---
updatedAt: 2025-08-28T06:31:32.000Z
agentTools:
  projectIndex: https://mcm-docs.moloco.com/v1.1/llms.txt
---

# Item Kill Switch

The "Item Kill Switch" feature is designed to immediately stop specific items from being advertised. This is particularly useful when items are out of stock or need to be hidden due to fraudulent product reports and other urgent reasons.

Item Kill Switch updates the status of items in real time through the **UpdateItemStatusBulk** API, which is part of the [Management API ](https://mcm-docs.moloco.com/reference/rmpmanagementapi_listadaccounts)suite of tools. When an item is removed using **UpdateItemStatusBulk**, it is immediately pulled from ad serving, ensuring the Decision API does not return these items for any decision quest. For more information on Management API usage please see: [API and SSO Credential Management](https://mcm-docs.moloco.com/docs/api-key-and-sso-secret-generation)

# Prerequisites

1. To use **UpdateItemStatusBulk**, the catalog field labeled **updated\_time** must be populated and contain the most current timestamp when the catalog and incremental feed files are sent to Moloco.
2. Contact your Moloco representative to enable the Item Kill Switch feature once you have verified your catalog feed(s) meets the requirement above.

<Callout icon="✏️" theme="default">
  For more information on catalog fields, please review the [Catalog Feed](https://mcm-docs.moloco.com/docs/catalog-feed) specifications page.
</Callout>

# API Behavior

* The item is blocked for **12** hours beginning at the timestamp provided in the **UpdateItemStatusBulk** request, labeled **updated\_time**.
  * After the 12 hours has passed, the item’s availability will follow your catalog feed update schedule.
  * Even if 12 hours have not passed, if the catalog feed gets updated and contains an item with a more recent **updated\_time** and **availability** field is **in\_stock**, then the item will be available for decision requests.

<Callout icon="🚧" theme="warn">
  If you wish to continue blocking an item, we recommend updating your catalog to include the **[blocked](https://mcm-docs.moloco.com/docs/catalog-feed)** field. This field is used to block an item from decision requests. You may remove the block at any time by deleting the data in the **blocked** field. Once removed, the item will be available for decision requests after the next catalog feed update is sent to Moloco.

  For stock availability use case, the system will follow the **availability** field's value once **blocked** field is cleared.
</Callout>

* The **UpdateItemStatusBulk** API does not affect a user's ability to search for a specific item on your e-commerce site. **UpdateItemStatusBulk** only removes the ability for an item to be advertised; it does ***not*** remove the item from the catalog feed or the site.
* If the **item\_id** passed to the  **UpdateItemStatusBulk** API is not present in the catalog feed, an error will be returned.

# Catalog Behavior

[SSPI (Single Seller Per Item)](https://mcm-docs.moloco.com/docs/sspi-catalog-feed-specification): When using the SSPI catalog specification, if an item is removed, no decision response will return it.

[MSPI (Multiple Sellers Per Item)](https://mcm-docs.moloco.com/docs/mspi-catalog-feed-specification) When using the MSPI catalog specification, providing the **seller\_id** removes the item from the specified seller, while leaving the **seller\_id** empty removes the item from *all* decision requests.

# API Usage

### Example Request Body

```
{
  "items": [
    {
      "item_id": "12345",
      "blocked": "blocked_reason",
      "updated_time": "2024-10-15T12:00:00Z"
    },
    {
      "item_id": "67890",
      "blocked": "blocked_reason",
      "updated_time": "2024-10-15T12:00:00Z"
    }
  ]
}
```

### Example Response Body

```
{
  "success_items": [
    {
      "item_id": "12345",
      "seller_id": "",
      "region": ""
    },
    {
      "item_id": "67890",
      "seller_id": "",
      "region": ""
    },
  ],
  "failure_items": []
}
```

# FAQ

Q. What happens if the Catalog Feed file contains outdated **updated\_time** timestamps?

* The item remains blocked for 12 hours from the timestamp passed in the updated\_time field. After that time has passed, the item's availability follows the catalog feed file update schedule.
  * Example: If the catalog feed refreshes every 24 hours, the blocked status will only change once the updated\_time has passed or Moloco ingests the next catalog feed. In this case, the item may remain blocked for more than 12 hours.