BugHerd Setup

BugHerd puts a feedback sidebar on the storefront so reviewers can pin comments directly to the page instead of writing “the button under the hero looks wrong” in an email. The theme has built-in support — you only need the project’s API key.

Turning it on

1. In BugHerd, open Project settings → Install BugHerd.
2. Copy the API key. It’s the apikey= value in the snippet BugHerd shows you — a string of letters and numbers, not the whole <script> tag.
3. In Shopify, go to Online Store → Themes → Customize → Theme settings → BugHerd.
4. Paste the key into BugHerd API key and save.

The sidebar appears on the next page load for anyone the visibility rule below allows.

To turn BugHerd off, clear the API key field. Nothing else needs changing.

Who actually sees it

Hide from customers on the live theme is on by default. With it on, BugHerd loads only where reviewers work and customers don’t:

• the theme editor
• Shopify’s visual preview
• a shared preview link for an unpublished theme
• any time the store is still password-protected

Once the store is live and the password is off, the published storefront stops loading BugHerd — even with a valid key saved. That’s deliberate: it’s what keeps a feedback widget from greeting paying customers after launch.

Turn the checkbox off only if you genuinely need feedback collected on the live storefront, and turn it back on when the round is finished.

Settings

Setting	Type	Default	What it does
BugHerd API key	Text	Empty	The project key from BugHerd. Empty means BugHerd is off entirely.
Hide from customers on the live theme	Checkbox	On	Restricts the sidebar to editor, preview, and password-protected contexts. Off loads it everywhere, customers included.
Additional BugHerd markup	HTML	Empty	Optional escape hatch for custom BugHerd configuration. Rarely needed.

Don’t paste the whole script tag

Shopify strips <script> tags out of HTML settings. Pasting BugHerd’s install snippet into Additional BugHerd markup saves without complaint and then never loads — the field silently drops the one line that mattered.

This is why the API key has its own field: the theme builds the script tag itself, so the key is the only thing you have to get right.

It won’t slow the site down

The script loads async, so it never blocks rendering and can’t affect the page’s LCP. It also isn’t served from Shopify’s CDN — it can’t be, it has to come from BugHerd — so shopify theme check reports a RemoteAsset warning on it. That warning is expected and is not something to fix.

If the sidebar doesn’t appear

• Check the key, not the snippet. Only the apikey= value belongs in the field.
• Check where you’re looking. With the default visibility setting, a live, password-off storefront won’t load it. Use a preview link or the theme editor.
• Check you’re in the project. BugHerd only shows the sidebar to members of that project — confirm the reviewer has been invited.