# Sandbox and live: the differences

Test mode runs the same code as live mode. Every intentional difference, with its value and its reason.

Test mode is not a mock of AdProMaxPay: it is the same API, the same validation, the same state
machine, the same events and the same webhooks. Only the payment providers are simulated, so that no
real money moves. A request that works in test mode works in live mode, and a request refused in live
mode is refused in test mode.

The differences below are deliberate. Each one keeps you from waiting, or from spending real money.

## What differs

|                                       | Test mode                                                                                               | Live mode                                                             | Why                                                                     |
| ------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Money                                 | None moves; nothing reaches a bank                                                                      | Real payments                                                         | The sandbox is for building                                             |
| Keys                                  | `apx_sk_test_…`, `apx_pk_test_…`, once your email is verified                                           | `apx_sk_live_…`, `apx_pk_live_…`, once your account is activated      | Two modes, two sets of data                                             |
| Card payment page                     | A simulated page marked TEST, which takes only the [test cards](https://pay-docs.adpromax.com/en/sandbox/test-cards)                    | The secure payment page of our card partner                           | A real card never enters test mode                                      |
| 3-D Secure                            | A simulated page where you choose to approve or fail                                                    | Your customer's bank                                                  | So you can test both outcomes                                           |
| Cash codes                            | Paid with **Simulate payment** or the [test helpers](https://pay-docs.adpromax.com/en/sandbox/test-helpers); no agent accepts them      | Paid in cash at a partner payment agent                               | No real cash for a test                                                 |
| Cash status checks                    | Every **10 seconds**, and at once after a simulated payment                                             | Every **2 minutes**                                                   | A test confirms in seconds                                              |
| Funds become available                | **120 seconds** after a payment succeeds                                                                | After the holding period set when your account is activated           | You see the whole balance cycle in a test                               |
| Our fees                              | A placeholder taken from each succeeded payment: 2.5% for a card, 3% for cash                           | The fees announced with activation                                    | Your test balance moves like a live one; the figures are not our prices |
| Card refunds                          | Complete within seconds                                                                                 | Can stay `pending` for longer while the card network carries them out | The simulated provider answers at once                                  |
| [Test helpers](https://pay-docs.adpromax.com/en/sandbox/test-helpers) | Available                                                                                               | Refused: `403`, `test_mode_only`                                      | Simulating a payment has no meaning in live mode                        |
| Rate limits, per minute               | All requests 600, writes 150, payment creations 60, searches 30                                         | All requests 1,200, writes 300, payment creations 120, searches 30    | Live traffic gets the larger share                                      |
| Daily cap                             | 10,000 requests and 1,000 payment creations per day, Morocco time; then `429`, `test_daily_cap_reached` | None                                                                  | Protects the shared sandbox                                             |
| Request logs                          | Kept 30 days                                                                                            | Kept 90 days                                                          | Test traffic is short-lived                                             |

Rate limits are the defaults; yours may differ. The dashboard's **API limits** page shows the values
that apply to you, and lets you ask for more: see [Rate limits](https://pay-docs.adpromax.com/en/api-reference/rate-limits).

## What is the same

* **Validation**: the same fields, the same checks, the same error codes and messages.
* **Minimums**: 100.00 MAD for cash, 1.00 MAD for a card, in both modes. A cash payment of 50.00 MAD
  is refused in test mode exactly as in live mode.
* **Life spans**: a card payment page lasts about 30 minutes; a cash code about three days (its
  `expires_at` says); a checkout session 24 hours unless you set less.
* **Idempotency**: the same required keys, the same 24-hour replays.
* **Events and webhooks**: the same types, the same payloads, the same signatures, the same retries.
* **Statuses**: a payment intent goes through the same statuses, and succeeds once.
* **Refunds**: card payments can be refunded; cash payments cannot, in both modes.

## Test and live never mix

* A test key sees test objects only; a live key sees live objects only. Reading a test object with a
  live key answers `resource_missing`, with a hint that the object exists in the other mode.
* Webhook endpoints belong to one mode. Create your live endpoints when you go live.
* Test objects carry `"livemode": false`; live objects `"livemode": true`.