> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.rootkey.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Environments

> ROOTKey provides two separate API environments - a development endpoint for testing and a production endpoint for live operations. Switch by changing the base URL and API key.

## Two Environments, Two Endpoints

ROOTKey provides dedicated endpoints for development and production. Each environment has its own base URL and requires its own API key. Switching from development to production requires updating both.

| Environment     | Base URL                     | Purpose                             |
| --------------- | ---------------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| **Development** | `https://dev-api.rootkey.ai` | Testing and integration development |
| **Production**  | `https://api.rootkey.ai`     | Live operations                     |

***

## Development Environment

The development environment is a full-featured environment for testing your integration before going live. All endpoints, request schemas, and response structures are identical to production.

**Base URL:** `https://dev-api.rootkey.ai`

### How it works

1. Create an account at [app.rootkey.ai](https://app.rootkey.ai)
2. Generate a **development API key** from the platform dashboard
3. Send requests to `https://dev-api.rootkey.ai` using that key

| Property             | Value                                      |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| Base URL             | `https://dev-api.rootkey.ai`               |
| Data persistence     | Non-persistent                             |
| Blockchain anchoring | Development network - no real transactions |
| Costs                | None                                       |
| Rate limits          | Applied                                    |

### Key characteristics

* Full API parity with production - no endpoint or schema differences
* No financial impact during development and QA
* Suitable for integration testing, pre-production validation, and load testing
* All webhook events are fired as in production

***

## Production Environment

The production environment serves live operations. All operations are real - blockchain anchors are written to Polygon Mainnet and credits are consumed per your active plan.

**Base URL:** `https://api.rootkey.ai`

### How to go live

1. Generate a **production API key** from the ROOTKey platform dashboard
2. Update your `base URL` to `https://api.rootkey.ai`
3. Update your API key to the production key

| Property         | Value                    |
| ---------------- | ------------------------ |
| Base URL         | `https://api.rootkey.ai` |
| Data persistence | Persistent               |
| Blockchain       | Polygon Mainnet          |
| Costs            | Applied per active plan  |
| Rate limits      | Applied                  |

### Key characteristics

* All blockchain operations are real and permanent
* High availability and reliability
* Credits consumed per operation according to your plan

***

## Environment Comparison

| Feature         | Development                  | Production               |
| --------------- | ---------------------------- | ------------------------ |
| **Base URL**    | `https://dev-api.rootkey.ai` | `https://api.rootkey.ai` |
| **API Key**     | Development key              | Production key           |
| **Blockchain**  | Development network          | Polygon Mainnet          |
| **Data**        | Non-persistent               | Persistent               |
| **Costs**       | None                         | Applied                  |
| **Rate limits** | Applied                      | Applied                  |

***

## Summary

Use `dev-api.rootkey.ai` while building your integration. Switch to `api.rootkey.ai` when you are ready to go live - update the base URL and the API key in your environment configuration.