Test vs Live Mode

The one rule

The key you use determines the mode. No other flag, header, or environment variable is needed:

• sk_sandbox_... / pk_sandbox_... → test mode
• sk_live_... / pk_live_... → live mode

What’s different in test mode

Aspect	Test mode	Live mode
PSP calls	Mocked — no real processing	Real PSP calls
Cards accepted	Test card numbers only	Real cards
Data isolation	Separate from live data	Separate from test data
Webhooks	Fire with test events	Fire with live events
API responses	Identical shape	Identical shape

What’s the same

• Same API endpoints
• Same request and response structure
• Same webhook event format and delivery
• Same error codes and response shapes
• Same status transitions

Switching to live

1. Replace sk_sandbox_ with sk_live_ in your server environment
2. Replace pk_sandbox_ with pk_live_ in your client-side code
3. Confirm your account has passed compliance review (Settings → Compliance)
4. Update webhook endpoints to your production server URLs

Caution

Complete the compliance review before switching to live keys. Attempting to process real payments without an approved account will result in rejected requests.

Keeping environments separate

• Store sandbox keys in .env.development and live keys in .env.production
• Never mix test and live keys in the same application instance
• Use separate webhook endpoints for test and live events — configure each in the dashboard
• Test data is never visible in live mode and vice versa