For staging or test environments, Pickware provides a free staging license on request. The staging license runs alongside the live license and requires an active Pickware license for the corresponding live environment. For each paid live license, there is one free staging license. It is tied to the live license and does not expire.
Please note that we do not support subfolders (e.g. www.meinshop.de/staging), only separate domains or subdomains (e.g. www.staging.meinshop.de). Shopware also recommends this approach for staging environments (see Shopware documentation: Creating the staging instance).
Depending on how your staging environment is set up, proceed as follows:
Scenario A: Clean staging setup (without a clone of the live shop)
If Pickware is not yet installed in the staging environment:
Download the Pickware extension from the Shopware Store and install it in your staging environment.
Connect the extension to the same Pickware account that your live shop is connected to. The staging domain is created automatically in your account.
As soon as the domain is visible in your Pickware account, contact Pickware Support. We will then activate the staging license for you.
Scenario B: Cloned live shop
If the staging environment is a clone of your live shop, Pickware is already installed there and linked to the live license. This link must be disconnected first before the staging license can be assigned.
In the staging environment, open Settings → Extensions → Pickware and click Disconnect. If the button is missing, update Pickware to the latest version.
Then connect the extension again to the same Pickware account that your live shop is connected to. The staging domain is created automatically in your account.
As soon as the domain is visible in your Pickware account, contact Pickware Support. We will then activate the staging license for you.
If the link cannot be disconnected via the settings, contact Pickware Support directly – we will help you reset it. To find out which error messages occur after a clone and what you can do about them, see What can I do if Pickware does not recognize my license?
You cannot mark a shop as staging yourself or delete a domain from your Pickware account. Support takes care of that.
Delete the license entry in the database of the staging environment
If disconnecting is not enough, the license entry of the live shop is still in the database of your staging environment. It is located in the table pickware_license_bundle_plugin_installation.
Attention: Delete the entry only in the database of the staging environment, never in the live shop. In the live shop, this entry links Pickware to your live license.
In the database of the staging environment, delete the entry in the table pickware_license_bundle_plugin_installation. Then connect the extension again under Settings → Extensions → Pickware via Connect now. The extension creates the entry anew in the process.
To prevent this from happening again with future clones, exclude the table pickware_license_bundle_plugin_installation when mirroring the live shop. Alternatively, back up the staging environment's table beforehand and restore it after cloning.
What to keep in mind for staging environments
APP_URL of the staging environment
In the .env or .env.local file of your staging environment, the APP_URL must match exactly the staging domain stored in the Pickware account. This also applies to the www. If the domain of your live shop is still entered there, the live shop will be linked when you connect.
The license is tied to the domain or the APP_URL, not to the IP address. If you regularly mirror the staging environment from the live shop, for example overnight, the license is not affected as long as you exclude the table pickware_license_bundle_plugin_installation.
Staging license only with an active booking in the live shop
The free staging license is only available once your live shop has an active booking. Until then, a normal 30-day trial period runs on the staging domain. It is always based on the Professional plan.
Local development environments
Local environments, for example with DDEV, do not get their own permanent license, because there is only one staging license per live license. On request, support extends the trial period of a local environment. It is therefore best to replace the local environment with the staging environment. Find out more in Why is my Pickware license not recognized in a local development environment?
Staging environment as an agency
If you manage the shop as an agency, it is best to create the staging environment in your customer's Pickware account. Alternatively, you can run your development environment with a partner license from your partner account.
Access protection of the staging environment
When connecting, the extension redirects you to account.pickware.com and then back to your staging environment. If the staging environment is secured with access protection such as a password prompt, it can block this redirect. Connecting then fails. For what you need to consider regarding access protection for the apps, see Directory protection: Connecting apps while the shop is not yet publicly accessible.
Testing the WMS App and POS App with the staging environment
If you want to test the WMS App or the POS App with the staging environment, reset the devices in the app and connect them to the staging environment. Alternatively, use separate devices for testing.