generated: '2026-08-12'
method: searched
source: >-
  https://support.thrivecart.com/help/testing-your-checkout/,
  https://developers.thrivecart.com/documentation/event_subscription/intro/,
  https://apidocs.thrivecart.com/
summary: >-
  ThriveCart has no sandbox host, no test-mode credential and no key prefix. Test and live are a
  per-product toggle inside the same account, read with the same API key, distinguished only by
  the integer field mode_int. That is the important shape here: unlike Stripe, there is no way to
  hand an integration partner a credential that can only touch test data, and no way for an agent
  to know from its token whether a write it is about to make is real.
model: per-product mode flag
sandbox_host: null
test_credentials: null
key_prefixes: null
mode_field:
  name: mode_int
  values:
  - value: 1
    meaning: test
  - value: 2
    meaning: live
  where:
  - the mode_int trigger field on every order and refund event subscription
  - product configuration (Options tab)
  - the Transactions list, once live/test switching is enabled in Settings
enable_test_mode:
  where: product settings, first Options tab
  effect: >-
    "Setting your cart to 'test mode' will mean that your cart will not be taking live payments,
    allowing you to test your checkout and see the flow from a customer's perspective without
    processing any live payments."
  fidelity: >-
    "The cart will operate like a 'live' cart in that it simulates a customer funnel and then
    product access, automation rules, webhooks, etc. will all trigger, but no real payment will be
    taken." Automation rules, membership fulfilment, Zaps and webhook notifications all fire, so
    an integration can be exercised end to end.
viewing_test_data:
  where: Settings > Account-wide > Finances, toggle live/test switching; then switch modes at the
    bottom of the Transactions list
test_payment_instruments:
- processor: Stripe
  card: '4242 4242 4242 4242'
  expiry: any future date
  cvc: any 3 digits
  note: >-
    The test card belongs to Stripe, not to ThriveCart. ThriveCart publishes no test instruments
    of its own; test-mode fidelity is inherited from whichever processor the account has
    connected.
behaviour_differences:
- No sales-notification email is sent for test purchases, though receipt emails still go to the
  test "customer".
- Affiliate payouts only happen in live mode, so affiliate_commission_earned,
  affiliate_commission_payout and affiliate_commission_refund never fire in test mode. An
  affiliate integration cannot be tested end to end.
- Test-mode transactions are hidden from the Transactions list until live/test switching is
  explicitly enabled in account settings.
time_simulation:
  supported: false
  note: >-
    No test clocks or time travel. Rebill, rebill_failed, rebill_completed and pause/resume
    scheduling cannot be fast-forwarded, so subscription lifecycle events can only be observed on
    real elapsed time.
fixtures_and_triggers:
  supported: false
  note: No fixture library, no event-trigger CLI or dashboard control to fire a webhook on demand.
    An event is only observable by producing the underlying purchase.
api_isolation:
  supported: false
  note: >-
    One API key covers both modes. There is no test-mode token, so any credential shared with a
    developer or an agent can refund real money and cancel real subscriptions. Combined with the
    absence of an idempotency key on writes, this is the sharpest operational risk on the surface.
gaps:
- No separate sandbox environment or test credential.
- No time simulation for subscription lifecycles.
- No on-demand event triggers or webhook replay.
- Affiliate flows untestable in test mode.
- No published sandbox documentation on developers.thrivecart.com; test-mode guidance lives only
  in the end-user help desk.