Skip to main content

Test Your Consent Setup

Use this checklist before going live or after making changes to your consent configuration.

Pre-flight checklist​

  • Embed script is in <head> with defer
  • Embed token matches your property
  • Domain is authorised in Property → Settings → Domains
  • Policy is published (not draft)
  • Banner layout selected and saved

Test 1: Banner appears for new visitors​

  1. Open your site in a private/incognito window
  2. ✅ Banner should appear before any interaction
  3. ✅ Banner should render correctly on mobile (resize browser)

Test 2: Script blocking works​

  1. Open DevTools → Network (keep it open before page load)
  2. Load your site in incognito
  3. ✅ Scripts marked with type="text/plain" should NOT appear in the Network tab
  4. Accept consent
  5. ✅ Blocked scripts should now load (appear in Network tab)
  1. Accept consent in incognito window
  2. DevTools → Application → Cookies → find cf_consent
  3. ✅ Cookie should exist with correct domain and 12-month expiry
  4. Reload the page
  5. ✅ Banner should NOT reappear

Test 4: Rejection works​

  1. Open fresh incognito window
  2. Click Reject All
  3. ✅ cf_consent cookie should show all non-necessary categories as false
  4. ✅ Blocked scripts should NOT appear in DevTools → Network

Test 5: Preference Center​

  1. Open Preference Center (click Customize or your footer "Cookie Settings" link)
  2. ✅ All categories should be shown with correct names and descriptions
  3. Toggle analytics off, save
  4. ✅ Analytics scripts should not load on reload

In DevTools Console:

window.dataLayer.filter(e => e[0] === 'consent')

✅ Should show: consent.default (denied) then consent.update (with user's choices)

Test 7: Evidence receipt created​

  1. Make a consent decision
  2. Dashboard → Evidence → Receipts
  3. ✅ A new receipt should appear within 30 seconds

Common issues found in testing​

IssueSolution
Banner not showingSee Banner Not Showing
Scripts not blockedSee Scripts Not Blocked
Consent Mode not updatingSee Consent Mode Issues