Issue with App Embed Deep Link redirecting incorrectly

[waseemji]

Hi Shopify Community,

I’m currently developing an app that includes an App Embed theme extension. I’ve followed the steps provided in Shopify’s documentation for creating a deep link.

The deep link I’ve created is in this format:

https://<myshopifyDomain>/admin/themes/current/editor?context=apps&activateAppId={my_api_key}/{handle}

However, when this link is loaded, the URL parameter context=apps automatically changes to context=theme, resulting in the theme editor page loading instead of the app embed configuration.

I’ve noticed this behavior occurring with several public apps as well, which suggests this might be a bug on Shopify’s end.

Has the method for creating an App Embed deep link recently changed, or could this indeed be a Shopify platform issue?

Thanks in advance for your assistance!

[huynhmaianhkiet]

It seems you've made an error; use SHOPIFY_THEME_APP_EXTENSION_ID instead of {my_api_key}. You can find this parameter in the .env file.

[waseemji]

The docs - https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/online-store/theme-app-extensions/configuration#app-embed-block-...
tell to use api-key instead of SHOPIFY_THEME_APP_EXTENSION_ID. 

[jeffreyrobert]

This just stopped working for us too. Haven't made any code changes, stopped working yesterday (May 21, 2025). 

I noticed the docs changed and say we should use the API Key instead, I tried both but neither is working.

In the past when the deep link was incorrect, you'd see a error toast in the bottom of the screen, but in this case there's no error.

I think you're right about the issue being that the context changes from apps to theme automatically and that's preventing the deep link from working.

Shopify I really hope you can fix this quickly. We have been forced to use App Embeds which makes our UX much more complicated since merchants have to open the Theme Editor, now it's even worse with this issue and our merchants can't figure out how to get our app enabled.

[isque]

+1
The same issue is happening for us. We have tried both the old and the new format that you listed and neither is working.

[MaxKyryliuk]

We also have the same problem, so it seems that is shopify problem

[waseemji · Accepted solution]

It seems Shopify has fixed the issue. Deep linking is working fine now.