Getting started
What is Snapty
Snapty is version history for your Shopify theme. It takes a full copy of your live theme's files on a schedule, shows you exactly what changed between any two
6 min read
The problem it exists for
Shopify stops updating your theme without telling you
What Snapty does about it
You can see what changed
Every recording can be compared with the one before it, or with your theme as it is right now. Files that were modified, added or deleted are listed by name, and you can read the exact lines that differ.
You have a way back
Any recording can be restored: a single file, or the whole version. Restoring a whole version makes an unpublished copy of the theme with the recorded files put back, for you to check and publish yourself. Nothing goes live unless you publish it.
New code stops going into theme files
The Code Vault delivers tracking scripts, CSS and markup through a Shopify app embed instead of a theme file. Code in the Vault survives a theme update, and survives switching to a different theme entirely.
What Snapty is not
- Not a backup of your whole store. It records your live theme's files, and nothing else — no products, no orders, no customers.
- Not an editor. Snapty reads your theme; it writes only when you ask it to restore something.
- Not a theme updater. It does not update your theme for you.
Key concepts
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Live theme | The theme your customers see — the one Shopify marks as published. Snapty records this theme and no other |
| Recording | A point-in-time record of every file in your live theme: each file's path and a fingerprint of its contents. What you compare against, and what you restore from. The app also calls it a snapshot — same thing |
| Baseline | Your first recording of a theme, taken the day you install — or the day you publish a different theme. The point every later change is measured from. It records the theme as it was found, edits and all |
| Check | One scheduled run: Snapty resolves which theme is live, reads its files, compares them with the last recording, and decides whether anything changed. A check that finds nothing writes no new recording — but the run is logged |
| Snippet | A piece of code you store in the Code Vault — a script, a stylesheet, or a fragment of markup — delivered to your storefront through an app embed, outside your theme files |
Which theme Snapty watches
Your live theme, and only your live theme
- Why only one. Shopify sends no notification when a theme file is edited. The only way to know is to read the theme and compare, and that read has a cost. Snapty spends it on the theme your customers are looking at. This is what the app does today — not a limit on your plan, and there is nothing to upgrade to.
- Re-checked every time. "Live" is not a fact Snapty stores and trusts. On every check it asks Shopify which theme is published right now. If you published a different theme five minutes ago, the next check follows it.
- When you publish a different theme. Nothing is lost. The old theme's timeline stays, marked as no longer your live theme, with the date its history ends. A new timeline starts for the new theme, beginning with a fresh baseline.
- If a watched theme is deleted from Shopify. Its recordings survive and stay readable. What you lose is restoring from them — both restore shapes need the theme, and there is nothing left to write into or copy from.
- If Snapty cannot find a published theme. It has nothing to record. The History screen says so rather than showing an empty list, and the next check asks again.
What Snapty never does
| Never | |
|---|---|
| Publishes a theme | There is no button, no setting and no code path that publishes. A restored copy arrives unpublished; you publish it in Shopify's own theme editor, or you do not |
| Deletes a file from a theme | Not during a restore, not during anything else. Restoring puts files back and removes nothing — which is why a restored copy is not a perfect replica of the recording |
| Writes to your live theme, except in one case | A single file that you named and confirmed on screen. Everything else targets an unpublished theme. Before that one write, Snapty records your live theme first, and if it cannot, the restore does not run. Live is never the preselected option |
| Gives you your theme's files | No export, no archive, no way to take a theme's contents out of Snapty. Your recordings are readable inside the app and restorable into your own store |
| Tells you who changed a file | Shopify does not record who edited a theme file — not for apps, not for staff, not for developers. Snapty tells you what changed and when it was first seen, and never shows a name, an app, or a "probably" |
What Snapty reads
Common questions
Does Snapty change my theme when I install it?
Why does Snapty ask for permission to write to my themes?
Can Snapty publish a theme by accident?
How often does Snapty check my theme?
My History has not changed in two weeks. Has Snapty stopped?
Can I record a theme that is not live?
Does Snapty see my customers' data?
Do I have to use the Code Vault?
Is Snapty free?
Last updated