Test Mode

When you sign up for SignatureAPI, you get a free test API key. Test API keys let you create test envelopes, great for trying out your workflows.

Test envelopes don’t send emails

Don’t be afraid of flooding your customer’s inboxes with test emails. Emails from test envelopes don’t get sent to recipients. But, you can inspect them in your Dashboard’s Email view.

Where you can see the email contents:

Test envelopes are not legally-binding

A notice watermark on documents in test envelopes makes them non-binding.

Test envelopes are free

We don’t bill you for test envelopes.

Test mode and live mode differences

	Test mode	Live mode
API key prefix	key_test_	key_live_
Emails sent	No. Preview in Dashboard.	Yes, to real recipients.
Legally binding	No. Documents show a watermark.	Yes.
Billing	Free	Counted toward your plan.
Webhooks	Delivered to test endpoints	Delivered to live endpoints

You can use test mode and live mode at the same time. They are independent: test envelopes, webhooks, and senders are separate from live ones.

Switch to live mode

When you are ready to start sending legally-binding envelopes, go to the API Key section of your Dashboard. Follow the instructions to create a live API key.

Replace key_test_ with your new key_live_ key in your API calls. No other code changes are needed.