generated: '2026-08-29'
method: searched
source: >-
  https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/management/ansible/trial,
  https://www.redhat.com/en/interactive-labs/ansible and
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ansible/aap-mcp-server/main/README.md
description: >-
  Red Hat does not run a hosted API sandbox for Ansible Automation Platform, and there are no
  test-mode keys or magic test identifiers to record — AAP is installed software, so the
  "sandbox" is a trial installation the developer controls. What Red Hat does publish is a
  product trial, a set of browser-based interactive labs, and — inside the AAP MCP server
  repository — a mock AAP server for testing agent integrations without a real installation.
test_mode_keys: none
test_identifiers: none
surfaces:
- name: Ansible Automation Platform product trial
  kind: trial
  url: https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/management/ansible/trial
  status: 200
  requires_account: true
  requires_card: false
  note: A full AAP subscription for evaluation; the developer installs and operates it.
- name: Interactive labs
  kind: hosted-lab
  url: https://www.redhat.com/en/interactive-labs/ansible
  status: 200
  note: >-
    Browser-based, no install, no credit card. Teaches the product rather than exposing an API
    endpoint a developer can point a client at.
- name: Hybrid Cloud Console
  kind: hosted-service
  url: https://console.redhat.com/ansible/ansible-dashboard
  status: 200
  note: >-
    The hosted Automation Hub and Automation Analytics services. Their APIs are real and
    reachable (console.redhat.com/api/automation-hub/, /api/tower-analytics/) but require a Red
    Hat account with an AAP entitlement — anonymous calls return
    {"errors":[{"status":401,"detail":"Missing Authentication"}]}.
- name: AWX
  kind: upstream-open-source
  url: https://github.com/ansible/awx
  note: >-
    The upstream community project behind Automation Controller. Self-installable at no cost
    and API-compatible enough to develop against, which is how most integrators build before
    they have an AAP subscription. Not a Red Hat-supported sandbox.
- name: aap-mcp-server mock AAP server
  kind: local-mock
  url: https://github.com/ansible/aap-mcp-server/blob/main/scripts/mock-aap-server.ts
  run: scripts/run-with-mock-aap.sh
  note: >-
    Red Hat ships a mock AAP server and a client simulator in its MCP repository, specifically
    so an agent integration can be exercised without a live AAP. The most sandbox-like thing
    the provider publishes for API consumers.
safety_controls:
  mcp_write_operations_default: disabled (ALLOW_WRITE_OPERATIONS=false)
  check_mode: >-
    Job templates accept job_type "check", which runs the playbook in Ansible check mode — a
    real dry run against production inventory rather than a separate sandbox environment.
  launch_preflight: >-
    GET on controller.job_templates_launch_retrieve returns what a launch would require
    (prompts, credential passwords, survey spec, whether it can launch) without launching.