1. New gemstone intake

Owner

You (solo operation)

Trigger

A new physical gemstone is acquired, whether ordered in advance or received unexpectedly.

Approval

You confirm the assigned SKU before it is written to any document, folder, or Shopify product, and confirm the intake record is complete before the SKU status moves from "issued" to "listed".

Procedure — SKU assignment

1. Open the Grist data file's Stones table — one row per SKU ever issued, and the single source of truth for "what's the next number." Do not keep a second copy anywhere.
2. The next SKU is the next unused sequential number in the format GC-000001, GC-000002, … (six digits) — the same sequence regardless of gem type, shape, or supplier.
3. Before assigning, confirm the candidate number does not already appear in the ledger. Issuing only from one ledger, in order, prevents duplicates by construction as long as it's the only place numbers are ever issued from.
4. Record the new row immediately: SKU, date issued, gem type, purchase order reference, status = "issued, not yet listed".
5. Use the same SKU as the Shopify product's SKU field, the filename prefix for every document and photo, and the folder name for that stone.

Procedure — gemstone intake

1. Receive the stone and check the physical count against the packing list or invoice before signing for delivery.
2. Check the stone against the supplier's documentation — type, weight, and any stated treatment should match what was ordered.
3. Assign or confirm the SKU (above) if it wasn't already issued at order time.
4. Photograph the stone — at minimum a top-down and a profile shot, in consistent neutral lighting — and save immediately using the SKU as the filename prefix (Procedure 9).
5. Record carat weight, length/width/depth in mm, country/region of origin, treatment(s) applied, clarity grade, and certificate details if certified (lab, report number, report date). Anything genuinely unknown is recorded as "unknown" — never guessed, never left blank.
6. Create the Shopify product using this data and the store's canonical structured attribute model.
7. Set Shopify inventory to exactly 1, tracked, with overselling disabled.
8. Update the SKU ledger status to "in stock" (or "in stock, not yet published" if publication is pending — see Procedure 4). This is the intake ledger's own wording and is not the same thing as the stone's Stones.Status in Grist, which is worked out from the stone's movements: adding the gemstone records its opening movement, and putting it on a purchase order records its arrival.

Rules

• SKUs are permanent. Once issued, a SKU is never reassigned to a different stone — even if the original is returned, lost, or its listing deleted.
• A sold, returned, or destroyed stone's SKU is retired, not reused.
• Never assign a SKU from memory or by guessing the "next" number without checking the ledger first.
• Never list a quantity greater than 1 for a unique physical stone.
• Never publish the product before intake is fully complete (Procedure 4 depends on this).

Required evidence

• The ledger row: SKU, date issued, gem type, linked purchase order reference, status.
• Supplier packing list / invoice.
• Intake photographs.
• The recorded measurements and attributes.
• Dated SKU ledger status change.