Technical Reference

The Quick Start covers doing; this page covers understanding and fixing.
It is written for the engineer or analyst who owns the site's tagging.

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How ClickMint tracking works

When a visitor lands on a page with an active experiment:

1. The ClickMint script loads from
   https://experiments.api.clickmint.com/{ORG_TOKEN}{page-path} — the snippet in the page <head>
   is its loader.
2. The script assigns the visitor to control or a variant in the browser, using a stable local
   tracking token — the same visitor keeps the same experience on return visits.
3. It applies the variant (or leaves the page untouched for control).
4. It fires exactly one cm_tracking event into your GA4 property through the page's own Google
   tag (gtag), and sets the experiment_id user property to the visitor's tracking token.
5. GA4 attaches that user property to the visitor's later events — including purchase — which is
   how ClickMint attributes conversions and revenue to the right arm.

The script sends one event per page view and nothing else. All revenue/conversion figures in the
ClickMint dashboard are read from your GA4 property via the Reporting API — ClickMint generates
none of its own. Because the event goes through your Google tag, it obeys your consent setup like
every other GA4 event (consent details).

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What gets sent

Event parameters

All eight parameters are present on every cm_tracking event.

User property

The token is a random, locally-generated identifier with an embedded creation time. No PII — full
inventory in Data Privacy & Consent.

Key event status

cm_tracking is registered as a GA4 key event via Create event → Create with code
(Quick Start 2a). The registration declares the event; the ClickMint script is
the code that sends it.

The four data rules

1. One installation. The snippet exists in exactly one place on the site.
2. One event per page view. Never re-send, forward, or copy cm_tracking with another tag —
   except the one gated GTM topology in the GTM Installation Guide.
3. Declare, never derive. Never create a condition-based GA4 "Create event" rule matching
   cm_tracking — it re-emits every event.
4. Never rename or re-map the parameters. ClickMint's reporting queries these exact names;
   remapping silently breaks the dashboard.

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The one-event rule and how to count

Every page view on an experiment page produces exactly ONE cm_tracking event. One means
trustworthy data; zero means broken measurement; two or more means every metric is inflated.

Three independent counters:

• Console: a healthy load prints one [ClickMint] Tracked: cm_tracking … line. Two lines = the
  script executed twice (double install).
• Tag Assistant: connect, open the GA4 destination (G-…), read Hits sent for one page load
  — cm_tracking once.
• GA4 DebugView: one cm_tracking per page load, carrying the parameters above, with
  experiment_id in the User properties panel.

Also confirm the script itself: the Network tab shows one request to
experiments.api.clickmint.com/… returning JavaScript.

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If you see "Experiment tracking may be incomplete or inaccurate"

The ClickMint experiment page shows this warning when the tracking it reads looks incomplete or
inaccurate, for example page views counted more than once, cm_tracking events that ClickMint did
not send, visitors whose browser blocks storage, or no tracking events at all. The warning changes
nothing about the experiment, and its figures stay on the page. Count the cm_tracking events for
one page load as described above, then work through the troubleshooting section that matches what
you counted. If the count is right and the warning stays, contact ClickMint support.

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Troubleshooting: you counted TWO

Work these in order — each is a known real-world cause.

Cause 1 — A cm_tracking "Create event" rule with a matching condition

Check: GA4 → Admin → Data display → Events → Create event → All custom events. An entry
named cm_tracking with a matching condition — most often event_name equals page_view, sometimes
event_name equals cm_tracking — was created via "Create without code". The Google tag runs the
rule in the browser and sends a copy of every matching event under the name cm_tracking, carrying
the source event's parameters and none of ClickMint's. Telltale in your reports: the cm_tracking
count tracks your page_view count and the CM dimensions read "(not set)".

Fix: delete the condition-based rule, then re-register correctly: Create event → Create with
code, key event ON, Once per event (Quick Start 2a). The "with code" form
only declares — it re-emits nothing.

Cause 2 — Two GA4 installations on the page

Check: in the console:
document.querySelectorAll('script[src*="googletagmanager.com/gtag/js"]').length — more than 1,
or a hardcoded GA4/GTM snippet in the theme plus a platform integration (e.g. Shopify's Google &
YouTube channel), means two tag stacks each deliver the same event.

Fix: keep exactly one GA4 installation. On Shopify, prefer the Google & YouTube channel and
remove hardcoded theme snippets for the same measurement ID.

Cause 3 — A GTM tag forwarding cm_tracking

Check: in GTM, a GA4 Event tag firing on a Custom Event trigger named cm_tracking (older
ClickMint setups: cm event tracking - serverless).

Fix: when any Google tag for the measurement ID processes gtag commands on the page, the
script's event already reaches GA4 — the forwarding tag doubles it. Pause/delete the tag, its
trigger, and the cm dl * variables. The only topology that legitimately needs it is the gated
exception in the GTM Installation Guide — and that topology counts zero
without it, never one.

Cause 4 — The ClickMint snippet installed twice

Check: two [ClickMint] console line sets per page load. Search the theme/templates for
experiments.api.clickmint.com and check tag managers and platform pixel surfaces for a second
copy.

Fix: exactly one installation, preferably <head>.

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Troubleshooting: page views look doubled

Symptom: GA4 shows about two page_view (and two view_item) per page load, pages per session
near 2, and the ClickMint experiment page reports page views per load near 2 or warns that tracking
may be inaccurate.

Check: two Google tag instances load the same measurement ID. In the console:
document.querySelectorAll('script[src*="googletagmanager.com/gtag/js"]').length; in the Network
tab, two /g/collect requests with en=page_view and different _p values per load. On Shopify,
look in Settings → Customer events for an app pixel whose settings hold a GA4 measurement ID
next to the Google & YouTube channel.

Fix: keep exactly one GA4 owner — on Shopify the Google & YouTube channel — and disable the
other instance's GA4 tag (the app's GA4 setting, a theme snippet, or a GTM GA4 configuration tag).
ClickMint never sends page_view; it cannot remove the duplicate for you.

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Troubleshooting: you counted ZERO

1. Script not loading — no request to experiments.api.clickmint.com in the Network tab → the
   snippet isn't on this page (Platform Install Guides).
2. Console says gtag not available, skipping tracking — the page has no Google tag the script
   can use. If GA4 lives only inside GTM (no gtag.js, no platform GA4 integration), gtag-style
   events are not delivered automatically — this is the one case for event forwarding in the
   GTM Installation Guide. After importing, re-verify: count must be exactly
   one.
3. Consent pending — a CMP that blocks GA4 until consent also blocks the event. Accept consent
   in the test browser and re-check; this is correct behavior, not a fault.

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End-to-end attribution check

1. In DebugView, note the experiment_id user property after visiting an experiment page.
2. Complete a test conversion in the same session.
3. Open that event in DebugView — the same experiment_id should be attached. That linkage powers
   per-arm conversion and revenue reporting.

⏱

Newly registered custom dimensions take 24–48 hours before the ClickMint dashboard reports

on them. DebugView is immediate.

Symptom quick table