company details, integration, and locations imported automatically. - choosing-how-to-sign-up - signing-up-with-email - signing-up-with-google-or-microsoft](https://website-staging.stokkd.com/docs/getting-started/sign-up/signing-up-with-shopify) [<h4>**Connect Shopify**</h4>Explains the process of connecting to Shopify.](https://website-staging.stokkd.com/docs/settings/integrations/connect-shopify)

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