specification: API Commons Sandbox
specificationVersion: '0.1'
provider: OnlineNIC
providerId: onlinenic
generated: '2026-09-17'
method: searched
source: https://www.onlinenic.com/cp_english/template_api/download/Onlinenic_API_v4.0.9.2_Reseller_Guide.pdf#1.2
docs: https://www.onlinenic.com/en/Module/index/17.html
description: >-
  OnlineNIC publishes a named test environment — OTE (Operational Test Environment) — with a separate
  host, published shared test credentials and published test nameservers. Every command in the 4.0.9
  guide lists a "TEST API" URL alongside its "Live API" URL, which is an unusually complete sandbox
  declaration for a provider of this size. The environment is documented in two independent places
  (the API guide and the WHMCS module page). It is recorded here verbatim; nothing below was invented.
sandbox:
  name: OTE (Operational Test Environment)
  mode: separate-host
  base_url: https://ote.onlinenic.com
  endpoints:
    - https://ote.onlinenic.com/api4/ssl/index.php
    - https://ote.onlinenic.com/api4/domain/index.php
  parity:
    command_parity: full
    note: >-
      The guide prints a TEST API URL for all 43 documented commands, so the test surface is declared
      to mirror the live surface command-for-command.
  differences_from_live:
    - IP allowlisting is not enforced. Guide 1.2 — "Unlike Live environment, before you getting start,
      there is no-need to add Your IP address to Whitelist under OTE."
    - Only ns1.dns-diy.net and ns2.dns-diy.net are valid nameservers under OTE.
  test_credentials:
    published: true
    note: >-
      These are shared demo credentials the provider prints openly in its public API guide and on its
      public WHMCS module page. They are recorded because a sandbox with published credentials is a
      materially different developer experience from one that requires a sales conversation. They are
      not secrets and were not obtained by any means other than reading a public page.
    entries:
      - source: API 4.0.9 Reseller Guide, section 1.2 Test environment
        source_url: https://www.onlinenic.com/cp_english/template_api/download/Onlinenic_API_v4.0.9.2_Reseller_Guide.pdf
        user: '10578'
        note: A shared OTE reseller id, published with a matching password and API key in the guide.
      - source: WHMCS module page, "About OTE"
        source_url: https://www.onlinenic.com/en/Module/index/17.html
        user: '135610'
        note: >-
          The WHMCS module ships with this OTE account; ticking Test Mode switches the module to OTE
          and the credential does not need to be entered. The same id is the default in the
          first-party PHP SDK's config.php.
  test_nameservers:
    - ns1.dns-diy.net
    - ns2.dns-diy.net
  test_fixtures:
    test_cards: null
    test_domains: null
    note: >-
      No fixture domain list, magic-value table or trigger catalogue is published. A tester registers
      arbitrary names against the OTE registry.
  time_simulation:
    supported: false
    note: >-
      No test clock. This matters for a registrar: expiry, renewal grace and the documented 30-day SSL
      cancellation window cannot be rehearsed in OTE.
  reset_policy: not published
x-probe:
  checked: '2026-09-17'
  finding: unreachable
  detail: >-
    ote.onlinenic.com resolves (218.5.81.136) but did not complete a TCP/TLS connection on any attempt,
    over HTTPS or HTTP, from this probe. The live API host on the same network answers normally, so
    this is specific to the OTE host rather than a network fault at our end. Recorded as a measured
    observation on one date from one vantage point — not a claim that the environment is retired.
  evidence:
    - url: https://ote.onlinenic.com/api4/ssl/index.php
      status: 0
      note: connection failed
    - url: http://ote.onlinenic.com/api4/ssl/index.php
      status: 0
      note: connection failed
    - url: https://api.onlinenic.com/api4/ssl/index.php
      status: 200
      note: live host answers, for contrast
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com