generated: '2026-08-12'
method: searched
source: >-
  https://developers.citrusad.com/integration/reference/before-you-start,
  /go-live-checklist-1, /uat-tests-1, /validation-troubleshooting,
  /integrate-your-banner-x-previewer
docs:
  - https://developers.citrusad.com/integration/reference/before-you-start
  - https://developers.citrusad.com/integration/reference/uat-tests-1
  - https://developers.citrusad.com/integration/reference/go-live-checklist-1
description: >-
  Epsilon Retail Media runs a real sandbox, but it is provisioned rather than
  self-served: a retailer's Technical Account Manager creates the sandbox on their
  behalf and grants access. Sandbox and production are separate environments with
  separate team IDs and separate API keys, and there is no key-prefix convention
  that lets a caller tell them apart from the credential alone. There are no
  published magic test values — no test GTINs, no fixture customers, no synthetic
  order IDs — because the sandbox is populated with the retailer's own synced
  catalog and campaigns created by hand in the platform UI.

self_service: false
provisioning: >-
  Contact your Technical Account Manager (or Epsilon support) to have a sandbox
  created. It is not available by signup.

modes:
  - name: sandbox
    credentials:
      team_id: Distinct value, shown in the platform UI under Integration Settings.
      api_key: Distinct secret value, revealed via the API Key page in the platform UI.
    note: >-
      Requires at least one synced catalog with at least one product, plus active
      and approved campaigns, before any ad will be returned. An empty sandbox
      returns no ads rather than an error, which is the most common first-run
      surprise.
  - name: production
    credentials:
      team_id: Different from sandbox.
      api_key: Different from sandbox.

key_formats:
  documented: false
  note: >-
    No test/live key prefix convention is published. Both environments use the
    same "Basic base64(<apiKey>:)" credential shape, so an integrator cannot tell
    from a key which environment it points at — the only distinguishing signal is
    the base URL Epsilon assigns.

test_values:
  cards: []
  accounts: []
  magic_identifiers: []
  note: >-
    None published. Nothing to record and nothing invented. Test data is the
    retailer's own catalog synced into the sandbox.

prerequisites:
  - Sandbox created by the Technical Account Manager.
  - Retailer team ID for the sandbox environment.
  - Sandbox API key.
  - At least one catalog synced with at least one product.
  - At least one active, approved campaign in the sandbox.

validation_tooling:
  - name: UAT test suite
    kind: documented manual test plan
    url: https://developers.citrusad.com/integration/reference/uat-tests-1
    note: >-
      A published set of user-acceptance tests an integrator is expected to run
      against the sandbox before go-live.
  - name: Go-live checklist
    kind: checklist
    url: https://developers.citrusad.com/integration/reference/go-live-checklist-1
  - name: Validation and troubleshooting guide
    kind: documentation
    url: https://developers.citrusad.com/integration/reference/validation-troubleshooting
  - name: Banner X previewer
    kind: hosted preview surface
    url: https://developers.citrusad.com/integration/reference/integrating-your-banner-x-previewer
    note: >-
      A previewer the retailer integrates so campaign creators can see Banner X
      creative rendered in the retailer's own layout before approval. Closest
      thing the platform has to a playground, but it previews creative, not API
      calls.

observed_hosts:
  - host: staging-test.citrusad.com
    referenced_in: https://developers.citrusad.com/integration/reference/uat-tests-1
    example_url: https://staging-test.citrusad.com/v1/ads/generate
    dns_resolves: false
    checked: '2026-08-12'
    note: >-
      Named in the UAT documentation as an example sandbox host. It does not
      resolve publicly, consistent with sandbox hosts being tenant-assigned.

gaps:
  - No self-service sandbox, so an evaluator cannot try the API before a commercial conversation.
  - No published test data or magic values, so a sandbox is only useful once the retailer has synced real catalog data.
  - No test/live key prefix, so environment mix-ups are not detectable client-side.
  - No API console or interactive "try it" against a shared demo tenant.