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Live with caveats. This area is real and usable, but the docs intentionally call out operational or UX limits that still matter.

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Goal

Promote exactly what was reviewed in preview while enforcing production credentials, TLS, health, and expiry gates.

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Prerequisites

  • A verified production storefront target
  • A running, unexpired preview from a successful build
  • A production HTTPS URL

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Workflow

1
Open the branch preview on its generated StackShift HTTPS URL and complete application and checkout testing.
2
Confirm the preview is still active, running, unexpired, and associated with a successful immutable build.
3
Submit its preview ID from the Shopify project promotion control or API.
4
StackShift deploys the exact image digest with production credentials and production domains; it does not rebuild source.
5
Wait for the promotion release to become healthy before considering the preview live.

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You do not need to buy a domain to test

Development and preview testing work on generated StackShift HTTPS hostnames. The store’s *.myshopify.com identity is also already available and is used only for Shopify API calls. A custom domain is optional. For final promotion, the production URL must be HTTPS. A StackShift-managed hostname satisfies this gate. If the URL uses an external custom hostname, that domain must belong to the project and show verified DNS plus active SSL in StackShift.

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Immutable image gate

  • The preview must reference a successful build owned by the same project.
  • The build must have an image URI and a valid sha256:<64 lowercase hex> digest.
  • The preview image must match either the build image or that image pinned to the recorded digest.
  • Promotion deploys <repository>@<digest> and records a version named stackshift-preview-<preview UUID without hyphens>.

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Failure handling

  • Only one active storefront promotion is allowed per connection.
  • The production credential and TLS gates run before deployment.
  • A production deployment record is activated only after the runtime deploy succeeds.
  • If promotion fails after replacing a runtime, StackShift attempts to restore the prior active deployment.
  • If no prior deployment exists or rollback fails, the release is degraded and requires manual operator attention.

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Expected result

Production runs the exact digest reviewed in preview, under production credentials and HTTPS routing, with a durable promotion release record.

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Common failures

  • Preview is stopped, expired, or no longer active
  • Preview build metadata is missing or image references do not match
  • Production target is not verified
  • Production URL is not HTTPS
  • Custom domain DNS or SSL is not active
  • A promotion is already queued or running

Configure Shopify storefront hosting

Connect Hydrogen or a confirmed Node storefront, obtain Storefront API credentials, isolate targets, and verify Shopify access.

Storefront cache, analytics, and Shop Pay

Configure commerce-safe caching, inspect storefront traffic and checkout redirects, and gate optional Shop Pay activation.

Shopify security and troubleshooting

Credential storage and isolation guarantees, launch-check interpretation, stable failure codes, and a production diagnosis sequence.