GateIQ user guide

GateIQ helps you display access screens on your Shopify storefront, manage memberships, schedule releases and send campaigns. Open GateIQ from Shopify admin.

Before you rely on a lock: locks control what the storefront displays. They currently do not prevent checkout. A shopper can bypass a visual gate using a direct cart link. Hiding a price or purchase button does not secure the purchase.

Start with one visual lock

1. Open the Dashboard and follow the setup checklist. Enable the app embed in Shopify's theme editor and save the theme.
2. Open Locks and create a lock. Choose a resource, enter its details and add an access condition. For an active product lock, use a specific product and login, membership or customer-tag conditions joined with AND.
3. Choose the message and display behaviour: lock screen, blur or redirect. Preview the screen, save, and check it as both a guest and an allowed shopper.
4. Add the needed theme blocks using Shopify's theme editor. For memberships, create the members page through setup and add the membership picker and portal.

Theme selectors vary. Preview your published theme on mobile and desktop before sharing a gated page. If an access screen interferes with shopping, pause that lock or turn off the affected embed/block while you review the settings.

Plans and usage

Prices are in USD. Membership prices you charge shoppers are separate from your GateIQ app subscription.

Eligible first paid subscriptions have a 14-day trial. Annual prices equal ten monthly payments. Open Billing to choose a plan and complete Shopify approval. Free and Starter do not include the admin AI tools. Custom CSS is unavailable on all plans. Removing app-name branding is not a paid-plan perk.

Locks and conditions

Use Locks to create, edit, duplicate, pause or delete a lock. Choose a product, collection, page, blog, variant, price, cart, store or URL pattern where supported. A storefront lock restricts display; a cart or product lock does not add checkout protection in this release.

The condition catalogue includes customer tags, email and domain, lifetime spend, order count, country/IP, passcode, date/time, membership, login, age confirmation, specific customers, engagement and custom expressions. Availability depends on the resource and settings. Active product locks accept only non-inverted AND rules for login, membership and customer tags, with no condition groups and at most one membership rule and one tag rule. A membership rule can select multiple allowed tiers; a tag rule can match any/all tags.

Other storefront resources can use broader condition groups. Review the generated summary and test both allowed and denied shoppers. AI drafts must also satisfy these saving restrictions. Age confirmation asks the shopper to confirm their age; it is not identity verification or a legal-compliance guarantee.

Set a per-lock denial message or redirect. A redirect can use the store default or a per-lock destination. A price lock can replace displayed prices and hide purchase buttons. It cannot stop a shopper using a direct cart URL.

Passcodes, secret links and email collection

A passcode asks a shopper to submit the configured code. Successful verification can be remembered in that browser. Repeated wrong attempts may temporarily block that shopper; other request limits still apply.

Existing secret links keep working. For new private access, use a passcode.

An email capture screen collects an email and creates a Shopify customer. It does not itself add marketing consent, lead tags or a contact to a SendGrid list. Ask for marketing permission through your normal consent flow before sending campaigns.

Lists and bulk actions

The current Locks page shows the first fetched page; its search/status/type controls filter that loaded subset. If a lock is missing, do not assume it was deleted. Bulk actions currently do not provide reliable per-lock failure totals: refresh and confirm each affected lock. Member lists have paging controls. Admin member CSV import/export and manual add-member tools are not available in this release.

Memberships and members

Open Memberships to create a free, one-time or recurring tier. Configure its price, interval, benefits, capacity, automatic customer tag and approval setting. Recurring tiers use Shopify subscription purchase options and GateIQ renewal processing. Trial settings must follow the billing interval shown in the form; an arbitrary 7- or 14-day trial on a monthly plan is not supported.

Shopify readiness is checked before purchase options can be attached. Follow the readiness message on the page; a tier in the admin is not proof that its purchase option is attached to a product. Optional restock perks also need the related app connection. Member-price discounts need a separate active Shopify discount and function; they are separate from visual lock enforcement.

Use Members to filter members, review approval requests, approve/reject them, review details and migrate eligible tiers. Approval grants the configured access; check the member's status and expiry after a change. Paid membership access follows payment and contract events. A churn score is an estimate, not a cancellation date.

The member portal shows subscription details and available management actions. Payment-method updates are unavailable with the current app permissions. Account and thank-you subscription blocks must be added through Shopify's editor before shoppers see them.

Scheduled drops

Drops require Starter or above. In Drops, choose an existing lock, create a linked lock, or use a countdown-only release. Configure the release time, optional teaser and the post-release access rule. A countdown-only drop does not lock content.

The scheduler checks every three minutes. The linked lock changes when the scheduled time is processed; a countdown can reach zero before the change appears. For a membership release, check both member and guest views. These remain visual access screens and do not restrict checkout. Launch emails require eligible customers with current email marketing consent.

Email campaigns and templates

The Email hub links to Campaigns, Templates and Providers. Use the built-in sender or connect your SendGrid/Klaviyo account. Verify the sender and send a test before a campaign. Klaviyo receives email events; configure a Klaviyo flow to deliver them. Manage mailing lists in Klaviyo. Your plan's mail/campaign limits and provider limits still apply when you connect your own account.

Choose a template or draft a campaign, select recipients, review the subject/body, and send or schedule it. Campaign recipients require live Shopify email marketing consent; unsubscribed or suppressed addresses can be excluded. An email-gate submission alone does not supply that permission.

Pro and Scale can request draft copy and subject lines. Review and edit the result. Scale also offers a send-time recommendation. A second subject splits recipients between the two subjects; it does not promise that every recipient first receives a winning subject. Delivery and open counts depend on provider events.

Settings contains member welcome and expiry reminder controls. Reminders are checked daily, rather than at an exact minute. Pro and Scale can configure a summary frequency; it is not a daily delivery guarantee.

AI, analytics and A/B tests

Review every AI rule draft before saving, including its condition values and inversion. Excluding customers with 5–10 orders requires minimum 5, maximum 10 and inversion enabled. Apply the same checks to locks suggested by store analysis.

Analytics shows access activity and filters. Pro/Scale add AI Insights, AI Copilot and Recommendations. Review outputs on those pages. Copilot asks for confirmation before creating supported resources. AI-generated copy, rules and translations should be checked before use. Estimates and suggestions do not guarantee revenue, fraud prevention or future membership activity.

Dashboard links open the pages where results can be reviewed. Accepting a saved rule suggestion records acceptance; it does not create a lock. Create or edit the lock separately. The Recommendations page previews product affinity; it does not automatically change storefront merchandising.

Personalized lock greetings and drop teasers are optional on Pro/Scale, are cached, and share the monthly AI allowance. Anonymous visitors use static messages. The related-product carousel uses your access history rather than an AI call per view. The member support-chat option requires an available support connection.

Use A/B Tests on Pro/Scale to compare lock-screen variants. Choose the lock, variants, weights and supported copy/template fields, then review the results. Winner promotion is evaluated in the background; it is not immediate or a promise of increased conversions.

Theme blocks and settings

In Settings, review General, Notifications, Lock Screen, Storefront, AI Features, Security and Language options. Placement controls affect display, not checkout. The checkout-enforcement setting cannot activate protection with the current app permissions. If a badge or hidden price does not fit your theme, change the preset or custom selectors and preview again. If Test selector reports that the storefront is password-protected, it cannot see your product cards. Remove the storefront password in Shopify, then run the test again.

Use Connections to inspect available connections to your other apps. A listed connection is not proof that the other app is installed or configured. Use API Keys for scoped integrations: Starter has live reads, Pro/Scale add writes and outgoing webhooks, and Free has test-mode keys only. Keep keys private and revoke ones you no longer use. Growth Services links to booking setup help.

Troubleshooting and help

• Lock not visible: check its status, target, theme embed and allowed/denied shopper conditions. Check for another overlapping lock.
• Customer bought a visually locked item: checkout protection is unavailable in this release. A theme lock cannot secure direct-cart purchases.
• Secret link fails: ask support to review your existing link. For new private access, create a passcode lock.
• Drop countdown finished but content is still gated: allow the scheduler to process the release, then check the linked lock and other active locks.
• Email missing: check marketing consent, campaign state, mail allowance, provider connection and suppression. Avoid sending duplicates while investigating.
• AI unavailable: check your plan, monthly allowance and Copilot daily limit. Provider availability and a global spend ceiling can also stop requests.
• Reconnect notice: reopen GateIQ from Shopify admin and complete the reconnect flow. Contact support if the notice remains.

Use the support chat in the app or email support@kernvellabs.com. Include the affected screen, theme and time; never send passwords, API keys or customer payment details.