Skip to main content

Testing with sandbox users

Test uploaded builds with sandbox users​

Sandbox users are real, logged-in Jest accounts created from the Developer Console.

Use them to test an uploaded build of your game inside the live Jest.com platform as a logged-in player.

Sandbox users only see your team's games (games your developer account can access).

Create a sandbox user​

  1. Open the Developer Console.
  2. In the left sidebar navigation, select Sandbox Users.
  3. Select Create Sandbox User.

Log in as a sandbox user​

  1. In the Developer Console, go to Sandbox Users.
  2. Select Generate Login Link for the user you want.
  3. Open the link in a browser.

A small "Sandbox user" overlay at the top of the page indicates you are in sandbox mode.

What you can do with sandbox users​

Sandbox users are best suited for testing platform-backed features against an uploaded version of your game.

From the Developer Console, you can also inspect and manage a sandbox user while you test, for example:

  • Inspect scheduled notifications and see what arrives in the sandbox user's inbox
  • Test purchase flows end-to-end without being charged (prices show as 0)
  • Reset the user state to re-test first-time or onboarding flows

Good for​

  • End-to-end testing of SDK features on the real platform with an uploaded build
  • Testing flows that require a logged-in user (registration gates, player identity, persistent state)
  • Verifying that platform features behave correctly (notifications, payments, redirects)
  • Debugging issues that only show up in the real hosted environment (embedding, platform UI, mobile viewport behaviors)

Not good for​

  • Iterating quickly on local UI/logic (use local mocks)
  • Testing local code inside Jest.com without uploading a new build (use the hosted emulator)

For step-by-step UI instructions in the Developer Console, see Sandbox users.

Test referrals​

Referrals need two players — a referrer and an invitee — so the test loop uses two sandbox users.

  1. Create two sandbox users, A (the referrer) and B (the invitee). Each developer can have up to 3.
  2. Log in as A and mint a referral link:
    • Generate A's login link and open it in one browser.
    • Enter your game and call the referral share method exposed by your SDK (HTML5, Unity3D, Godot).
    • Copy the shared link from the system share dialog.
  3. Log in as B in a separate browser or incognito window so the two sessions don't collide. You'll land on the Jest.com home page.
  4. Paste A's referral link into B's address bar. The platform redirects B into A's game with the referral attached, and B's player record is attributed to A's link.
  5. Confirm the conversion by calling listReferrals from A's player (the entry shows up under the reference you used) or by opening A's inbox in the Developer Console — A receives a referral_conversion notification once B is attributed.

Re-running the loop with the same sandbox users​

Referral attribution is decided once, when a player first enters your game — an existing player who later opens a referral link is not re-attributed. To run the loop again with the same sandbox users:

  1. In the Developer Console, open Sandbox Users and click Reset Player State for sandbox B. This archives B's Player row for your game so the next entry creates a fresh one.
  2. Repeat steps 3–5. The next time B enters A's referral link, a brand-new Player record is created with the attribution attached, and A receives another conversion notification.

Calling shareReferralLink from A's player a second time with the same reference updates the existing link (it's an upsert), so B's repeat entry rolls into the same campaign.

Notes​

  • The platform's only built-in reward for a conversion is the notification delivered to A's inbox. Anything else (currency, items, feature unlocks) is your game's responsibility — verify the referralsSigned JWS server-side before granting it. See the HTML5 SDK Referrals guide for the verification recipe.