The sandbox⁠.

The sandbox is where your code learns to trade. It runs on the same engine as your evaluation and funded accounts, with the same prices, order types and rules. The only difference is the money: sandbox accounts hold paper money and never count for anything.

It is free for every Phoenix Perpetuals account holder. You do not need to have bought an evaluation.

What you get#

A sandbox key only reaches sandbox accounts, and a live key only live ones. Use the wrong host and the API answers 401 wrong_environment, naming the right one.

Opening accounts#

Your first sandbox key opens your first sandbox account by itself. After that, open more from Developers > Sandbox in your dashboard, or from your code:

curl -X POST https://sandbox-api.phoenixperpsfunding.com/v1/accounts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PHOENIXPERPS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: ci-run-2026-10-08"

account = client.accounts.create(idempotency_key="ci-run-2026-10-08")
print(account.id, account.status)  # SANDBOX-00042-002 pending

const account = await client.accounts.create({}, { idempotencyKey: "ci-run-2026-10-08" });
console.log(account.id, account.status); // SANDBOX-00042-002 pending

The account answers pending and is ready a few seconds later. Read it again until its status is active.

Accounts can pass and fail#

Sandbox accounts follow an evaluation rule, so you can test what your bot does at the edges: the daily loss limit pausing trading until midnight New York, the maximum drawdown failing the account, the profit target passing it. A failed sandbox account stays readable, so you can study what happened.

Idle accounts sleep#

An account with no position, no working order and no request for 72 hours is put to sleep. Your next request to it wakes it up within a few seconds; nothing is lost. A strategy that only checks in once a week still works: its first call simply takes a little longer.

What the sandbox never touches#

Sandbox accounts are kept apart from everything that pays or ranks: payouts, certificates, rewards, competitions, affiliate commissions and the totals on your dashboard. Trading on them can never affect your evaluation or your funded accounts.