The postback tester runs an end-to-end check of an affiliate postback without waiting for live traffic. It opens the affiliate's tracking link in your browser to register a genuine click, creates a conversion on that click, and confirms whether Trackdesk delivered the postback to the affiliate's tracking platform.
Use it when you set up a new affiliate postback, change an existing one, or need to prove to an affiliate that conversions are being sent correctly. A run takes under a minute and shows which of the three stages failed when something is wrong.
Where to find the postback tester
Navigate to Affiliates → Affiliate postbacks and click the postback you want to check. In the detail panel that opens on the right, click Test postback.
The Test postback button appears only if your role can create conversions and change conversion statuses. The test creates a real conversion and then flips it to Test, so it needs both permissions. If you don't see the button, ask your account owner to adjust your role.
Before you start
The tester needs a few things in place to complete a run:
A tracking link belonging to the tested affiliate. The postback fires only for the affiliate it was created for, and the modal reminds you which affiliate ID that is.
Pop-ups allowed for your Trackdesk domain, since starting the test opens the tracking link in a new browser tab.
An offer the postback covers, either included in its offer scope or absent from its exclusion list.
Running a test
The tester walks you through two setup steps and then runs the test automatically.
Step 1: Tracking link
Fill in the affiliate's tracking link, or any page that redirects to it. Trackdesk follows the redirects your browser makes, so a link that passes through the affiliate's own tracking platform works as well. Click Continue to move on.
Step 2: Conversion
Choose what the test conversion should look like. Only the values covered by this postback are offered, so whatever you pick here will match its configuration:
Conversion type: the event to trigger, for example Sale, Lead or Registration. The list contains only the conversion types selected on this postback.
Conversion status: the status the conversion is created with. The list contains only the statuses selected on this postback.
Conversion value: optional base amount used to calculate revenue and payout from the offer's pricing. Leave it empty to let the offer's own settings decide.
Mark conversion as Test after the postback test: enabled by default. Once the run finishes, the conversion is switched to the Test status so it stays out of your reports, commissions and payouts.
The Review box above the checkbox summarizes the type, status and value that are about to be sent. Click Start test. The tracking link opens in a new browser tab and the tester switches to the progress view.
Reading the results
The test runs in three stages, each shown as its own row with a status label: RUNNING, DONE, FAILED or SKIPPED.
Click created
Trackdesk waits up to 60 seconds for the click from the tab it opened, matching it to your browser and to the tested affiliate. When it arrives, the row shows the click identifier (CID) and the tracking link used.
Conversion created
The conversion is created against that click with the type, status and value you chose. The row shows the conversion ID, type and status.
Postback fired
Trackdesk waits up to 30 seconds for the postback to be sent to the affiliate's platform, then reports the outcome: the HTTP response code the affiliate's server returned, the exact URL that was called, and a View postback log link to the full request and response detail.
This stage is marked SKIPPED when the offer changed the conversion status during creation. An on-hold period or a quality control rule can put the conversion into a different status than the one you selected, and postbacks are scheduled for the final status only, so nothing was sent. The row tells you which status the conversion ended up in.
When you're done, click Run another test to start over with new values, or Close to leave the tester.
Troubleshooting
The browser blocked the new tab
Allow pop-ups for your Trackdesk domain in your browser settings and start the test again. The tab has to open in the same moment you click Start test, so pop-ups cannot be permitted retroactively for a run that already failed.
No click was registered from the opened tab
The tracking link opened but no click reached Trackdesk within 60 seconds. Check that:
The link belongs to the affiliate this postback was created for. A link from a different affiliate produces a click the tester won't match.
The link actually redirects through to the landing page. Open it manually in a new tab and watch what happens.
No ad-blocker, privacy extension or corporate proxy is stopping the redirect.
The offer in the link is one the postback covers.
The conversion could not be created
The error message on the second row comes straight from conversion creation and names the reason, for example that the affiliate isn't approved for the offer, or that the conversion type isn't available on it. Fix the underlying setup and run the test again.
No postback fired within 30 seconds
The conversion exists but no postback was scheduled for it. The most common cause is the conversion status being hidden from affiliates, because postbacks are only sent for statuses your affiliates can see. Navigate to Settings → Affiliates → Data visibility and check the Conversion status visibility configuration for the status you tested.
Also confirm the offer used in the tracking link is inside the postback's scope, and that the conversion wasn't moved to a different status than the one you selected.
The partner responded with an HTTP error
Trackdesk delivered the postback but the affiliate's platform rejected it. Click View postback log on the third row to see the full URL, headers and response body, then share those details with the affiliate. You can find the same records under Tools → Postbacks tracking log. Read more about it in Affiliate Postback Tracking Log.
What the test leaves behind
A test run creates real data: one click, one conversion and the postback record. With Mark conversion as Test after the postback test enabled, the conversion is switched to the Test status as soon as the run finishes, which keeps it out of reports, commissions and affiliate payouts. The click itself remains in your click data. Changing a status also triggers postbacks, so if this postback includes Test among its conversion statuses, a second postback is sent when the conversion is marked as test. Both requests appear in the postback log.
💡 Keep in mind: if you clear the checkbox, the conversion stays in the status you selected and counts towards your affiliate's commissions like any other conversion. Clear it only when you deliberately want a live conversion.
For setting up affiliate postbacks in the first place, see Affiliate Postbacks.