Environments
Understand the different environments available for API integration
Swift offers three environments to support your API integration journey: Sandbox, Pilot, and Live.
Moving across environments
Each environment has its own constrains and behaviours that impact how you develop, test, and operate your integration. The following considerations highlight the key differences to keep in mind when moving across Sandbox, Pilot, and Live.
Sandbox
A non-production environment for safe experimentation without impacting real systems.
- Familiarise yourself with API request and response structures
- Test basic connectivity and authentication flows
- Prototype integrations before committing to full development
Pilot
A pre-production environment to validate your integration before going live.
Do not use real business transaction data in the Pilot environment.
Not all APIs are available in the Pilot environment.
- Perform end-to-end testing with simulated data.
- Validate your integration against the complete API specification.
- Test error handling and edge cases.
- Conduct performance and load testing.
Live
A production environment where real data is processed and transactions are executed.
- Completed all required testing in the Pilot environment.
- Obtained the necessary production credentials and certificates.
- Configured appropriate monitoring and alerting for your integration.
- Reviewed and implemented all security best practices.
Environment endpoints
| Environment | Internet | MV-SIPN |
|---|---|---|
| Sandbox | sandbox.swift.com | sandbox.swift.com |
| Pilot | api-pilot.swift.com | api-test.swiftnet.sipn.swift.com |
| Live | api.swift.com | api.swiftnet.sipn.swift.com |
Best practices
To ensure a smooth transition between environments:
- Use a separate application per environment (e.g. Pilot vs Live)
- Use dedicated certificates and RBAC roles per environment
- Follow RBAC naming conventions: Pilot roles end with
!pand Live roles have no suffix