generated: '2026-08-27'
method: searched
source: >-
  https://www.thethingsindustries.com/docs/concepts/ttn/ ,
  https://www.thethingsindustries.com/docs/concepts/ttn/addresses/ ,
  https://www.thethingsindustries.com/stack/plans/ ,
  https://www.thethingsindustries.com/docs/integrations/webhooks/creating-webhooks/ ,
  openapi/ (AppAs_SimulateUplink, EndDeviceRegistry_*), grpc/ (simulate.proto)
aid: the-things-network
name: The Things Stack — Sandbox and Test Surface
description: >-
  The Things Stack has an unusually literal sandbox: The Things Network community network is
  officially branded "The Things Stack Sandbox" and runs the same software, the same API and the
  same contract as the paid Cloud, free of charge under a fair-use policy. That means there is no
  separate test-mode key format and no test/live key prefix pair — a sandbox key is a real key on
  a real network, and traffic on it goes over the air.
modes:
  - id: sandbox
    name: The Things Stack Sandbox (The Things Network community network)
    price: free
    signup: https://console.cloud.thethings.network
    api_base: https://eu1.cloud.thethings.network/api/v3
    console: https://<cluster>.cloud.thethings.network/console
    oauth: https://eu1.cloud.thethings.network/oauth
    clusters: [eu1, nam1, au1]
    constraints:
      - Identity Server APIs (users, applications, gateways, organizations, API keys) are served ONLY from eu1.
      - Fair-use policy — roughly 30 seconds of uplink airtime per end device per 24 hours.
      - No SLA and no support commitment.
    note: >-
      Same feature set and same contract as The Things Stack Cloud, which is what makes it a real
      integration sandbox rather than a toy.
    source: https://www.thethingsindustries.com/docs/concepts/ttn/
  - id: cloud-discovery
    name: The Things Stack Cloud — Discovery
    price: free
    limits: Up to 10 end devices and 10 gateways.
    api_base: https://<tenant-id>.<cluster>.cloud.thethings.industries/api/v3
    note: Free production-grade tenant with an uptime SLA; the commercial on-ramp rather than a sandbox.
    source: https://www.thethingsindustries.com/stack/plans/
  - id: self-hosted
    name: Self-hosted open source
    price: free
    note: >-
      docker compose or Kubernetes/Helm deployment of the Apache-2.0 stack. This is the only mode
      that gives an integrator an isolated network with no fair-use ceiling and no shared spectrum.
key_format:
  test_vs_live_prefixes: false
  format: 'NNSXS.<token-id>.<token-secret>'
  note: >-
    There is NO test-mode key prefix. Every API key on every deployment starts with the fixed
    token-type "NNSXS" (base32 for "key"). A caller cannot tell from a key whether it points at
    the free Sandbox or at a paid production tenant — only the host it is sent to decides that.
    This is a real integration hazard worth stating plainly.
  source: https://www.thethingsindustries.com/docs/api/concepts/auth/
simulation:
  - id: simulate-uplink
    name: Simulate an uplink
    operation: AppAs_SimulateUplink
    path: POST /as/applications/{application_id}/devices/{device_id}/up/simulate
    description: >-
      Injects a synthetic uplink into the Application Server as though a device had transmitted it.
      Runs the full downstream pipeline — payload formatters, storage integration, webhooks, MQTT —
      so an integration can be exercised end to end with no hardware and no radio.
    rate_limited: true
    rate_limit_note: >-
      The rate-limiting reference ships an explicit example profile overriding the rate for
      /ttn.lorawan.v3.AppAs/SimulateUplink at 5 per minute, because simulation is expected to be
      driven by tooling.
  - id: cli-simulate
    name: ttn-lw-cli simulate
    description: CLI equivalent for uplink and join simulation (cmd/ttn-lw-cli/commands/simulate.go).
  - id: console-payload-formatter-test
    name: Console payload formatter tester
    description: The Console lets a payload formatter be run against a sample payload before it is saved.
webhook_testing:
  recommended_endpoint: https://webhook.site
  note: >-
    The Things Stack's own webhook guide tells integrators to test against a free third-party
    endpoint such as webhook.site; there is no first-party webhook echo/receiver.
  requirement: The endpoint must return HTTP 200 OK for the webhook integration to be considered successful.
  source: https://www.thethingsindustries.com/docs/integrations/webhooks/creating-webhooks/
test_data:
  fixtures_published: false
  note: >-
    No published test DevEUIs, test AppKeys or magic identifiers. Devices need real (or
    self-assigned) EUIs; ApplicationRegistry_IssueDevEUI will allocate a DevEUI from The Things
    Stack's own block for applications that have no EUI range of their own.
  issue_dev_eui_operation: ApplicationRegistry_IssueDevEUI