At a glance
Core Events Firing (purchase / add_to_cart) is an event-health metric tracked from Amplitude data. It confirms that the handful of events your entire analytics stack depends on are still arriving. If a core ecommerce event such aspurchaseoradd_to_cartstops firing, every downstream funnel, retention, and attribution card silently lies, so this card acts as the early-warning canary for your tracking. Cross-reference the related cards listed below for context.
| What it counts | The number of times each core ecommerce event (for example purchase and add_to_cart) fired in the time window, as exposed by the Amplitude integration. Computed from the latest available data and refreshed on the standard data refresh. |
| Sample type | Backend API data from Amplitude, refreshed on the standard data refresh. |
| Why it matters | Core events are the foundation every other Amplitude card is built on. If one drops to zero, funnels, cohorts, and revenue attribution all break quietly without an obvious error. This card catches that failure before it corrupts a week of reporting. |
| Reading the value | Each core event should show a non-zero count consistent with normal trading. A count of zero on any core event is the signal to act, not a number to optimise. Compare against the prior window to gauge whether volume is healthy. |
| Currency | count |
| Time window | 24h |
| Alert trigger | any core event count = 0 |
| Sentiment key | amp_core_events_firing |
| Roles | owner, marketing |
Calculation
Calculated automatically from your Amplitude data. The card counts firings of each designated core ecommerce event over the time window and flags any event whose count has fallen to zero. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading.Worked example
A representative reading of Core Events Firing (purchase / add_to_cart) for a typical merchant on Amplitude. On 12 Mar 26 the card showsadd_to_cart at 4,210 firings and purchase at 318 firings over the last 24h, both consistent with the prior day. On 13 Mar 26 add_to_cart holds steady at 4,180 but purchase drops to 0. That single zero means every funnel, conversion, and revenue card downstream is now understating reality, even though nothing looks broken on the surface. The likely cause is a release that changed the checkout confirmation page and stopped the purchase event from sending. Vortex Mind can trace the drop to the deploy window and the affected platform; ask Ask Viq “which core events stopped firing today and when” to confirm the exact timestamp before reporting any conversion number as real.
Sibling cards merchants should reference together
| Card | Why merchants reach for it |
|---|---|
amp_event_volume | Event Health sibling: confirms overall ingestion is healthy, not just core events. |
amp_alert_tracking_broken | The alert that fires when a core event stops, paired directly with this card. |
amp_event_taxonomy_drift | Detects renamed or new events that can mask a missing core event. |
amp_top_events | Shows whether core events still rank where you expect them by volume. |
amp_funnel_conversion | The first card to go wrong downstream when a core event stops firing. |
Reconciling against Amplitude
Where to look in Amplitude’s own dashboard: Open Event Segmentation and chart the uniques or totals for each core event (for examplepurchase and add_to_cart) over the last day. The Data or Govern section is where event taxonomy lives, so use it to confirm the event name has not been renamed or marked as blocked. Confirm period boundaries and any segment filters match the Vortex IQ profile to reconcile cleanly.
Why the Vortex IQ value may legitimately differ:
| Reason | Direction | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Period boundary. Vortex IQ uses a rolling 24h window by default; Amplitude charts may use a calendar day in the account time zone. | Variable | Match the period range. |
| Time zone. Amplitude uses the project time zone; Vortex IQ aligns to the merchant reporting time zone, so the day cut-off can differ. | Marginal | Confirm time zone match. |
| Filter or segment scope. Profile-level filters (platform, test traffic, internal users) may narrow the Vortex IQ view versus an unfiltered Amplitude chart. | Variable | Match filter settings. |
purchase count against orders in your ecommerce connector to confirm the event truly stopped rather than merely changing shape. For divergence investigations, use Vortex Mind.
Known limitations / merchant FAQs
Q: How often does Core Events Firing (purchase / add_to_cart) update? The card refreshes on the standard data refresh (typically every 30-60 minutes for live integrations). Because a zero on a core event is urgent, force a manual refresh from the dashboard if you suspect a tracking break right after a release. Q: Why does my Amplitude dashboard show a different number? The most common reasons are period-boundary differences (Vortex IQ uses a rolling 24h window vs Amplitude’s calendar day), time-zone alignment, and filter scope (profile-level vs an unfiltered Amplitude chart). Match these settings before assuming a real divergence. Q: What counts as a “core” event? Core events are the small set of ecommerce actions your reporting cannot function without, typicallypurchase and add_to_cart. They are the events that, if missing, break funnels and attribution rather than just reducing detail. The exact set is configurable per profile.
Q: Can I customise the alert threshold?
The alert fires when any core event count reaches zero, which is the right default for a tracking canary. You can adjust the core event list and sensitivity per profile in the Sensitivity tab to match your store’s setup.