Sandbox lets you run the whole buying loop (product discovery, campaign, creatives, launch and
delivery) without real spend. You create a sandbox advertiser, and everything done for that
advertiser is sandbox. There’s no per-request flag to remember, so real and test traffic never mix in a
multi-step flow.
Create a sandbox advertiser
In the app, turn on Sandbox mode when you add the advertiser. Over MCP, pass sandbox: true to
save_advertiser; over REST, to POST /api/v2/buyer/advertisers:
The advertiser’s readiness shows Sandbox: On (“Routes all AdCP operations to sandbox accounts — no
real spend.”).
Sandbox is fixed at creation. Updates don’t accept sandbox, so an advertiser can never switch from
sandbox to live after campaigns are configured. Create a separate live advertiser when you’re ready.
What changes for a sandbox advertiser
You use the same tools and endpoints as for a live advertiser. The differences are underneath:
- Sellers are told. Every AdCP call Semicola’s hosted storefronts receive for the advertiser carries
a sandbox account, so the storefront treats the buy as a test.
- Sellers still review. A sandbox buy goes through the seller’s New media buys approval gate
like any other, so you can rehearse the approval step end to end.
- No real spend. Delivery is simulated. Sandbox buys are left out of the advertisers a seller sees
as transacting with its storefront.
- Real ad platforms stay sandbox. Storefronts for real companies (Meta, TikTok and others) are
sandbox storefronts with no live connection yet, so nothing reaches those platforms.
Accounts limited to sandbox
A new buyer account can launch only sandbox advertisers until its billing is set up. Launching a
campaign for a live advertiser before then is blocked with “This account can only launch sandbox
advertisers.” See Onboarding and Billing.
Fast-forward on demo accounts
Demo and test accounts get a Fast-forward 7 days control, which moves the simulated sellers’ clock
so sandbox buys deliver “days later” on the next sync. It isn’t available to other accounts, and never
moves real delivery.
Sellers testing their own storefront
A seller account can create sandbox advertisers of its own to test its storefront from the buyer’s
side. Each one is bound to that seller’s storefront: its campaigns, proposals and staged buys can only
address that storefront. Platform-provided system advertisers are read-only to the seller.
Not available yet
- Sandbox accounts on external sales agents and ad-server-backed storefronts (a dedicated sandbox
advertiser inside the seller’s ad server).
- Live campaigns run by a seller for its own advertisers.
