Schematic
The Schematic is a visual map of the components in your server-side tagging configuration: the browser event, GTM Web Container with its client and server lanes, Cloud Run Tagging Service, GTM Server Container, Cloud Run Preview Service, the primary GA4 property, and the test GA4 property. Each card shows its title, identifier, and current status; clicking a card opens a details drawer with the identifier, configuration label, validation status, and a deep link into the relevant setup stage.
Stage selector
Above the diagram, a "Stage:" toggle lets you switch which flow is highlighted on the same diagram. Selection is remembered between visits.
- Server-side — the goal state. Server-side events flow from the GTM Web Container's server lane through the Cloud Run Tagging Service to the primary GA4 property.
- Test setup — the validation stage. The same path, but Cloud Run forwards to the test GA4 property instead of the primary one.
- Client-side — the pre-cutover state. Direct browser GA4 events from the client lane to the primary GA4 property; the server path is dimmed.
What the diagram shows
- Browser event — the user action (page view, click, purchase, ...) that starts every flow.
- GTM Web Container — with two lanes side by side: a client-side lane (direct browser-to-GA4 path) and a server-side lane (browser-to-Cloud-Run path). Each lane lists the GTM items configured inside it.
- Cloud Run Tagging Service — the runtime that receives the server-side event copy. Has two sub-rows: Front door (your tagging endpoint URL with DNS + TLS + domain mapping) and Tagging runtime (the Cloud Run service that executes the GTM Server Container config).
- GTM Server Container — the config record that the Cloud Run Tagging Service loads. Lists the GA4 client, All Pages trigger, and GA4 Forwarder tag GSS configures here.
- Cloud Run Preview Service — a separate Cloud Run service used only by GTM Preview and Tag Assistant for debugging. Not on the live event path.
- Primary GA4 property — your production destination. Both lanes converge here after cutover.
- Test GA4 property — the temporary destination used for validation traffic during setup. Retired after cutover.
Status reading
Most cards show no status pill when everything is fine — the absence of a pill is the "configured and passing" state. A pill appears when a card needs attention:
- Not connected (grey) — no binding exists yet for this component.
- Needs validation (amber) — configured but the corresponding stage's checks haven't been run or are failing.
- Stale — re-validate (amber) — previously passed but the evidence has aged out.
- Blocked by upstream stage — an upstream stage hasn't unlocked this one yet. When a specific blocking step is identified, the pill reads "Waiting on: [step name]".
- Not yet validated (grey) — configured but no checks have run yet; no passing or failing evidence exists.
Details drawer
Clicking any card opens the right-side drawer with four metadata rows (ID / endpoint, Configured in, Configuration, Status), an explanatory body, and an "Open setup step →" link that jumps to the setup stage where the binding is owned. Lanes inside the GTM Web Container, the front-door / runtime rows under the Cloud Run Tagging Service, and the preview service are all separately clickable.
When to use Schematic
- Orienting yourself in an unfamiliar project — the visual structure makes the dataflow obvious.
- Switching the stage toggle to compare client-side, test, and server-side paths on the same diagram.
- Confirming a binding landed where expected — the card carries the resource identifier inline.
- Explaining the setup to a stakeholder — the diagram is screenshot-ready.
- Jumping back to the setup step that owns a given resource via the drawer's "Open setup step" link.