Differences What has changed since the copy, here and there?
After two weeks nobody remembers how test environment and live shop differ. The comparison reads both and shows what has changed since the copy, with the side it happened on.
A run that only reads.
"Start comparison" and "Compare again" start a run in the run window; the result is in the tab afterwards. That works once the staging environment is built and no other run is open.
The head names the number of differences since the copy, when the comparison ran and how old the copy is.
Four tiles count where something changed: "In the staging environment", "In the live shop", "On both sides" and "Side unclear". A click filters the lists to it.
The search finds names, paths and keys.
A result older than the copy is no longer shown, because it says nothing about today's copy.
Four lists and what is hidden.
Shopware version, plugins, apps, themes and saved settings, for all sales channels and per channel. What is equal is not listed.
Changed, new and deleted records by kind, with names instead of IDs. Expanding shows the changed fields with both values. Up to 1,000 records per table are listed one by one, the rest is counted.
The content of every file, without caches, logs, credentials and excluded folders. A text file up to 2 MB is shown line by line.
Tables, views, triggers, procedures, functions and events. Expanding shows the differing column, index or foreign key.
What the setup set, what Shopware writes while running, file permissions alone, plus what the comparison never reads, such as .env and key files.
Knowing what to carry over to the live shop.
An agency sets up a new theme in the staging environment, changes three settings and creates a shopping experience. Before you repeat that in the live shop, the comparison shows each of these changes, and which orders and products changed in the live shop meanwhile.
Nothing is carried over by itself: the comparison is the list you work from. What it leaves out as well you set in the plugin settings, card "Comparison": "Exclude table contents", such as log tables, and "Exclude directories", by default public, var, vendor and files/media.
What shop owners ask about it.
Does the comparison carry changes over into the live shop?
No. It only reads both sides and changes nothing, neither the live shop nor the staging environment. It shows you what to carry over by hand, item by item, with the side it happened on.
Can I see what my agency changed in the copy?
Yes. The tile "In the staging environment" filters the lists to what changed there: updated plugins and settings, edited records with both values per field, changed files line by line and differing table structures.
Are passwords shown?
No. Secret values such as passwords and tokens are compared but never shown. Files like .env, auth.json and key files are never read.
What does not count as a change?
What the staging environment set during setup (addresses, staging flag, anonymized columns), what Shopware writes while running, and file permissions alone. "Show hidden ones" brings these entries into the lists.
More about the plugin
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Setting up
The assistant in seven steps, the preflight and the first build.
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What gets copied
Which files and tables come along, what stays empty and how rebuilding, refreshing and tearing down work.
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Anonymization
The rule set, the replacements per column, the preview and the record of every build.
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Protection and access
Password page, IP addresses without a password, default user, credentials and maintenance mode.
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Emails and calls
Four ways for emails, three for calls from apps and webhooks, plus scheduled tasks and analytics.
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Services and plugins
Search, Redis, queue, reverse proxy and plugins: what the copy shares with the live shop.
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Schedule and automation
Schedule, lifetime with reminder, Flow Builder and console commands.
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Hosting and server
What gets written on the server, Apache, nginx, an address of its own, database privileges and SFTP.
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Comparison with the standard
What Shopware does itself with system:setup:staging and what the plugin adds.
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Pricing
What a staging environment costs, monthly or yearly, and what each plan includes.