Test store

Use a test store to preview changes before you make them live on your customer-facing store. For example, set up a new Menu or build a Content Block in the test store first, check how it looks, then repeat the change on your live store.

StoreConnect allows unlimited storefronts, so a test store is just another Store record on a path of its own.

Before you begin

A test store is publicly reachable by anyone who knows its URL. It is not password protected or access restricted. Choose an unguessable path if the work in progress should stay private, and see stealth mode if you also need to keep it out of search results.

Create the test store

1. Go to the Stores list in the StoreConnect Config app.
2. Click New.
3. Set the Name to My Test Store.
4. Set the Path to my-test-store. This creates a store on your default store domain under /my-test-store. To make the path harder to guess, use something like some1231203irandom23140812038path instead.
5. Save the record.

Visit the test store

1. On the Store record you just created, go to the Store Information section.
2. Click the link in the Preview Store field.
3. Confirm the test store loads and is separate from your live store. It has its own menus and content, and nothing you change here affects the live store.

Preview Store is the reliable way in. It uses the Store Domain Name on the store record, which StoreConnect fills in from Site Base URL when you leave it blank, and falls back to Site Base URL plus the path when there is no domain. Reading the two fields together tells you the store’s real address, for example https://p-yourorgname-00d5a000000srltabe.herokuapp.com/my-test-store.

:::tip A test store is also the safest place to try changes driven by an AI agent, since nothing the agent does reaches your live store. See build on StoreConnect using AI agents. :::

Find your Site Base URL

Your Site Base URL is where your site lives when you first install StoreConnect. It looks like p-yourorgname-00d5a000000srltabe.herokuapp.com for production installs, or s-yourorgname-00d0c000000oiftewr.herokuapp.com for sandbox installs.

You usually set up a custom domain name for a live store, but a test store does not need one.

1. Go to the StoreConnect Setup page in the StoreConnect Config app.
2. Read the value in Site Base URL.

:::warning A new Store record with Store Domain Name left blank takes its domain from Site Base URL. If someone has pointed that setting at your live public domain while setting your store domain, a new test store becomes reachable on your customer-facing domain. Set Store Domain Name on the test store yourself to avoid that. :::