generated: '2026-08-12'
method: searched
source: https://support.kartra.com/en/articles/15369011-activating-your-app
docs:
- https://support.kartra.com/en/articles/15369011-activating-your-app
- https://support.kartra.com/en/articles/15369018-lead-searching-creating-editing
summary: >-
  Kartra ships a real test mode, but it is a property of the developer's App
  rather than of the credential. A newly created App starts in Test Mode
  automatically and stays there until a human reviewer at Kartra approves it for
  live activation. There are no separate test keys, no test/live key prefixes
  and no separate sandbox host — the same app_id / api_key / api_password hit
  the same https://app.kartra.com/api endpoint in both modes.

modes:
- name: Test Mode
  default: true
  activation: Automatic on App creation (Settings > Integrations > My Apps > add App)
  capability: >-
    "the App is 100% operational and can execute all commands from our API
    system" — every cmd works, against the App user's real Kartra account.
  limitations:
  - id: no-outbound-email
    description: Kartra will not send any email to any lead registered while in Test Mode.
  - id: email-domain-rewrite
    description: >-
      Any lead registered in Test Mode has its email DOMAIN replaced with
      @kartra.com. The docs' own example: creating a lead for
      johnsmith@gmail.com subscribes that user under johnsmith@kartra.com
      instead.
    consequence: >-
      The local-part is preserved, so two test leads with the same local-part at
      different domains collide into one address and the second create fails
      with 244 "Lead already exists". Test suites must vary the local-part, not
      the domain.
- name: Live Mode
  default: false
  activation: >-
    Submit the App for live activation. "Our admins will manually review your
    application and respond within a few business days."
  gate: manual-human-review
  caveat: >-
    Kartra explicitly forbids flipping to live merely to test with real emails:
    "You cannot turn on live mode just to test your content with live emails.
    When you switch to live mode your content/application will be reviewed by
    our review team and it must be complete. If your content is not done, you
    will be reset back to test mode."

key_separation:
  test_key_prefix: null
  live_key_prefix: null
  separate_host: false
  note: >-
    No test/live credential separation exists. Mode is server-side state on the
    App record, so a client cannot tell from its own configuration which mode it
    is operating in — there is no documented field in the response that reports
    it either.

test_values:
  magic_identifiers: none published
  test_cards: none published
  test_bank_accounts: none published
  note: >-
    Kartra does not process cards itself; checkout runs through the merchant's
    own connected gateway (Stripe, Authorize.net, PayPal, Braintree, Square).
    Test card values therefore come from the gateway, not from Kartra. Kartra
    does surface a "default test credit card gateway" inside Product setup
    (referenced in the 2026-06-29 / 9.70.0 release notes) but publishes no test
    card numbers of its own, so none are recorded here.

test_clocks:
  supported: false
  note: No time simulation, clock advancement or subscription-rebill fast-forward tooling is documented.

fixtures_and_triggers:
  supported: false
  note: >-
    No CLI, no event-trigger tooling and no fixture generator. Outbound API and
    IPN callbacks can only be exercised by performing the real action in the
    account.

gaps:
- Test Mode cannot be exercised without a live Kartra subscription — there is no free developer tier and no self-serve sandbox account.
- Going live requires human approval, so an unattended agent cannot promote an integration.
- No documented way to reset or purge test data created during Test Mode.