Your live store, cloned into staging. Kept in sync.
Test themes, apps and launches on a real copy of your store — not on your customers. One click copies your catalog and content into staging; syncs keep it current. Opening a store for a new market? Copy into it too.
- Production is only read
- Customers & orders never copied
- Backup before any delete
Three steps to a staging store you can trust
No CSV exports, no spreadsheets, no rebuilding by hand.
Pair your stores
Install the app on Production and on staging. Each side confirms the other with a pairing code — nothing connects on one store's word alone. The receiving store says whether it's a test store or an expansion store.
Clone in one click
Choose what to copy and whether to remove staging-only records. The clone runs in the background with live progress and resumes if interrupted.
Sync when Production changes
Preview what changed, then sync — by hand on every plan, on a schedule on paid plans, or live on Agency.
See every change before it happens
A sync only updates records that changed in Production and not in staging. If something was edited in both, it's a conflict — and you decide.
- Creates, updates and conflicts, listed before anything is written.
- Staging-only records are kept by every sync.
- Everything stays connected — products stay in their collections and menu links point to the right pages in staging.
Everything a staging store needs. Nothing it shouldn't have.
Copied
- Products & variants
- Collections
- Metafields
- Content entries (metaobjects)
- Files & media
- Pages & blogs
- Navigation menus
- URL redirects
- Discounts
- Markets & translations
- Shipping & subscriptions
- Locations & inventory
- Live theme + up to 5 other themes, as unpublished copies (coming soon, once Shopify approves theme access)
Never copied
- Customers
- Orders
- Draft orders
Your shoppers' personal data stays in Production. Staging is for building and testing, not for storing customers' details.
Apps and the settings only Shopify can change (currency, taxes, payments, the Shopify plan) can't be copied by any app — after the clone, Cartsella Studio lists which apps to install and which settings differ.
Finish what no app can copy
Some things only you can do in Shopify. Each run's page tells you exactly what's left, so staging behaves like Production.
Apps to install
The apps your copied theme uses and the apps behind your subscriptions and pre-orders, with a link to each App Store page. Install them, then check again.
Store settings check
Currency, taxes, express checkouts, customer accounts, time zone, languages, markets and more, compared side by side — with where to change each difference.
Your themes (coming soon)
Once Shopify approves theme access: the live theme plus up to 5 drafts or seasonal themes, each arriving unpublished as “(from Production)” and refreshed by every clone.
Backup you can open
Staging-only records removed by a clone can be restored in one click, or exported as a Matrixify .xlsx file to open in Excel.
Opening a store for a new market? Start from a copy.
Copy your live store into another live store — a new region or a second brand — instead of rebuilding it by hand. The new store gets your catalog and content; nothing syncs afterwards, so each store goes its own way.
- The new store decides — its own owner chooses “An expansion store” when entering your pairing code.
- Copies only — no syncs, schedules or continuous sync, ever. Clone again whenever you want a fresh copy.
- Same safeguards — your live store is only read, customers and orders stay put, and nothing is removed without a backup.
Expansion store copied
A test store clones and syncs; an expansion store only receives copies.
Designed so you can't break your live store
Read-only Production
Clones and syncs only read from Production. They cannot write to it.
Backup before delete
Staging-only records are removed only after a backup, and only for types that copied without a single failure. Restore them in one click.
Conflict detection
Syncs never silently overwrite work done in staging.
Full audit trail
Every write is recorded. Themes are never published automatically.
Clone & sync questions
What happens to records that only exist in staging?
When you clone, you choose: remove them so staging mirrors Production (a backup is taken first), or keep them. A sync always keeps them.
Will a sync overwrite work I did in staging?
No. A sync only updates records that changed in Production and not in staging. If a record changed in both, it's shown as a conflict for you to resolve.
Is my theme published on the staging store?
Never automatically. Theme copies are coming soon, once Shopify approves theme access: your live theme will arrive as an unpublished theme, refreshed on every clone, and you publish it when you're ready.
How long does a clone take?
It depends on the size of your store and the speed limits Shopify sets for apps. Clones run in the background with live progress and resume where they left off if interrupted.
Can I use a development store as staging?
Yes. Any Shopify store where you can install apps works as the staging store.
Can I copy my store into a new store for another market?
Yes. Pair it as an expansion store: the new store's owner chooses that when entering your pairing code. It receives clones only — nothing syncs, so each store can change on its own. Your live store is only read, and customers and orders are never copied.
Are my apps copied too?
No app can install another app: Shopify asks you to approve each install in that store. After a clone, “Apps to install” lists the apps your theme and subscriptions rely on, with links to their App Store pages. The data apps keep in product fields and content entries is copied with your products.
Can I see what a clean-up removed?
Yes. Every record removed from staging is backed up first. “Restore removed records” brings them back, and “Export backup (.xlsx)” saves the products, pages, blog posts and redirects as a Matrixify file you can open in Excel.
Step by step: how to create a Shopify staging store. More on the blog: how your live store stays safe and copying a live store into an expansion store.
Stop testing on your live store.
Get a staging store that matches Production — and keep it that way.
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