Documentation
Practical product guides for installing Apex, building experiments, running QA, reading analytics, and using the API.
How Apex fits together
Install Apex once for the active shop, define goals, target the segments or URL rules where the experiment should run, create variants, run QA, then launch and monitor analytics. Shopify automates storefront event tracking through the app pixel; guardrails and page targeting apply to the shop regardless of platform.
Product guides
1. Install Apex
Connect Shopify, enable the app embed, and verify that the storefront loads Apex.
- Shopify stores should use the Shopify app embed. Manual snippets are fallback-only for non-Shopify sites or support-led installs.
- After connecting Shopify, open the theme editor from Installation and enable the Apex app embed.
- Verify the install from your storefront by checking for "Drip initialized" in the browser console.
2. Define goals
Goals decide what counts as a conversion for an experiment.
- Use Shopify-connected goals for checkout completed, checkout started, add to cart, product viewed, and other pixel events.
- Use the visual goal builder for click goals when you need a selector from the storefront.
- Pick one primary goal per experiment so reporting and auto-pause decisions have a clear target.
3. Define segments
Choose who can enter a test, from all PDPs to a saved custom URL segment.
- For agency-style PDP tests, prefer the All product pages segment over a single product URL.
- Use exact rules for one page, wildcard rules for groups such as all products, and regex only when the URL structure needs it.
- Segments are reusable for experiments today and will become the foundation for personalization later.
4. Build experiments
Create variants, assign traffic, set targeting, and launch only after QA.
- Use one control and one or more variants for A/B or A/B/C tests.
- The visual builder is for storefront edits; code mode is available for precise custom changes.
- Run QA from the experiment or variant flow before starting traffic.
5. QA before launch
Use QA to verify rendering, forced variants, and tracking before a test goes live.
- Open the experiment, then use the QA view or variant QA action.
- Check that the forced QA URL shows the expected variation and that nothing blocks normal navigation.
- For Shopify tests, verify add-to-cart, checkout-started, and revenue events with the connected Shopify goals.
6. Read analytics
Monitor visitors, conversions, revenue, and variation performance.
- Experiment analytics separates visitors, conversions, revenue, goal breakdowns, and time series.
- Profit analysis is optional and requires Shopify reconnect with product, inventory, and order read scopes.
- Use the active connection indicators to tell which goals are Shopify-connected.
7. Configure guardrails
Set shop-wide auto-pause defaults for experiments that inherit shop settings.
- Guardrails are not Shopify-specific. They apply to experiments for the active shop.
- Use planned tests when you will evaluate after a fixed window or sample target.
- Use sequential tests when the team expects to monitor results while a test is running.
8. Automate with the API
Use API keys and v1 endpoints for experiments, goals, variations, screenshots, and webhooks.
- Create API keys from Admin > API Keys before calling public endpoints.
- Copy the full key immediately after creation. Apex only shows the full secret once.
- Use Bearer authentication on every API request. The API base URL is app.drip-apex.com/api/v1.
- The endpoint reference below includes schemas, example cURL commands, and a request playground.
Troubleshooting
No add-to-cart or checkout-started events
Open Settings > Integrations and check that Shopify is connected, the relevant pixel events are enabled, and the goal is the Shopify-connected goal rather than a smoke-test or manual custom goal.
Profit analysis is unavailable
Reconnect Shopify from Installation or Settings > Integrations. Existing installs need to approve read_orders, read_products, and read_inventory before Apex can read product costs.
The QA URL does not show the variant
Open the experiment QA view, confirm the experiment is assigned to the URL being tested, and verify the variation has a saved mutation. If the storefront is Shopify, confirm the app embed is enabled.
A test only runs on one PDP
Change targeting from a single exact URL to the All product pages segment or a product-page wildcard so all intended PDPs are eligible.
API Reference
API for managing A/B testing experiments, variations, goals, webhooks, and screenshots.
Authentication
All API requests require a Bearer token. Create a key from Admin > API Keys, copy it once, then include that real key in every request:
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEYExisting keys only show their prefix. Generate a new key if you lost the full secret.
Base URL
https://app.drip-apex.com/api/v1This is the dashboard API base URL, not your Shopify storefront domain. Use your storefront domain only inside experiment targeting and store URLs.
Rate limited to 100 requests per minute per API key. Headers: X-RateLimit-Limit, X-RateLimit-Remaining, X-RateLimit-Reset
Experiments(12 endpoints)
Variations(5 endpoints)
Goals(5 endpoints)
Screenshots(2 endpoints)
Webhooks(3 endpoints)
Full OpenAPI 3.1 spec available at /api/v1/openapi.json