In Odoo, the "Never" option for variant creation is used in scenarios where a product has attributes, but you don't want to create separate product variants for those attribute combinations. Instead, the attributes are only used for informational purposes or customization during the sale without requiring a distinct inventory or product management for each combination.

Use Cases for "Never"

1. Customizable Products Without Inventory Tracking:

   - For products where attributes describe customizations but don't impact inventory management, like engraving text, gift wrapping options, or personalized notes.

2. Simplifying Inventory Management:

   - When you don't need to track stock levels, costs, or availability per attribute combination.

3. One off Configurations:

   - For products configured at the time of sale without predefined variants.

   - Example: Custom-built PCs where the components are selected at checkout.

By setting variant creation to "Never," you allow attributes to influence the sales process without affecting inventory, costing, or product variant records.

It's a very old thread, but are there any options for "Manually"?

I could have four attributes, where not all combinations are valid.
If all variants are created automatically, then I need to manually delete all the unwanted ones.
Sometimes it would be easier to create only the variants that I need manually, or have some include/exclude rules like we have in most PIM's.

For example, I could have a fabric category and fabric color category.

The easiest way would be, if I could go to the settings -> attributes and you could bind some attributes together there (Fabric "Nomad" could have Fabric Colors "Green", "Blue" and Fabric "City" could have Fabric Colors "Grey", "Black"). But if there is no such functionality, then the second best thing would do if I can create the combinations manually on product level.