Drop Day Checklist - Documentation

Use this checklist every time you run a protected drop. It covers what to set up in advance, what to verify before you go live, and what to monitor on the day.

1–2 weeks before

Create your policy in FairDrop and configure the rules for this drop
Consider running the new policy in Monitor mode first — block decisions appear in the Events log but no buyer is actually blocked
Apply the policy to the correct products and variants
Confirm the Cart Gate app embed is enabled in your theme editor — go to Online Store → Themes and click App embeds
Check that the dashboard shows a "Functions active" badge
If you're using VIP tags, verify your loyalty or email platform is writing tags to Shopify customer records — many sync nightly rather than in real time

24 hours before

Switch the policy from Monitor to Hard block
Place a test order using a customer account that meets all your rules — confirm it goes through
Place a test order with an account that should be blocked — confirm checkout is stopped with a clear error

Drop day

Monitor the Events log in real time — each blocked checkout is recorded with the rule that fired
Keep an eye on legitimate complaints in support channels — a real buyer blocked unexpectedly can usually be resolved by checking their account tags or login state
Do not disable the policy mid-drop unless you have a confirmed false-positive issue — use Monitor mode as a fallback

After the drop

Review the Events log — compare blocked count against total checkout attempts to assess bot pressure
If you used Monitor mode only, review the would-have-been-blocked events and decide whether to enable Hard block for the next drop

Pro tip

You can duplicate a policy from the Policies list and rename it — useful when running the same rules across multiple drops.