Table of Contents

Test vs. Live Mode

PolarSharp uses a Mode setting (not a raw URL) as the primary developer-facing switch between Polar's sandbox and production environments.

Mode values

Mode Polar API Behaviour
"Test" (default) https://sandbox-api.polar.sh/v1 No real charges. Use for all development and CI.
"Live" https://api.polar.sh/v1 Real transactions. Use only in production.
"Custom" CustomBaseUrl Self-hosted Polar or a local proxy. 
{
  "PolarSharp": {
    "Mode": "Test",
    "AccessToken": "tok_sandbox_xxx"
  }
}

Startup mode banner

PolarSharp emits a startup log entry so you always know which mode is active:

Test mode (Information):

[INF] PolarSharp is running in TEST/SANDBOX mode.
      API: https://sandbox-api.polar.sh/v1
      No real transactions will be processed. Safe for development and testing.

Live mode (Warning):

[WRN] ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
[WRN] PolarSharp is running in LIVE/PRODUCTION mode.
[WRN] API: https://api.polar.sh/v1
[WRN] ALL TRANSACTIONS WILL BE PROCESSED AS REAL PAYMENTS.
[WRN] Ensure this is intentional before serving real traffic.
[WRN] ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Token-prefix sanity check

Polar sandbox tokens begin with tok_sandbox_ and production tokens begin with tok_live_. PolarSharp verifies the prefix at startup and emits a Warning if there is a mismatch:

[WRN] PolarSharp: Mode is 'Live' but AccessToken appears to be a sandbox token
      (prefix 'tok_sandbox_'). Verify your configuration before processing real payments.

This catches the most common deployment mistake: a staging token accidentally deployed to production.

Switching via environment variable

Use ASP.NET Core environment-specific configuration to keep test tokens out of production:

// appsettings.json (checked in)
{
  "PolarSharp": {
    "Mode": "Test",
    "AccessToken": ""
  }
}

// appsettings.Production.json (or Azure Key Vault / AWS Secrets Manager)
{
  "PolarSharp": {
    "Mode": "Live",
    "AccessToken": "tok_live_xxx"
  }
}

Health check verification

GET /health (tagged "polar") confirms the configured mode is reachable. A Healthy response verifies that PolarSharp can connect to the configured Polar endpoint and authenticate successfully.

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