GearBox/.planning/todos/pending/2026-04-10-add-manufacturer-entity-with-brand-details.md

created, title, area, files

created	title	area	files
2026-04-10T09:23:46.394Z	Add manufacturer entity with brand details	database	src/db/schema.ts src/server/services/global-item.service.ts

Problem

The manual item adding form doesn't include detailed manufacturer info. Currently brand is just a text field on items and globalItems. There's no structured manufacturer data (logo, website, country, description). Users can't select from existing manufacturers — they type freeform text which leads to inconsistencies ("Ortlieb" vs "ORTLIEB" vs "ortlieb").

Solution

Create a manufacturers table with fields: id, name (unique), logoUrl, websiteUrl, country, description, createdAt. Add a manufacturerId FK on globalItems (and potentially items). Build a manufacturer picker component (like CategoryPicker) with search and inline create. Update the manual add form and catalog enrichment to use the manufacturer entity. This is a significant feature — likely needs its own phase.

Note: This would also improve the MCP agent seeding workflow — agents could create manufacturers first, then reference them when creating catalog items.