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Shared server-side GTM

A serverless tagging endpoint on your own hostname that speaks the GA4 wire format. Point gtag or GTM at it and PixelFox does the server-side sending.

A shared container is a server-side tagging endpoint that PixelFox runs for you. There is no server to create and nothing to scale: you claim a hostname, point Google Tag Manager or gtag at it, and every hit arrives in PixelFox as if the tag had sent it. From there it runs through the same pipeline as every other event: identity, fan-out to every destination you connected, and browser-to-server event_id deduplication.

Shared containers are included on every plan. Use one when your measurement already lives in gtag or a GTM web container and you want Meta, TikTok, GA4 and the other PixelFox destinations fed server-side without building a GTM server container. If you need your own server container, with its tags and preview mode, see Dedicated server-side GTM.

Set up

  1. Dashboard → your site → sGTM hosting. Choose Shared, give the container a name, optionally type the hostname you want to use (ss.yourstore.com), and press Create container. It is active at once, with a free default hostname of the form <id>.sgtm.pixelfox.app.

  2. Add the CNAME for your own hostname, DNS-only:

    ss.yourstore.com   CNAME   connect.pixelfox.app

    The dashboard shows the exact record under DNS — required for a custom host. The certificate is issued on the first request after the name resolves, so the first hit after a DNS change may take a few extra seconds. You can claim more hostnames later with Add hostname.

  3. Point gtag or GTM at it. The container card shows the value under Point gtag / GTM at:

    // gtag.js
gtag('config', 'G-XXXXXXXXXX', { server_container_url: 'https://ss.yourstore.com' });

    In a GTM web container, set the Google tag's Server container URL field to the same address. Or import the GTM container template pixelfox-web-sgtm.json, which presets this and the shared event_id that deduplicates browser and server events.

  4. Fire a test event and watch it land in Events → Live explorer.

What arrives, and how it is read

The endpoint accepts any GA4 transport hit, sent by gtag, a GTM web container or your own code. The hostname identifies your site, so no API key is needed on the page.

GA4 parameterWhat PixelFox makes of it
enThe event name. view_item becomes view_content and begin_checkout becomes initiate_checkout, so one funnel vocabulary covers every integration; the original name is kept as $ga_event.
cid, uidThe visitor id and, when set, the user id.
ep.event_idThe deduplication id. Send the same value to your browser pixels and each conversion counts once. Without it PixelFox mints one.
epn.value, ep.currencyConversion value and currency.
dl, dt, drPage URL, title and referrer.
user_data.*Email, phone, name, city, region, postal code and country, used as match keys.
other ep.* and epn.*Kept as event properties, verbatim.

A batch may carry up to 20 events, one per line, in GA4's own batch format. Your dashboard definitions decide which ad-platform conversion each event name represents, and the destinations you connected receive the matching ones.

Forwarding from a server container you run

A shared container also carries a forwarding secret, which is what a GTM server container you host yourself uses to send its events to PixelFox. See Forward from your own GTM server.

Pause, delete, limits

  • Pause keeps the hostnames claimed but answers every hit with 404 until you Resume. Delete releases the hostnames immediately.
  • Each site can have up to 5 containers. Hostnames are exclusive across all PixelFox customers: the first claim wins, and a name under sgtm.pixelfox.app cannot be claimed.
  • Events received by a shared container count toward your plan's event allowance, the same as events from the tag.
  • Vendor cookies (_fbp, _fbc, _ga) are refreshed with a two-year lifetime on your hostname, exactly as on a custom ingest endpoint. A site can have both.

Custom ingest endpoint

Serve the tag and collect events from your own domain, so ad blockers see first-party traffic and attribution cookies live two years.

Dedicated server-side GTM

Google's server-side Tag Manager running your own server container on a server of its own, managed by PixelFox - with preview mode and every tag you built.

On this page

Set upWhat arrives, and how it is readForwarding from a server container you runPause, delete, limits