Explain what's missing: guidance for incomplete passports

Where to find it

1. Open the passport in the editor and go to Review & publish.
2. If anything still blocks publishing, the step shows a banner like "3 fields still needed to publish" and lists the missing fields as jump links.
3. Below that list, click Explain what's missing. The dialog "How to complete this passport" opens.

The button only exists while something is missing — at "All required fields are complete — you're ready to publish." it disappears, because its job is done.

What it covers

The dialog has one entry per missing publish-required field — the same set the completeness meter counts, including the GTIN once you're heading for publish (see Completeness and validation for how that set is determined). Each entry answers three questions:

• What it is — a plain-language definition. For GTIN: "The GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) is the unique product number encoded in your barcode."
• Why it's needed — the regulatory or practical reason the field is required.
• How to get it — where the data typically lives: your barcode, your tech pack, supplier declarations, test reports.

Where an authoritative external source exists, the entry links to it as Official guidance — the GTIN entry, for example, points to GS1, where you obtain one if you don't have it.

Built-in guidance, not AI generation

This assistant doesn't call an AI model. The set of publish-required fields is fixed per product category, so the guidance is curated once, localized into all eight languages, and shown instantly — the same field always gets the same explanation. That makes it different from the editor's other assists in three practical ways: it's immediate, it never varies, and it doesn't count toward your organization's AI usage allowance (which the green claim rewriter and care symbol suggester share).

There's also nothing to apply: the dialog is purely informational. Filling the fields stays in your hands.

When to use it vs just reading the list

The missing-fields list on the Review step already tells you which fields are needed and jumps you to each one — if you know what "Substances of Concern" means and where to find yours, that list is all you need. Reach for Explain what's missing when a field name alone doesn't tell you what to do: when you don't know what counts as a substance of concern, where a GTIN comes from, or why a country of manufacture is required at all. For planning data collection across your whole catalogue before you're in the editor, our guide on what data to collect for a DPP covers every data point in depth.

If the Review step says you're ready but the Publish button still won't cooperate, the blocker is something else — Why can't I publish my passport? walks through every cause.