How we check

How we check before telling you to act

We answer merchant questions with primary sources. We leave out announcements that do not change what a merchant should do.

What enters

A change enters only when it alters a merchant deadline, permission, supported path, cost, required action, or trustworthy interpretation of store data.

What stays out

Vendor launch language, unsourced predictions, duplicate coverage, developer changes with no merchant consequence, and metrics without a merchant question stay out. A release can be large and still require no guidance.

How a source passes

  1. Open the primary changelog, specification, policy, help page, or filing.
  2. Record the date it was checked.
  3. State exactly when the answer applies and when no action is needed.
  4. Write the Official Path, Steps, Done condition, and Stop Point when work is required.
  5. Keep the source link on the published page so the reader can verify it.

How publication is controlled

Scheduled collectors can write only to content-candidates/, which sits outside the site’s content collections. Their credentials and write permissions must exclude both published directories. A human publishes an item by moving it into the English and Traditional Chinese collections in a reviewed change. Candidate fields such as draft or reviewedDate have no publishing authority and are rejected in published files.

How published content stays current

Every published item records a Source Check. Platform Changes must be checked again within 30 calendar days. Decisions and Steps must be checked within 90 calendar days. A stale or future-dated item fails the next site build. English and Traditional Chinese entries must have matching identifiers, dates, categories, Steps, and source evidence.

How lists are ordered

The complete guidance list, answers, and steps use the original publication date. Platform changes use the date when the change took effect. This keeps a later write-up from making an older change appear new.

Automation boundary

Published content accepts Markdown only. Raw HTML is rejected. Every external link must match an exact HTTPS URL in the validated source register. Every answer states when it applies, when no action is needed, why it matters, what to do, how to know it is done, and what the result does not prove. Each answer links to evidence already declared in the article’s source list.

Registered sources

Other sources may point to a change, but they do not replace its primary source. The registered sources and planned review cadence are: