Moving a referral or affiliate program from Rewardful, FirstPromoter, Tolt or Dub should not break a single link a partner has already shared. The version 2 tag reads those tools' link parameters, your billing system connects the same way, and partners come over through the API today.
1. Keep every link that is already out there
Partners' old links put their code in the address under the old tool's
parameter: ?via= (Rewardful, Dub), ?fpr= (FirstPromoter), ?ref= (Tolt), and
others. Tell the tag to read them as well as its own:
<script src="https://boltclaw.ai/referrals/v2.js" defer
data-accept-params="via,ref,fpr,lmref,tolt_referral"></script>
It accepts ref, via, fpr, lmref and tolt_referral, and its own
data-param always counts. A code read this way is kept exactly as one from a
Bolt Claw link, so it reaches your checkout the same way.
The codes have to exist here too. An old link credits a partner only when their Bolt Claw link has the same code. A Bolt Claw code is 3 to 40 lowercase letters, digits and hyphens; give each partner theirs when you bring them over (below). A code the old tool allowed with capitals or underscores cannot be carried as it is: those partners share their new link instead.
2. Bring the partners over
- Your own users with a link (a refer-a-friend program inside your product):
create each one with
POST /v1/referrals/programs/{id}/referrers, by your own id for the user, withcodeset to their old code. Running it twice updates rather than duplicates. - Affiliates (people outside your product, with their own Bolt Claw account): send them the program's join link, or invite them from the dashboard. Each chooses their link code when they join, and can set it to their old one.
- A spreadsheet import for partners is coming; until then, the API above is the bulk path.
Past commissions are not imported: pay out what the old tool owes, then start the new program's history from the switch-over date.
3. Connect your billing system
Connect the same billing system the old tool read, from the program's Setup
tab: Stripe in one click with the Bolt Claw Stripe App, or any of eleven others
by pasting one secret (see Connect your billing system).
Keep passing the referral at checkout in the field Bolt Claw reads,
boltclaw_ref (or client_reference_id on Stripe), rather than the old tool's.
Switch the old tool's tracking off on the same day, or both will credit the same sale.
4. Point your webhooks at the new events
If your systems listened to the old tool's webhooks, register an endpoint under Settings, Developers, Webhooks and map the events:
| What happened | Bolt Claw event |
|---|---|
| A partner applied, or was approved | referral.partner.applied, referral.partner.approved |
| A referred signup or sale was recorded | referral.conversion.created |
| A commission was earned, or taken back by a refund | referral.commission.created, referral.commission.reversed |
| A milestone bonus was earned | referral.bonus.created |
| A payout was marked paid | referral.payout.paid |
| A reward that is not cash is ready to give | referral.grant.ready |
Bolt Claw's events carry identifiers only; fetch the details with a key, as Webhooks explains.
5. Check it, then go
The program's setup status shows each part turning green as it arrives: the tag, billing, signups, sales and codes. Press Send a test sale to see the whole path with test data before you switch the old tool off.