Test Mode
With Reflow's test mode you can try out your store integration without making actual payments. The test mode provides a separate environment that supports all of the available features from live mode, without the risk of accidentally making a payment with real money.
How It Works
Stores in Reflow have two modes - live and test. Users can toggle between the two modes at any time.
| Mode | Description | Payments |
|---|---|---|
| Live | - Use this mode in your production app where actual customers will see the store. - Only live-mode products, subscription plans and other store objects are displayed. These should be the actual items you are selling. | - Transactions are made with real money. - When paying with a credit or debit card, valid credentials are required. - Payment providers like Stripe and PayPal will charge fees. |
| Test | - Use this mode during development and when testing your integration. - Only test-mode products, subscription plans and other store objects are displayed. These will never be shown to live-mode customers and can have fake data. | - Payments are simulated and don't involve actual money. - When testing credit or debit card payment, provider-specific testing cards are used. - Payment provider fees are not charged. |
Shared Settings
Some store settings are shared between test and live mode. This way they need to be configured only once and will work simultaneously in both modes. Shared settings include user sign in, shipping zones, categories, and most of the options under Store > Settings in the dashboard.
Mode-specific Objects
Objects that can be sold or are the result of a sale are mode-specific. Examples of such objects are products, orders, auth user accounts and subscription plans among others.
The objects and their relations are locked within the selected mode:
- An object (e.g. product) created in test mode cannot be switched to live mode.
- A test-mode order can only contain test products.
- A test-mode user can only subscribe to a test plan. The resulting subscription will also be in test mode.
The mode of an object is determined at the time of its creation, whether that is via the dashboard or the Reflow API.
Test Mode in the Dashboard
The Reflow dashboard can be switched between live and test mode via the toggle in the top left corner. Depending on the selected mode, only live or test objects will be displayed. Creating new store items (e.g. products, subscription plans, coupons) will make them locked to the currently selected dashboard mode.
The live/test mode toggle in the website will not affect your Reflow apps - it only applies to the dashboard. The mode of your integrated store will depend on your code or toolkit settings.
Enabling Test Mode During Development
Switching between live and test mode in your app will depend on the nature of your integration. You can read more about testing in the following guides:
Test Payments
While in test mode, store charges will be virtual with no real money being transferred. Depending on the used payment method, special credentials might be required in order to validate and complete payment forms.
PayPal
In test mode Reflow activates PayPal Sandbox. To use it, make sure you've created a business sandbox account and entered its email in the Connect PayPal dialog.
You can then use the provided PayPal test cards to simulate successful payments or force card errors.
Stripe
For testing Stripe payments no additional setup is required. The only thing to look out for is that all payments made while Reflow's test mode is enabled will appear in your Stripe test-mode dashboard.
Stripe provides a wide range of test cards which can be used to simulate various payment outcomes. These will only work when test mode is enabled.