When variations do not appear, start with Parent and SKU
A WooCommerce variation row attaches to its parent through `Parent`. A blank Parent, duplicated variation SKU, or missing attribute value can leave you with a CSV that parses but does not create the variants you expected.
This checker focuses on variation rows and reviews Parent, SKU, Name, and Attribute 1 together.
Parent can be a SKU or `id:100`
The core WooCommerce CSV accepts the parent product SKU or a product ID prefixed with `id:`. If you mean an ID, using `id:100` avoids ambiguity with a numeric SKU.
The checker can catch malformed `id:` syntax, but it cannot prove that the referenced parent exists in your live store.
A blank variation SKU is not always an import failure
WooCommerce can generate an SKU when omitted, but unique SKUs make updates and troubleshooting much safer. The checker therefore warns on a blank variation SKU and errors on duplicates.
Name is part of the required core schema, so a blank variation Name is treated as an error.
Parent and variation rows use attributes differently
The variable parent can list values such as `S, M`, while each variation row carries its specific value such as `S`. A variation with an attribute name but no value cannot identify the intended variant cleanly.
Test one parent and a few variations before scaling the same pattern to the whole catalog.