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What Is the DNSimple Sandbox API?

Table of Contents

Video walk-through

DNSimple maintains an isolated test environment at sandbox.dnsimple.com that mirrors the production API. The Sandbox provides a safe space to develop, test, and validate your API integrations without risking changes to live DNS records, domains, or certificates.

Why use the Sandbox?

Building integrations directly against a production API can lead to unintended consequences — accidentally modifying live DNS records, triggering domain registrations, or consuming API rate limits during development. The Sandbox eliminates these risks by providing a fully functional copy of the DNSimple API where you can experiment freely.

The Sandbox is valuable for:

  • API integration development: Build and test your integration code before pointing it at production.
  • CI/CD pipeline testing: Validate DNS automation scripts in your continuous integration workflow without touching live infrastructure.
  • Learning the API: Explore endpoints, understand response formats, and experiment with different API calls.
  • Team onboarding: Give new developers a safe environment to learn the DNSimple API without risk.

Sandbox vs. production

The Sandbox mirrors the production API, so code that works in the Sandbox will work in production with minimal changes. The key differences are:

  • Separate accounts: Your Sandbox account is independent of your production account. You need to create a Sandbox account and generate a separate API access token.
  • Separate base URL: The Sandbox API is accessed at https://api.sandbox.dnsimple.com, while production uses https://api.dnsimple.com.
  • No real DNS resolution: Domains and records created in the Sandbox do not resolve on the public internet.
  • No real registrations: Domain registrations in the Sandbox are simulated and do not interact with registries.

Getting started

Ready to start building? Follow our Sandbox API Tutorial for a step-by-step guide to setting up your environment and running your first API calls.

Before diving in, review the Sandbox API Common Pitfalls to avoid mistakes when developing against the API.

For the complete API reference, visit the DNSimple Developer Documentation. For Sandbox-specific details, see the Sandbox documentation.

Have more questions?

If you have additional questions or need any assistance with the DNSimple Sandbox API, just contact support, and we’ll be happy to help.