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How to Sync a Showcase

Showcases are Vimeo's premium feature for creating branded, curated collections of videos. This guide shows you how to import showcases efficiently and handle common scenarios.

What You Need​

  • Dashboard Access: Navigate to https://vimeo.trustedgpt.io
  • A Showcase URL: Format: https://vimeo.com/showcase/{showcaseid}
  • Example URL for Testing: https://vimeo.com/showcase/11708791

Basic Showcase Sync​

Step 1: Find Your Showcase URL​

Method 1: From Vimeo.com

  1. Navigate to the showcase on Vimeo.com
  2. Copy the URL from your browser's address bar
  3. Verify the URL matches the pattern: https://vimeo.com/showcase/{numbers}

Method 2: From Showcase Admin Page (If You Own It)

  1. Log into Vimeo.com
  2. Go to your showcases dashboard
  3. Click on the showcase you want to import
  4. Copy the public URL (not the admin URL)

Important: Use the public showcase URL, not admin URLs like https://vimeo.com/manage/showcases/{id}. Public URLs start with /showcase/.

Step 2: Paste URL and Select Mode​

  1. Open the dashboard at https://vimeo.trustedgpt.io
  2. Paste your showcase URL into the input field
  3. Select "Auto" sync mode (recommended for most cases)
  4. Click "Import Collection"

Why Auto Mode?

  • First time importing this showcase: Auto mode performs a Full Sync
  • Re-importing this showcase: Auto mode performs an Incremental Sync (faster, only fetches changes)

Step 3: Monitor Progress​

What You'll See:

  • Status badge changes from "Starting..." to "Running"
  • Progress bar appears showing percentage complete
  • Current video being processed displays below progress bar

Typical Duration:

  • Small showcases (5-10 videos): 30-60 seconds
  • Medium showcases (20-50 videos): 2-5 minutes
  • Large showcases (100+ videos): 10-30 minutes

What's Happening:

  1. Discovery (2-5s): Connector fetches showcase metadata and total video count
  2. Video Fetching (5-30s): Connector retrieves video details (title, description, duration, etc.)
  3. Transcript Fetching (1-3s per video): Connector checks for and downloads native transcripts

Step 4: Review Results​

When the status badge turns green with "Completed", you'll see:

Added: 5
Updated: 0
Deleted: 0
Unchanged: 0

Completed in 87 seconds

Result Interpretation:

  • Added: 5 — 5 videos were newly imported from this showcase
  • Updated: 0 — No videos had changes (only relevant on repeat imports)
  • Deleted: 0 — No videos were removed from the showcase (only relevant on repeat imports)

Advanced Scenarios​

Scenario 1: Re-Importing a Showcase (Incremental Sync)​

Use Case: You imported a showcase last week. The showcase owner added 3 new videos. You want to fetch only the new videos without re-downloading everything.

Steps:

  1. Paste the same showcase URL
  2. Select "Incremental Sync" mode (or use "Auto" which will automatically choose Incremental)
  3. Click "Import Collection"

Expected Results:

Added: 3
Updated: 0
Deleted: 0
Unchanged: 10

Completed in 25 seconds

Why It's Faster: Incremental sync only fetches transcripts for the 3 new videos. The 10 unchanged videos are skipped entirely.

Scenario 2: Forcing a Full Refresh​

Use Case: You suspect a previous import missed some content, or you want to ensure all videos are up to date (including any description/transcript changes).

Steps:

  1. Paste the showcase URL
  2. Select "Full Sync" mode
  3. Click "Import Collection"

Expected Results:

Added: 0
Updated: 2
Deleted: 0
Unchanged: 11

Completed in 95 seconds

Why Use Full Sync?

  • Previous import failed partway through
  • Showcase owner updated video descriptions or added transcripts to existing videos
  • It's been months since your last import and you want to ensure nothing was missed

Scenario 3: Large Showcase (100+ Videos)​

Use Case: You're importing a showcase with 250 videos. You want to monitor progress and understand why it's taking 30+ minutes.

Steps:

  1. Paste the showcase URL
  2. Use "Auto" or "Full Sync" mode
  3. Click "Import Collection"
  4. Don't close your browser—but closing won't stop the job (it continues on the server)

What to Expect:

  • Duration: 20-40 minutes for 250 videos
  • Rate Limiting: The connector respects Vimeo's 600 calls/10min limit (or 3600 calls/10min with Token Pool)
  • Progress Updates: You'll see the progress bar slowly increment: 0% → 5% → 10% → 15% → ...

Optimization: Enable Token Pool for 6x faster imports. See How to Set Up Token Pool.

Scenario 4: Showcase with Missing Transcripts​

Use Case: You import a showcase and discover only 3 of 10 videos have transcripts. You want to understand why and what to do.

Steps:

  1. Import the showcase using Auto or Full Sync mode
  2. Review results (e.g., "Added: 10")
  3. Check the stored data to see which videos have transcripts

Understanding Missing Transcripts:

  • The connector only fetches native Vimeo transcripts (transcripts manually uploaded by the video owner)
  • Auto-generated captions are not accessible via the API
  • Videos without native transcripts still have their metadata imported (title, description, duration, etc.)

What to Do:

  • Option 1: Contact the showcase owner and request they upload transcripts to Vimeo
  • Option 2: Accept metadata-only imports for videos without transcripts
  • Option 3: Generate transcripts externally (OpenAI Whisper, Rev.com) and manually upload to Vimeo

Checking Transcript Availability Before Import:

  1. Open a video from the showcase on Vimeo.com
  2. Play the video
  3. Look for the CC (closed captions) button in the player
  4. If CC button exists and displays captions, that video has a native transcript

Scenario 5: Showcase Import Fails​

Use Case: You click "Import Collection" and the status immediately shows "Failed" with an error message.

Common Errors and Solutions:

Error: "Invalid Vimeo URL: Resource not found"​

Cause: The showcase ID is incorrect or the showcase doesn't exist on Vimeo.

Solution:

  1. Open the URL in a browser to verify it exists
  2. Check for typos in the showcase ID
  3. Ensure the showcase is public (private showcases may not be accessible via the API)

Error: "Authentication failed: Invalid API token"​

Cause: The backend Vimeo API token is expired or invalid.

Solution:

  • Contact your administrator to refresh the API token
  • This is a backend configuration issue, not something you can fix from the dashboard

Error: "Rate limit exceeded"​

Cause: Too many API calls to Vimeo in a short time (exceeded 600 calls/10min).

Solution:

  • Wait 10 minutes and retry
  • Enable Token Pool for 6x higher capacity (3600 calls/10min)—see How to Set Up Token Pool
  • Stagger imports—if you're importing multiple showcases, space them out by 5-10 minutes

Error: "Network error: Could not connect to Vimeo API"​

Cause: Network issues between the backend and Vimeo's servers.

Solution:

Scenario 6: Cancelling an In-Progress Showcase Sync​

Use Case: You accidentally started importing a showcase with 500 videos, and you want to stop it immediately.

Steps:

  1. While the Progress Card shows "Running" status, click the Cancel button (X icon in top-right corner)
  2. Confirm the cancellation in the dialog: "Are you sure?"
  3. Status changes to "Cancelled"

What Happens:

  • Videos already processed are saved (not rolled back)
  • Remaining videos are not processed
  • You can start a new import immediately

Partial Data: If 50 of 500 videos were processed before you cancelled, you'll have data for those 50 videos. The remaining 450 are skipped.

Resuming Later: To resume, simply re-import the showcase using Incremental Sync mode. The 50 already-processed videos will be marked as "Unchanged", and the remaining 450 will be imported.

Best Practices​

Choose the Right Sync Mode​

Use Auto Mode (Default):

  • You're not sure if you've imported this showcase before
  • You want the fastest option without risking missed content

Use Full Sync Mode:

  • You're importing for the first time and want to be explicit
  • You suspect a previous import failed or missed content
  • It's been months since your last import

Use Incremental Sync Mode:

  • You're setting up automated, frequent syncs (daily/weekly)
  • You know you successfully imported this showcase recently
  • You want to minimize API usage and maximize speed

Optimize for Large Showcases​

Enable Token Pool: If you regularly import showcases with 100+ videos, set up the Token Pool feature for 6x faster throughput. See How to Set Up Token Pool.

Schedule Imports During Low-Traffic Times: If you're importing during business hours, consider scheduling large imports for evenings/weekends to avoid competing with other users for API capacity.

Use Incremental Sync for Repeat Imports: On the second and subsequent imports of a showcase, use Incremental Sync to only fetch new/updated videos.

Monitor Transcript Availability​

Check a Sample First: Before importing a large showcase, manually check 3-5 videos to see if they have transcripts. This gives you a sense of transcript availability before committing to a long import.

Accept Partial Transcripts: It's rare for 100% of videos in a showcase to have native transcripts. A 30-50% transcript rate is common and still valuable for search and discovery.

Handle Failures Gracefully​

Retry Transient Errors: Network errors and rate limit errors are usually temporary. Wait 5-10 minutes and retry.

Investigate Persistent Errors: If a showcase consistently fails to import, open the showcase URL in a browser to verify it exists and is public.

Don't Delete Failed Jobs Immediately: Failed jobs remain in the "Recent Jobs" sidebar so you can review error details. Use them to diagnose issues before retrying.

Troubleshooting​

Showcase Import Takes Longer Than Expected​

Possible Causes:

  • Large showcase (100+ videos)
  • Rate limiting (hitting 600 calls/10min cap)
  • Videos with very long transcripts (take longer to download and parse)

Solutions:

  • Be patient—large showcases can take 30-60 minutes
  • Enable Token Pool for 6x faster imports
  • Check the "Current Video" display to see which video is being processed (helps identify if it's stuck)

Some Videos Are Missing After Import​

Possible Causes:

  • Videos were added to the showcase after your import started (use Incremental Sync to fetch them)
  • Videos are private or restricted (not accessible via the API)
  • Import was cancelled partway through

Solutions:

  • Re-run the import using Full Sync to ensure all videos are fetched
  • Verify videos exist by opening the showcase URL in a browser
  • Check the results summary for "Deleted" count (videos removed from showcase)

Transcript Quality Is Poor​

Possible Causes:

  • Showcase owner uploaded low-quality transcripts (auto-generated from poor audio)
  • Transcripts are in a language that doesn't match the spoken language

Solutions:

  • Contact the showcase owner to request improved transcripts
  • Generate transcripts externally (OpenAI Whisper, Rev.com) and upload to Vimeo
  • The connector cannot improve transcript quality—it only fetches what Vimeo provides

Sync Other URL Types:

  • User Profiles, Albums, Collections, and Individual Videos follow similar workflows
  • See Your First Complete Sync for details on all five URL types

Advanced Topics:

Understand the Concepts: