# Keys and sandbox

## Key formats

| Kind    | Format                         |
| ------- | ------------------------------ |
| Live    | `azta_live_<id12>.<secret>`    |
| Sandbox | `azta_sandbox_<id12>.<secret>` |

`<id12>` is a 12-character identifier and `<secret>` is random. Send the key as `Authorization: Bearer <key>`. Keep keys in an environment variable such as `AZTA_API_KEY`, never in source code. The console shows a key as its prefix through `<id12>`, then `...`, then its last 4 characters; the full key is shown once, when you create it.

Live keys and top-ups open at the public launch.

## Sandbox keys

A sandbox key is free and needs no purchase. It answers every endpoint with sample data in the real format:

- It never reaches the real engine, and never returns real corpus data.
- `POST /v1/responses` creates a response that is completed when it is created. Its text, `sources` and annotations are samples. A `background: true` request still answers `202` with `status: "queued"`.
- The lookups return sample records.
- `usage.cost.amount` is `"0.00"`, and nothing is charged. `usage.cost` is an object with `amount` (two decimals, as a string) and `currency`.
- Sandbox limits apply: 10 responses per minute, 2 in progress and 60 lookups per minute (see [Errors and limits](/guides/errors#rate-limits)).

## Sandbox sample sources

The sandbox sources link to the two sections below. Both acts are invented samples for testing. They are never real law and must not be relied on.

### Source 1

This is an invented sample act, used only by the sandbox. It does not exist in any statute book and says nothing about real tax, company or employment law. Use it to check that your code reads `number`, `title`, `url` and `excerpt`.

A real source record carries the cited provision of a real act: its `unit_id` for [`POST /v1/provisions/fetch`](/guides/lookups), the act and the cited version's dates, and a `url` that opens the official text or the Azta viewer. See [Sources](/guides/sources).

### Source 2

This is a second invented sample act, used only by the sandbox. It is never real law. It lets you test an answer that cites more than one source.

A real source record names the country, the act and the version in force, and its `url_kind` says whether the link is official, a viewer or a web page. See [Sources](/guides/sources).