Developers are troubleshooting deep links that should redirect users to activate app embeds in Shopify’s theme editor, but consistently encounter “App embed does not exist” errors.
Core Issue:
Deep links fail to auto-activate app embeds, though the theme editor opens correctly
The error appears even when the app embed is visible and manually toggleable
Proposed Solutions:
URL Structure (evolved):
Early suggestion: https://admin.shopify.com/store/${shopName}/themes/${themeEditorId}/editor?context=apps&template=index&activateAppId=${EXTENSION_ID}/${EXTENSION_NAME}
EXTENSION_ID: Auto-generated UUID found in .env file after running yarn deploy or npm run deploy
EXTENSION_NAME: The liquid file name/handle (e.g., “sidecart” for sidecart.liquid)
themeEditorId: Can use “current” for live theme
Partial Resolution:
One user resolved the issue by inspecting the app extension element in the browser and extracting the UUID directly from the inspector, rather than relying on the .env file value.
Ongoing Problems:
Multiple developers report the method still fails despite following official Shopify documentation
Works in development but may fail in production
Some suspect the issue originates from Shopify’s platform
One developer using Gadget.dev platform needs platform-specific guidance for obtaining extension details
Summarized with AI on October 29.
AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
Hi everyone!
I facing an issue with my deep link.
The link porpuse is to redirect the user from the app to activation of the app in the app embed in the theme editor so he only needs to click save in theme editor.
The link it self redirect the user to the current page but "app embed does not exist” error is shown and the activation doesn’t work.
Would really appreciate help!
themeEditorId is obtained via the admin REST API theme.json.
EXTENSION_ID is Enter Your theme app extension id.
EXTENSION_NAME is your theme app extension name.
If the solution presented meets your needs and addresses your query effectively, I encourage you to accept it as the chosen answer. This will acknowledge the support you received and aid fellow community members in identifying reliable and effective solutions for their similar concerns.
Thank you.
themeEditorId: Yes you can add the current theme id then it will redirect yours to the live theme.
EXTENSION_ID: If you are using Shopify CLI, running the npm run deploy command in your root project will create an extension ID for you in the .env file. make sure you have a .env file in your project.
EXTENSION_NAME: your extension file name.
I have made a small change to the URL to correct some minor errors. please use the below URL.
If the solution presented meets your needs and addresses your query effectively, I encourage you to accept it as the chosen answer. This will acknowledge the support you received and aid fellow community members in identifying reliable and effective solutions for their similar concerns.
Thank you.
For the extension ID and extension file name you can contact Gadget, they will provide you the extension ID and file name. After you get this detail you simply add this info to the URL and you will be redirected to the theme editor with the preselected extension.
I tried the approach mentioned in the official Shopify docs here. The URL I formed was
https://{shop}.myshopify.com/admin/themes/current/editor?context=apps&activateAppId={extn id from env file}/sidecart
The app block is located at extensionDir/blocks/sidecart.liquid. That is why I use the handle as sidecart which is what the doc mentions.
When I open the link, the current theme of the store is opened with the app embeds section selected. But it always gives me the error App embed does not exist. I can see the app embed in the list of embeds. I’m able to enable/disable manually from the link that opens and the changes are reflected properly in the store as well. But the deep link does not work.
I just fixed it!
The problem before was that I wasn’t getting the extension UUID from the URL.
Now, I inspected the app extension on the page and got the UUID from the inspector. It works just fine, and I no longer get the error I was encountering
@ophinjay@conversionist I’m experiencing the same issue with my deployed app. I even inspected the elements to confirm the UUID is correct. This method worked previously, so I suspect the problem might be on Shopify’s end.
