Sandbox mode lets you simulate the entire email sending process without actually delivering emails to recipients. It’s the perfect solution for testing your API v2 integration safely, testing webhook workflows, and developing email features without worrying about costs or accidental sends.
Cost-Free Testing: Sandbox emails are completely free and don’t count toward your monthly email credits, no matter how many you send during development and testing.

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What is Sandbox Mode?

When you send an email using sandbox mode with API v2, AhaSend processes it exactly like a production email - it goes through validation, parsing, and triggers all relevant webhooks - but stops just before attempting actual delivery. This makes it ideal for:
  • Development environments where you need to test email functionality
  • Staging environments to verify integrations before going live
  • Automated testing in CI/CD pipelines
  • Webhook testing to ensure your event handling works correctly
  • Template testing to verify email content and formatting

What Happens in Sandbox

✅ Email is validated and processed
✅ Webhooks are triggered
✅ Messages appear in your dashboard logs
✅ No delivery attempts are made
✅ Completely free - no credit usage

Perfect For

🧪 Development testing
🔗 Webhook integration testing
🤖 Automated test suites
📧 Template validation
🚀 Staging environment verification

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Ways to Use Sandbox Mode

There are three flexible approaches to using sandbox mode with API v2, depending on your testing needs:
Create API v2 credentials that always operate in sandbox mode. Perfect for dedicated testing environments.
  • Any email sent with these credentials is automatically simulated
  • Prevents accidental production sends from test environments
  • Clear separation between testing and production
  • Best for development and staging environments
Change existing API v2 credentials between Production and Sandbox mode as needed.
  • Toggle credentials between modes in your dashboard
  • Useful for credentials shared across environments
  • Immediate effect when mode is changed
  • Flexibility to adapt to current testing needs
Use production credentials but add the sandbox parameter to individual API requests for sandbox testing.
  • Add "sandbox": true to any API request
  • Perfect for one-off testing or selective simulation
  • No credential configuration changes needed
  • Fine-grained control over individual sends

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Creating Sandbox Credentials

Access Credentials Dashboard

  1. Log in to your AhaSend Dashboard
  2. Navigate to the Credentials section
  3. Click the “Create Credential” button

Configure Sandbox Credential

Select Credential Type:
  • Choose “API Key v2” for advanced API features
Choose a Descriptive Name:
  • Use clear naming like “Development Sandbox API v2” or “Testing Environment v2”
  • Include environment info to avoid confusion later
Enable Sandbox Mode:
  • Select “Sandbox” mode to create a dedicated sandbox credential
  • This ensures the credential always operates in sandbox mode

Save and Use

  1. Click “Create Credential” to generate your sandbox API key
  2. Copy the API key securely
  3. Use this API key in your test environment exactly like production credentials
Environment Separation: Use sandbox API keys in development/staging and production keys only in live environments for clear separation.

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Switching Credential Modes

You can easily change existing API v2 credentials between Production and Sandbox modes:

Find Your Credential

  1. Go to the Credentials tab in your dashboard
  2. Find the API v2 credential you want to modify
  3. Click on the credential to open its settings

Change the Mode

  1. Locate the Mode field in the credential settings
  2. Select either “Sandbox” or “Production” from the dropdown
  3. Click “Save Changes” to apply the new mode
Mode Effects: Switching to sandbox stops actual delivery, while switching to production enables real email sending and credit usage.

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Using Sandbox Parameters

For maximum flexibility, you can use production credentials and control sandbox behavior with API parameters:

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Sandbox Request Example

Add the sandbox parameter to your API v2 message request: 
{
  "from": {
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "name": "Your Company"
  },
  "recipients": [
    {
      "email": "[email protected]",
      "name": "Test User"
    }
  ],
  "subject": "Sandbox Test Email",
  "text_content": "This email will be processed in sandbox mode.",
  "sandbox": true
}
Parameter Priority: When AhaSend sees the "sandbox": true parameter, it processes the email in sandbox mode regardless of the credential type used for authentication.

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Controlling Simulated Outcomes

Test how your application handles different delivery scenarios by controlling the simulated outcome:

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Available Outcomes

Use the sandbox_result parameter to specify the simulated result:
  • deliver - Simulates successful delivery (default)
  • bounce - Simulates a hard bounce
  • defer - Simulates temporary delivery deferral
  • fail - Simulates permanent delivery failure
  • suppress - Simulates suppression list blocking

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Examples

{
  "from": {
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "name": "Your Company"
  },
  "recipients": [
    {
      "email": "[email protected]",
      "name": "Test User"
    }
  ],
  "subject": "Test Successful Delivery",
  "text_content": "This email will simulate successful delivery.",
  "sandbox": true,
  "sandbox_result": "deliver"
}
Webhook Testing: Each simulated outcome triggers the appropriate webhook events, allowing you to test your entire event handling pipeline safely.

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Testing Webhooks

Sandbox mode is perfect for testing webhook integrations with API v2:
  • All webhook events are triggered normally in sandbox mode
  • Test delivery confirmations, bounces, opens, and clicks
  • Verify your webhook endpoint receives correct payloads
  • No difference in webhook behavior between sandbox and production
Use sandbox_result to test various outcomes:
  • Delivery success webhooks with "deliver"
  • Bounce handling webhooks with "bounce"
  • Retry logic with "defer" simulations
  • Failure processing with "fail" outcomes
  • Suppression handling with "suppress" results
  • Test webhook endpoints without affecting real users
  • Validate webhook signature verification
  • Test error handling and retry mechanisms
  • Ensure proper event processing in your application

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Advanced Features

API v2 sandbox mode supports advanced features for comprehensive testing:
Test bulk sending in sandbox mode:
{
  "from": {
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "name": "Your Company"
  },
  "recipients": [
    {
      "email": "[email protected]",
      "name": "User One"
    },
    {
      "email": "[email protected]",
      "name": "User Two"
    }
  ],
  "subject": "Bulk Test Email",
  "text_content": "Testing bulk operations in sandbox.",
  "sandbox": true
}
Test scheduled emails in sandbox mode:
{
  "from": {
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "name": "Your Company"
  },
  "recipients": [
    {
      "email": "[email protected]",
      "name": "Test User"
    }
  ],
  "subject": "Scheduled Test Email",
  "text_content": "This is a scheduled sandbox email.",
  "schedule": {
    "first_attempt": "2024-12-25T10:30:00Z"
  },
  "sandbox": true
}
Test complex template substitutions:
{
  "from": {
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "name": "Your Company"
  },
  "recipients": [
    {
      "email": "[email protected]",
      "name": "Test User"
    }
  ],
  "subject": "Order {{order_id}} Confirmation",
  "html_content": "<h1>Order {{order_id}}</h1><p>Total: ${{total}}</p>",
  "substitutions": {
    "order_id": "12345",
    "total": "99.99"
  },
  "sandbox": true
}

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Benefits

Cost-Free

No credit usage regardless of volume sent in sandbox mode

Safe Testing

Never accidentally email real users during development

Realistic Simulation

Full processing pipeline without actual delivery

Webhook Testing

Complete event simulation for integration testing

Flexible Control

Multiple ways to enable and control sandbox behavior

CI/CD Ready

Perfect for automated testing pipelines