testing-and-go-live

Testing and Go-Live

This skill covers test mode, test payment methods, webhook testing, and the production launch checklist. Use it when building payment flows that need verification before going live, or when preparing to switch from test to production.

When to use this skill

• You need to test card success/decline scenarios, subscription renewals, or regional payment methods.
• You're setting up webhook testing locally or in a staging environment.
• You're preparing to launch to production and need a go-live checklist.
• You want to verify that test and live environments are properly isolated.
• You're copying products from test to production.

Core concepts

Test vs. live mode: Dodo Payments maintains two completely separate environments. Each has its own base URL, API keys, webhooks, products, customers, and transactions. Data does not carry over between them.

• Test mode: https://test.dodopayments.com
• Live mode: https://live.dodopayments.com

Each environment requires separate API keys issued from the dashboard. The SDK defaults to live_mode if you don't specify environment, which is a real footgun in development.

Test payment methods: Dodo documents specific card numbers, VPAs, and payment method scenarios for testing. These only work in test mode.

Webhook testing: The CLI provides commands to listen for webhooks locally and trigger test events without making real payments.

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Setting up test mode

Always explicitly set environment: 'test_mode' during development. The default is live_mode.

import DodoPayments from 'dodopayments';

const client = new DodoPayments({
  bearerToken: process.env.DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY,
  environment: 'test_mode', // REQUIRED — defaults to 'live_mode'
});

from dodopayments import DodoPayments

client = DodoPayments(
    bearer_token=os.environ.get("DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY"),
    environment="test_mode",  # defaults to "live_mode"
)

client := dodopayments.NewClient(
    option.WithBearerToken("dodo_test_..."),
    option.WithEnvironmentTestMode(), // defaults to WithEnvironmentLiveMode()
)