What's the difference between Production and Development?
Updated 5 days ago
Production is for your customers' live connections and syncs automatically every 24 hours. Development is for testing: its connectors are unlimited, but they sync once when they're authorized and then only when you trigger a sync.
What each environment keeps separate
Connectors, API keys and webhook deliveries belong to one environment. Logs and scope configuration are shared by both.
Development | Production | |
|---|---|---|
Connectors | Unlimited | Count toward your plan |
API key | Its own key | Its own key |
Webhook deliveries | Separate | Separate |
Automatic sync | Initial sync only | Every 24 hours |
Logs and scope | Shared | Shared |
Your API key only works in its own environment
A Development key can't read from or write to a Production connector, and a Production key can't touch a Development one. Using the wrong key returns a 401. Store both keys and make sure your production code path never uses the Development key.
Development connectors don't resync on their own
After the initial sync, a Development connector's data stays as it was until you trigger a sync from the dashboard or the Force Resync API. If a test connector looks out of date, that is the reason.
Which one to use
Use Development for anything that isn't a paying customer's live connection:
Testing an integration before go-live
A sandbox or demo tenant of an HR system
Internal test accounts
Validating field mappings
Use Production for live customer connections, data that feeds anything customer-facing, and anything that needs to sync unattended.
Keep test connectors out of Production. Production connectors count toward your plan, and Development connectors are unlimited. If test connectors already sit in Production, we can move them for you. See "How do I move a connector between environments?".
Testing against a provider sandbox
Some providers connect their sandbox and production systems differently. Our Development connectors for ADP Workforce Now connect to ADP's UAT environment.