Why this step is required
EG runs on your storefront through a small piece of storefront code called the theme app embed. This is what loads EG's script on your storefront pages, reads your rule configuration, and adds free gifts, discounts, and other promotions to your customers' carts.
If the app embed isn't turned on, none of your EG rules will run — even if they're fully set up and marked active in the app. Activating the app embed is a one-time setup step, but it's the single most important prerequisite for EG to work, so it's worth checking any time something isn't behaving as expected.
The easiest way to activate it
EG can turn on the app embed for you and take you straight to the right spot in your theme editor.
Open the EG app and go to your home dashboard.
Find the Theme App Embed card. It shows a status badge indicating whether the app embed is active, inactive, or if its status can't currently be verified.
If the status shows the embed is inactive, click the option to activate the app embed.
Shopify's theme editor opens automatically with EG's app embed already selected.
Toggle the switch on for EG.
Click Save in the theme editor.
Return to the EG tab. The app automatically checks for the change and updates the status for you — you don't need to refresh manually.
If the status indicates EG wasn't able to confirm the embed's status on its last check, use the retry option to check again, or open your theme editor to confirm the toggle yourself. If EG still hasn't detected the activation after several automatic checks, it will show a toast message suggesting you refresh the page if the change was saved but not detected.
Manual activation (if you prefer to do it yourself)
You can also turn on the app embed directly from your Shopify admin, without going through the EG dashboard:
In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes.
On your published (current) theme, click Customize.
In the theme editor, open App embeds (usually found in the left-hand sidebar).
Find EG in the list and toggle it on.
Click Save.
Go back to the EG app and the dashboard status should update to show the embed as active. If it doesn't update right away, use the retry option on the Theme App Embed card.
New: the version-mismatch banner
If EG's Theme App Embed card shows a message saying your app is set to one version while your theme app embed is using another, this means the two are out of sync. This can happen after certain updates, or if the app embed was set up a while ago and hasn't been refreshed since.
While this mismatch exists, the embed is treated as not properly active, and EG rules may not run correctly on your storefront.
To fix it:
On the Theme App Embed card, click the option to update the app embed.
This opens your theme editor with the EG app embed selected.
Confirm the embed settings, then click Save.
Return to the EG app — the dashboard will re-check and clear the mismatch once it detects the update.
Activation is per theme
EG checks the app embed status on your published (main) theme. Keep the following in mind:
If you switch to a different theme or publish a new theme (including duplicating your current theme to test changes), you'll need to make sure the app embed is turned on in that theme too.
Activating the embed on a draft or unpublished theme won't make EG run on your live storefront — only the published theme matters.
After switching or publishing a theme, check the Theme App Embed card on your EG dashboard (or the App embeds section of the theme editor) to confirm the status.
Legacy installs: older script-tag setups
Some stores that installed EG a while ago may still have EG's script added directly into their theme code (rather than through the app embed). If this applies to your store, you'll see a control in Settings > Advanced settings that lets you remove the old script and switch over to the app embed.
We recommend making this switch when it's available to you, since the app embed is the actively supported, better-performing way to run EG on your storefront.
Troubleshooting
The dashboard still shows the embed as inactive even after I saved the toggle.
Double-check you saved changes in the theme editor itself (there's a separate Save button at the top of the theme editor — closing the tab without saving won't apply the change).
Confirm you activated the embed on your published theme, not a draft/unpublished one.
Go back to the EG dashboard and use the retry option on the Theme App Embed card, or refresh the page.
If the issue persists, try reinstalling permissions by reopening the app from your Shopify admin (this can resolve occasional permission/scope issues).
My storefront is password-protected — will that stop EG from working? EG checks the app embed status through your Shopify admin, so password protection doesn't prevent EG from detecting activation. However, if you're testing your storefront as a visitor (for example, in an incognito window), remember that pages behind the storefront password screen won't run any theme scripts — including EG's — until the password is entered. Enter your storefront password first, then test your rules.
The theme editor won't save my changes.
Make sure you're editing the theme you intend to publish, and that you have permission to edit themes on the store.
Try refreshing the theme editor and toggling the embed again.
If saving continues to fail, this is usually a Shopify theme editor issue rather than an EG one — contact Shopify support if it continues after a refresh.
I still need help. Use the Need help? link on the Theme App Embed card, or contact EG support from within the app. Include your shop domain and, if your storefront is password-protected, the storefront password so our team can check things on your live store.