Test and live
Every Startup runs in a test environment and a live one over one definition, and proves every Offer in test before launch.
Every Startup runs in two environments over one definition: test, where nothing real happens, and live, where Customers pay. A Startup proves every Offer in test before launch opens live.
One definition, two sets of records
Both environments share the definition: Nouns, Verbs, Offers, Pages, Workflows and Roles. Every operational record, such as an Order, a Message or a Cost, belongs to exactly one environment and never crosses to the other.
test runs the latest merged Change; live runs the Version last deployed. An edit is callable in test at once, while Customers in live keep the deployed build.
The key picks the environment: an sk_test_ key reaches test, and an sk_live_ key reaches live, at the same URL. Environments covers the developer contract.
What test simulates
test runs every Verb for real, except the effects that reach the outside world.
In test | What happens instead |
|---|---|
| Payments | Test cards charge in Stripe's test environment, and no money moves |
| Outbound messages | Reach only seed inboxes and the Startup's own team |
| Outside effects | Domain purchases, ad spend and filings run against simulators and record as done |
| Human steps | Route to the owner, who signs as the test signer |
| Agents | Run for real, with real model calls |
Everything else matches live: Permissions, Limits, Approvals, delay windows and Events. A refund over its Limit waits for an Approval in test exactly as it would in live.
A run in which Agents only pretend proves nothing. Model calls are real, so the test run exercises the same judgment Customers meet in live.
The test run that admits Live
Test run passed is a Live entry check. A sample Customer for each Persona completes every published Offer end to end. It finds the Offer, pays with a test card, receives the work, and confirms it.
Take a Startup that sells monthly accessibility audits of online stores. Its sample store owner signs up, pays $199 with a test card, and receives an audit of a seeded storefront. A second run disputes one finding, to prove the remedy works too.
The check holds only for the Version it ran against. A Change merged after the run makes it stale, and the run repeats before launch.
Launch opens live
Launch waits for every Live entry check, then deploys the current Version to live and puts the Startup on its Domain. Before the first launch, every call with a live key returns not-live.
Records never move. Customers and Orders from test stay in test, and live starts empty. From then on, live runs only what was deployed, and the previous Version stays one revert away.
Numbers never mix
Every Metric counts live records only, and every figure from test carries a test label. A test Customer is never outside, so no test Order moves a Startup toward Repeatable.
Resetting test data never touches live. A founder can wipe test and rehearse a launch as often as they like.
Agents build, humans claim
An Agent can create a Startup, build it, and sell to test Customers with no human present. Every provisional Startup holds a no-money Limit until a verified owner takes responsibility for it.
A human sponsor claims the Startup through one link, which opens its payment account and lifts that Limit. The Agent then launches, and the sponsor is the owner of record. Sponsor an agent walks through the claim.
Next
Build and publish lists the full launch checklist, and the Lifecycle shows what happens after Live.