Staging testing

Complete all development and integration testing on staging before production credentials are issued. Staging behaves like production but uses sandboxed payment and voucher providers, so no real money or float is used.

Staging details

💡 Tip: Before you enter any card details, check that the payment URL contains test_. That is the most reliable confirmation that you are in the sandbox.

Sandbox confirmation

Both halves of a staging gift card purchase are sandboxed. No real charge is made, and no real float is drawn down. Sandbox vouchers are simulated and cannot be redeemed, so you can test as often as you need.

⚠️ Warning: This applies to staging only. In production, the payment and the voucher are real, and the voucher cost is deducted from your float balance.

Before you start

1. Obtain a token with getToken and cache it. Tokens last 10 hours, and getToken is limited to 5 requests per minute.
2. Set an explicit User-Agent header on every request. Some default client agents are blocked with 403 and the message error code: 1010.
3. Check the response field in the body of every reply. Most endpoints return HTTP 200 even when the operation failed.
4. Register a staging webhook URL by giving it to Spendstream.

Test cards, amounts and full payment walkthrough

Test cards, the amounts that force declines and errors, and a complete verified test run are documented once, in Testing payments on staging: full walkthrough. This page does not repeat them.

Key points:

Test plan by product

• Gift card testing
• Affiliate testing
• Webhook testing

Checklist

• [ ] I can obtain a token and I cache it.
• [ ] I set an explicit User-Agent header.
• [ ] I check the response field in every body.
• [ ] I created test users and handle duplicate UID replies.
• [ ] I confirmed the test_ site reference before entering card details.
• [ ] Gift card, affiliate and webhook tests are complete.

When these are complete, continue to Production readiness.