Yellow Dog Integration Guide for Shift4 Venue

Description: This guide explains how to set up and manage the Yellow Dog integration with Canopy 2.0, whether you're using a 1-Way or 2-Way setup.

1-Way Integration

In a 1-Way integration, Yellow Dog receives sales data from Shift4 Venue using item SKUs to manage inventory. All item setup and menu management remain in Canopy 2.0.

Setup Guidelines:

• Items must be created in Canopy 2.0 with the correct SKUs.
  • If Yellow Dog is already in use, the SKUs may come from Yellow Dog.
  • Otherwise, create the SKUs in Canopy and provide them to Yellow Dog.
• Modifier items and modifier SKUs are created and maintained in Canopy 2.0.
• If Yellow Dog has an existing database, items may need to be rebuilt in Canopy using the Yellow Dog SKUs.
• Menu, pricing, and item updates must also be manually reflected in Yellow Dog to maintain accurate inventory reporting.

Configure the following before Yellow Dog training begins:

• Locations
• Menus
• Display Categories
• Modifier Groups
• Report Categories

Important: Changes to Revenue Centers, Menus, Item Names, or SKUs must also be updated in Yellow Dog to prevent inventory and sales-matching issues.

2-Way Integration

In a 2-Way integration, Yellow Dog receives sales data from Shift4 Venue and sends new or updated item data to Canopy 2.0.

Yellow Dog becomes the source of truth for menu item creation and item-level changes.

Canopy 2.0 is required for the current 2-Way integration.

Do NOT manage these item settings in Canopy 2.0:

• Creating or removing menu items
• Assigning items to menus
• Item names and display names
• Item prices
• Item SKUs
• Item availability
• Item-level discountable settings
• Modifier and combo-meal flags
• Item taxable and tax-inclusive settings
• Item Tax Class assignments

Changes to these settings should be made in Yellow Dog and then sent to Canopy through a manual item sync.

Still configure or maintain in Canopy 2.0:

• Revenue Centers and Menus
  • This includes creating or renaming locations and menus.
  • Renamed locations or menus must also be updated or remapped in Yellow Dog.
  • Do not manually assign Yellow Dog-managed items to menus in Canopy.
• Mobile Ordering setup
• Display Category creation
• Report Category creation
• Combo Categories
• Modifier Groups
• Modifier-to-item assignments
• User Accounts and Permissions
• Item Images
• Print Routing
• Discounts and Tenders
• Service and Delivery Fees
• Seat Mapping
• Tax Classes, Tax Groups, and Tax Rates

Existing Canopy Items

Existing Canopy items cannot be matched to Yellow Dog items when implementing a 2-Way integration.

For an existing Canopy client moving to a 2-Way setup, the existing menu items must be removed and rebuilt from Yellow Dog. Coordinate this process with your VenueNext and Yellow Dog implementation teams before deleting any items.

Item Information Sent by Yellow Dog

Yellow Dog can send the following core item information to Canopy 2.0:

• `name`
• `uuid`
• `external_ref_id`
• `price`
• `description`
• `display_name`
• `inventory_state`
• `product_sku`
• `venue_uuid`
• `discountable flag`
• `modifier flag`
• `combo_meal flag`
• `taxable flag`
• `tax_inclusive flag`
• `tax class`
• `menu_uuids`
• `item_category_uuids`

Depending on the venue’s configuration, Yellow Dog can also map the following item attributes:

• Display Categories
• Report Categories
• Main Combo Category
• Side Combo Category
• Modifier Groups
• Alcohol or 21+ flag
• Service-charge-applicable flag

Tax Configuration

Tax Classes must be created in Canopy 2.0 before they can be selected and assigned in Yellow Dog.

Yellow Dog uses the following settings when sending an item to Canopy:

• **VNTaxable**
  • Determines whether the item is taxable.
• **VNTaxClass**
  • Determines which Canopy Tax Class or Tax Group is assigned to the item.
  • A Tax Class is required when **VNTaxable** is enabled.
• **VNTaxInclusive**
  • Determines whether tax is included in the displayed item price or added to the price during checkout.

Tax Classes, Tax Groups, and their associated Tax Rates remain configured in Canopy 2.0. Yellow Dog sends the item’s taxable status, Tax Class assignment, and tax-inclusive behavior.

Important: Tax Class mapping is only supported with Canopy 2.0. Taxes may not be calculated or displayed correctly when using the current Yellow Dog sync with Canopy 1.0.

Modifier Setup

For a 2-Way integration:

• Create menu items and modifier items in Yellow Dog.
• Create the required Modifier Groups in Canopy 2.0.
• Yellow Dog retrieves the available Modifier Groups for mapping.
• Run a manual Yellow Dog sync to create or update modifier items in Canopy.
• After the items have been sent, assign the modifiers to the applicable menu items in Canopy 2.0.

Modifier-to-menu-item assignments are not completed automatically by the Yellow Dog item push.

Sync Guidelines & Best Practices

The integration uses different processes for sales data and item data.

Sales Data

Sales data is sent automatically from Shift4 Venue to Yellow Dog through Kinesis Streams.

This process does not require a manual item sync. Sales may take additional time to appear in Yellow Dog depending on the Yellow Dog sales-pull schedule and the venue’s configuration.

If a location uses Tabs, sales from those tabs may not become available to Yellow Dog until after the configured Tab Closure time.

Item Data

New and updated items are sent to Canopy by manually running the sync from the Yellow Dog Inventory application.

Follow these best practices:

• Use manual item syncs.
• Keep Auto Sync turned off unless otherwise directed by Yellow Dog.
• Review item mappings in Canopy after the first sync.
• Run item syncs during non-event hours.
• When possible, limit item pushes to once per day.
• Complete the sync at least one hour before an event begins.
• Confirm that the item information appears correctly in Canopy before opening sales.

Important: Do not run an item push while an event is occurring. The item API is connected to the venue’s terminal environment, and item pushes during an event may affect terminal sales activity.

Important Integration Limitations

The following limitations currently apply to the Yellow Dog 2-Way integration:

• Existing Canopy items cannot be matched to Yellow Dog items.
• UPC and barcode values cannot currently be pushed from Yellow Dog.
• On-hand inventory quantities are not pushed into Canopy.
• Item images cannot be pushed from Yellow Dog.
• Items cannot be removed from Canopy through the Yellow Dog API.
• Different prices for the same item by stand or menu are not supported.
• Only one retail price is sent to Canopy for each item.
• Modifier-to-menu-item assignments must be completed in Canopy.
• Matrix items are sent as individual items because matrices are not supported.
• Yellow Dog does not currently support Delivery service types.
• Item pushes cannot be performed while an event is occurring.
• Canopy 2.0 is required for Tax Class support.

Need Help?

Email: support@yellowdogsoftware.com

Portal: Yellow Dog Support Portal