generated: '2026-07-21'
method: searched
source: >-
  https://docs.tower.dev/docs/using-tower/test,
  https://docs.tower.dev/docs/concepts/apps (local execution mode) and
  openapi/tower-openapi-original.json (create-sandbox-secrets).
description: >-
  Tower's test-vs-live surface. There are no magic test tokens; instead Tower
  separates test from production along three documented axes: (1) local
  execution mode — `tower run --local` executes the app on your machine inside
  the Tower runtime contract, with secrets injected; (2) environments — apps
  deploy immutable versions per environment (default/test/production), each
  with its own secret values, so a version can "soak" in test before UI
  promote/rollback; (3) Tower-provided sandbox secrets — the
  create-sandbox-secrets operation (POST /v1/sandbox/secrets, scope
  sandbox:secrets:create) creates secrets with Tower-provided default values
  for specified keys in a given environment. Apps can branch on the runtime
  environment via the TOWER_ENVIRONMENT variable.
modes:
  local_run:
    command: tower run --local
    description: Run the app locally to verify compatibility with the Tower remote execution environment.
  test_environment:
    commands:
      - tower secrets create --name=<key> --value=<value> --environment=test
      - tower deploy --environment=test
      - tower run --environment=test
    description: Per-environment secrets and pinned versions isolate test from production.
  sandbox_secrets:
    api: POST /v1/sandbox/secrets (create-sandbox-secrets)
    scope: sandbox:secrets:create
    description: Creates secrets with Tower-provided default values for the specified keys in the given environment.
environment_variable:
  name: TOWER_ENVIRONMENT
  docs: https://docs.tower.dev/docs/using-tower/advanced
promotion:
  ui: App Changelog → Promote / Rollback
  cli: tower deploy --environment=production