API Sandbox & Test Mode

Every API key you create is either Test (abz_test_…) or Live (abz_live_…) — you choose which when you create it, and it can't be changed afterward. Test is the default for a new key, so your first call against the API can't accidentally hurt anything.

A test key isn't a separate, limited API — it's the same endpoints, the same request format, and the same error handling as a live key (a malformed request still gets a 400, a bad key still gets a 401). The only thing that changes is what happens when a call would otherwise succeed: nothing real happens.

1. Go to your developer dashboard's Keys page

2. Click New key

3. Leave Environment set to Test — it's selected by default

4. Copy the key immediately — it's shown in full only once, and starts with abz_test_

Test and live keys share the same 5-keys-per-account limit — there's no separate quota for test keys. When you're ready to ship, create a second key with Environment set to Live; your integration code doesn't need to change, only which key you send.

• Scan (POST /api/v1/scan) — always returns the same fixed, realistic product match. Never a real vision-model call, never a wallet debit, never a read of your real inventory.
• WhatsApp send (POST /api/v1/whatsapp/send) — returns success immediately. No message reaches the phone number you send to, no wallet debit.
• Charges (POST /api/v1/charges) — creates a real charge row and a real confirmation link, so you can test the full lifecycle end to end — but approving it on the confirmation page simulates the approval instead of opening a real Stripe checkout. No card is ever charged.
• Connections (POST /api/v1/connections) — returns an already-active fixture connection instantly. No real merchant is contacted, and the response's merchant_email field is a fixed sandbox address.
• Ask (POST /api/v1/ask) — answers for real on both test and live keys. It only ever reads your own account's data and was never wallet-billed to begin with, so there's no real-money or real-message risk to guard against on this one endpoint.

Your plan's monthly request quota and per-minute rate limit apply the same way to test and live calls — a test key is not a way around your plan's limits. What's different is billing specifically: scan and WhatsApp-send never debit your wallet on a test key, since nothing real happens on either endpoint.