Cart - Use permalinks to pre-load the cart

Store Design

Topic summary

Cart permalinks allow pre-loading Shopify carts with specific products and quantities using URLs formatted as /cart/{variant_id}:{quantity}. The original tutorial explains this advanced technique can pre-fill checkout fields (email, shipping address) and include discount codes, though it’s unsupported by Shopify and requires technical knowledge.

Key URL patterns discovered:

  • Add to cart without redirect: /cart/add?id[]=variantid
  • Update quantities: /cart/update?updates[variant_id]=qty
  • Clear cart then add items: /cart/update?updates[variant_id]=0&updates[variant_id]=3
  • Apply discount and redirect: /cart/add?id[]=variant&return_to=/discount/code?redirect=/page

Common issues resolved:

  • Multiple query parameters require & not ? as separators
  • Must use variant IDs (not product IDs)
  • Encoding & as %26 needed when chaining parameters in return_to URLs
  • Province/state uses two-letter codes: &checkout[shipping_address][province]=NY

Unresolved questions:

  • Adding tags to orders via permalink (not currently supported)
  • Adding line item properties through URLs
  • Adding metafields
  • Applying discount codes to cart page (only works on checkout)

The discussion remains active with ongoing troubleshooting and workaround sharing.

Summarized with AI on October 31. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
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I wanted to give another mention for the app ZipLinks: https://apps.shopify.com/permalinks

One of my biggest clients is running a big radio campaign and we were able to use that app to make a short link that applied the coupon, added item to cart, tagged customer, and tagged the order. The tagging was essential so client could judge the ROI of radio campaign.

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