generated: '2026-09-12'
method: searched
source: >-
  https://www.solo.io/resources/lab (Solo Academy labs index; https://academy.solo.io/
  redirects here), https://www.solo.io/llms.txt, the Gloo documentation tutorials, and the
  solo-io/platform-portal-backstage-plugin-backend repository, all read 2026-09-12.
docs: https://www.solo.io/resources/lab
provider: Gloo
providerId: gloo
description: >-
  Gloo has no test mode, no sandbox API keys and no test-vs-live key prefixes — there is nothing
  to have them on, because there is no Solo.io-hosted API to call. What Solo.io provides instead
  is a genuinely substantial try-before-you-install surface: browser-based hands-on labs that
  provision a real cluster running the real product, plus local demo fixtures shipped in the
  repositories.
test_mode:
  exists: false
  key_prefixes: []
  note: >-
    No test/live key distinction, no test cards, no test clocks, no hosted fixture tokens. The
    API keys Gloo Portal mints are real keys for the operator's own APIs. Recording this as an
    honest absence rather than an omission.
hosted_labs:
  exists: true
  url: https://www.solo.io/resources/lab
  alias: https://academy.solo.io/
  brand: Solo Academy
  access: free, browser-based, no local install
  description: >-
    Guided hands-on labs that stand up a live environment in the browser. These are the closest
    thing Gloo has to a playground, and they cover the current product line rather than only
    legacy Gloo.
  examples:
    - title: 'Kgateway Lab: Understanding the basics of Kubernetes Gateway API with kgateway'
      url: https://www.solo.io/resources/lab/understanding-the-basics-of-kubernetes-gateway-api-with-kgateway
    - title: 'Kgateway Lab: Understanding kgateway and Gateway API policy attachments'
      url: https://www.solo.io/resources/lab/understanding-kgateway-patterns-of-extensions
    - title: 'Kgateway Lab: Installing kgateway, an open-source implementation of the Kubernetes Gateway API'
      url: https://www.solo.io/resources/lab/install-kgateway-open-source-implementation-of-the-gateway-api
    - title: 'Solo Lab: Gloo Cloud Preview'
      url: https://www.solo.io/resources/lab/solo-lab-gloo-cloud-preview
    - title: 'Solo Academy Course: Envoy Basics'
      url: https://www.solo.io/resources/lab/solo-academy-course-envoy-basics
  related:
    - title: MCP Academy
      url: https://www.solo.io/mcp-academy
      note: A parallel hands-on lab track for MCP, agentgateway and kagent.
local_fixtures:
  exists: true
  items:
    - name: mock-portal-api
      repository: https://github.com/solo-io/platform-portal-backstage-plugin-backend
      path: mock-portal-api/
      description: >-
        A mock implementation of the Gloo Platform Portal API, shipped so the Backstage plugin
        can be developed and tested without a running portal. This is the only stand-in for the
        Portal API that Solo.io publishes.
    - name: keycloak-realm.json
      repository: https://github.com/solo-io/platform-portal-backstage-plugin-backend
      description: >-
        A ready-made Keycloak realm for standing up the OIDC identity provider the Portal API's
        id_token cookie depends on, locally.
    - name: dev-portal-starter
      repository: https://github.com/solo-io/dev-portal-starter
      description: A runnable reference developer-portal frontend to point at a portal instance.
    - name: petstore demo
      docs: https://docs.solo.io/gloo-edge/latest/guides/traffic_management/hello_world/
      description: >-
        The petstore upstream used throughout the Gloo documentation tutorials, including the
        Portal quickstart. The Gloo Platform Portal spec's own UsagePlan.apiIds examples
        ("petstoreAPI-petstoreNamespace-cluster-1") reference it.
    - name: doc-examples
      repository: https://github.com/solo-io/doc-examples
      description: Code snippets and examples used across the Solo.io documentation.
self_install_trial:
  exists: true
  note: >-
    The strongest "sandbox" of all for this product class: Gloo Edge / kgateway open source is
    Apache-2.0 and installable in one command (`glooctl install gateway`, or the Helm chart), so
    a prospective user can run the real thing locally on kind or minikube without talking to
    anyone. Enterprise features require a licence key obtained from Solo.io.