How do I check whether a postback actually fired?

Check the tracker's outbound postback log — it shows the request itself, the affiliate program's response, and the status code; if there's no request in the log at all, the issue sits on the tracker side, not the affiliate program's.

Why are registrations arriving but deposits aren't?

It's usually status mapping — the tracker isn't set up to accept that specific program's deposit status, even though the registration postback already uses a status it recognizes.

What's the fastest way to test the tracker-to-affiliate-to-APEX chain?

Run one test click with a unique clickid, push it through to a conversion (or request a test postback from the affiliate program), and check the logs at every link in the chain.

What if the affiliate program says the postback was sent but the tracker shows nothing?

The problem sits with the tracker or the network — usually a wrong postback URL, a firewall or CDN block, or a domain mismatch; check those three first.

Postback Debugging: Missing Deposits

Postback debugging is what you need the moment deposits are clearly happening but your tracker or ad account stays silent. Here's a step-by-step look at where a conversion actually gets lost: clickid, the postback URL, or status mapping.

Why postbacks go missing: the usual causes

The most common cause is a clickid that never made it to the landing page, or got stripped somewhere along a redirect. After that come typos or a wrong domain in the postback URL, and affiliate statuses that simply aren't mapped in the tracker. A frequent edge case: the postback does arrive, just delayed by a hold, which gets mistaken for a conversion that's lost for good.

Tracing the clickid through the chain

Start by checking whether the clickid makes it from the ad click to the PWA — it should be visible right in the URL parameters. Next, confirm it's passed to the tracker when the user moves to the offer, and finally, that it comes back in the postback from the affiliate program. The break is usually in one specific link of that chain, and it's found by checking each step in order rather than guessing at all three at once.

Checking the postback URL and parameters

Compare the postback URL in the affiliate dashboard against what's actually configured in the tracker — domain, path, and parameters like clickid, status, and payout. Sending a manual test postback and checking the tracker's log shows whether the request arrived and what it actually contained. If a manual test postback doesn't land either, the problem is almost certainly the URL itself or a block at the network or firewall level.

Conversion statuses and mapping

Affiliate programs send different statuses — registration, deposit, hold, rejected, approved — and if the tracker isn't mapped to that specific program's statuses, a conversion can arrive without ever counting as a deposit. Hold status deserves special attention: a deposit that hasn't landed sometimes just means the affiliate program hasn't confirmed it yet, not that it's technically lost. Mixing up those two cases is a common debugging mistake.

A debugging checklist and tools

The tracker's logs (Keitaro, for instance) are the first source of truth, showing outbound postbacks and their responses. From there: test clicks with a real clickid, a log lookup for a specific clickid from the affiliate manager, and checking the whole S2S chain — tracker, affiliate program, ad network — as one path rather than link by link. APEX ships postbacks and S2S pre-wired for Keitaro-to-FB-CAPI and other networks, which removes a chunk of the typical URL and mapping errors before launch.

FAQ

How do I check whether a postback actually fired?: Check the tracker's outbound postback log — it shows the request itself, the affiliate program's response, and the status code; if there's no request in the log at all, the issue sits on the tracker side, not the affiliate program's.
Why are registrations arriving but deposits aren't?: It's usually status mapping — the tracker isn't set up to accept that specific program's deposit status, even though the registration postback already uses a status it recognizes.
What's the fastest way to test the tracker-to-affiliate-to-APEX chain?: Run one test click with a unique clickid, push it through to a conversion (or request a test postback from the affiliate program), and check the logs at every link in the chain.
What if the affiliate program says the postback was sent but the tracker shows nothing?: The problem sits with the tracker or the network — usually a wrong postback URL, a firewall or CDN block, or a domain mismatch; check those three first.

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