---
title: Test Environment | Boltz API Docs
description: Use the test environment for integration testing and API exploration without GPU usage or billing.
---

## Test keys

Create test API keys by setting `mode: "test"` when creating a key. Test keys are prefixed with `sk_bc_*_test_*` (e.g. `sk_bc_ws_test_...`). See [key prefixes](/docs/guides/authentication#key-prefixes/index.md) for the full list.

## How test mode works

Resources created with test keys have `livemode: false` and are fully isolated from live resources — they don’t appear in live listings and vice versa.

Test mode returns **synthetic results**. No real model inference runs, no GPU usage, and no billing. The metrics and structures returned are placeholders. Use test mode for integration testing and API exploration, not scientific analysis.

## When to use test mode

- **Integration testing** — Verify your code correctly handles the API’s async lifecycle (start, poll, fetch results, stop) without consuming compute.
- **API exploration** — Familiarize yourself with request/response shapes and pagination before running real jobs.
- **CI pipelines** — Run automated tests against real API endpoints without incurring costs.