> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.semicola.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Sandbox

> Test the whole media buying loop with a sandbox advertiser: no real spend, same tools and endpoints.

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`:

```json theme={null}
{ "name": "Glaze & Co. (Sandbox)", "sandbox": true }
```

The advertiser's readiness shows **Sandbox: On** ("Routes all AdCP operations to sandbox accounts — no
real spend.").

<Warning>
  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.
</Warning>

## 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](/buy/onboarding) and [Billing](/buy/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.

## Related

* [Advertiser](/buy/advertiser)
* [Onboarding](/buy/onboarding)
* [Test a sales agent](/skills/test-sales-agent)