The most common support question we get isn't about Shabbat times. It's "I installed the app, is it actually working?" Two things have to be true for Shabbify to close a store: the app embed has to be on in the live theme, and Shopify's checkout rule has to be active. Both live outside the app, in the theme editor and in Shopify's checkout settings, and until now the setup guide could only ask you to confirm you'd done them.
Now it checks.
The setup guide verifies itself
With the read_themes permission (which Shopify asks you to approve when you next open the app), Shabbify reads your published theme's settings and templates and reports:
- whether the Shabbify app embed is on, off, or has never been turned on;
- whether a Shabbify block (text banner, contact form or cart warning) is placed in the theme.
The "Turn on the app embed", "Show shoppers you're closed" and "Check your store" steps tick themselves off when the check passes. If you open the theme editor from the app and come back, the guide re-checks on its own. There's also a Check again button.
If the embed is off while Shabbify is switched on, the Home page says so with a warning, because that's the one state where you'd expect the store to close and it quietly wouldn't.
If you haven't approved the new permission yet, the app falls back to a lighter check that needs no permission at all, and tells you when it couldn't be sure.
The checkout rule turns on by itself
Blocking checkout properly means Shopify itself refuses the order, not just a button being hidden on the page. That takes a checkout rule in your Shopify settings. Previously you had to add it by hand, in six steps.
Now Shabbify creates and activates the rule for you when it's installed, and if it's ever missing or disabled, the app shows a one-click Turn on checkout blocking button. The setup step for the rule is driven by its real state in Shopify: ticking it by hand can't hide a rule that's off. When cart or checkout blocking is configured but the rule is off, the message is blunt: Checkout is NOT blocked during Shabbat.
An activity log you can read
The activity log was a list of technical strings. It's now a timeline grouped by day, with filter tabs for closures, settings, messages and problems, and a summary strip showing the last time the store was closed or reopened by hand and how many problems there were in the last 30 days.
Routine entries, like the daily refresh of Shabbat times, are folded away by default so the things you care about stand out: Closed for Shabbat, Reopened, Settings saved, Holidays generated for 2027.
Set up by us, if you prefer
Not everyone wants to go through the theme editor. The setup guide now has a Request managed setup form. Tell us how to reach you and in which language, and the Stronger eCommerce team sets Shabbify up on your store. You get a confirmation email, and the request is logged in your activity log.
Why this matters
A store that looks set up but isn't will sell on Shabbat, and you won't find out until Sunday. Everything above exists so that the app tells you before Friday, instead of you finding out after.