generated: '2026-08-27'
method: searched
source: https://docs.shiphawk.com/#sandbox-and-production-environments
docs: https://docs.shiphawk.com/#your-account
description: >-
  ShipHawk operates a shared, always-on Sandbox environment on a separate hostname with its
  own API key, its own web portal and its own data. It is unusually well documented about
  what it is NOT — reduced fidelity, no carrier data, no ShipHawk-negotiated rates — which
  matters more to an integrator than the fact it exists.
mode: separate-environment
environments:
- name: production
  host: https://shiphawk.com
  api_base: https://shiphawk.com/api/v4
  portal: https://shiphawk.com/login
- name: sandbox
  host: https://sandbox.shiphawk.com
  api_base: https://sandbox.shiphawk.com/api/v4
  portal: https://sandbox.shiphawk.com/login
keys:
  model: one API key per environment
  cross_environment_failure: 403 Forbidden
  prefix_convention: not published — ShipHawk does not use a test/live key prefix
  statement: >-
    "Your ShipHawk account has two unique API Keys: one for the ShipHawk Sandbox environment,
    and one for the ShipHawk Production environment. These keys are unique to their
    environments, and will result in authentication failures (403 Forbidden) if used in the
    incorrect environment."
  caution: >-
    Because there is no key prefix, a key alone does not tell an agent or an operator which
    environment it belongs to. The hostname is the only environment signal.
data_isolation:
  shared_tenancy: >-
    "The ShipHawk Sandbox environment is shared by multiple ShipHawk customers."
  data_portability: >-
    "Any data created in the ShipHawk Sandbox environment (including but not limited to
    product SKUs, Rules, rates, shipments, webhooks, and so on) are NOT usable in the
    Production environment."
  unpacked_item_types: >-
    "ShipHawk unpacked item types are intentionally NOT shared between environments."
fidelity_gaps:
- No ShipHawk multi-carrier engine data — "the unpacked item list, full suite of carriers,
  and ShipHawk-negotiated carrier rates are NOT available in the Sandbox."
- Reduced capacity, performance and stability versus Production, stated explicitly.
- May run newer, less thoroughly tested functionality than Production.
- Nothing is dispatched to a carrier and no valid shipping documentation is produced,
  "as long as production carrier account credentials are not used".
safety_note: >-
  The no-carrier-dispatch guarantee is conditional on the integrator not configuring
  production carrier credentials inside the Sandbox account. An agent operating in Sandbox
  cannot assume its actions are inert without first confirming which carrier accounts are
  attached.
test_values:
  published: false
  note: >-
    ShipHawk publishes no test addresses, magic identifiers, fixture SKUs, test tracking
    numbers or trigger values. The example ids in the reference (ord_2E1pWGRh, shp_Hcy0ZwR1,
    wh_6vh3AegY, whs_8MXd7Phd) are illustrative documentation values, not working sandbox
    fixtures, and are deliberately not recorded here as test data.
time_simulation:
  supported: false
  note: No test clock or time-travel facility is published.
console:
  interactive_api_console: false
  note: >-
    The Slate reference renders static cURL/Ruby/Python/Java examples with no in-browser
    "try it" runner. The sandbox web portal at sandbox.shiphawk.com/login is the interactive
    surface, and it requires an account.
self_service_signup: >-
  Not available. Sandbox access comes with a ShipHawk account, which is obtained through
  sales ("Let's Talk" / schedule-a-call). There is no public developer self-signup.