What should you check if a cartridge is not working correctly?

When troubleshooting a cartridge that isn't functioning correctly in Salesforce Commerce Cloud (SFCC), verifying the target version against the active code is crucial. This ensures that the code you are executing aligns with the planned and supported versions of the platform. Each cartridge may be compatible only with specific versions of SFCC, and if there's a mismatch, it can lead to unexpected behavior or errors.

Understanding version compatibility helps identify if the features and functionalities you are trying to implement are available in your current setup. This is particularly important when updates are made to either the cartridge or the platform, which can introduce breaking changes or deprecated features. Properly checking the target version ensures that your application leverages all capabilities of the platform and the cartridge works as intended within that environment.

While checking code syntax, network latency, and file permissions are all important aspects in broader troubleshooting efforts, ensuring version compatibility specifically addresses potential issues related to the interaction between different components of the system and their expected behaviors.