Sandbox

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Test and live keys

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What’s in the sandbox

• Three drivers, Ama Owusu, Kwame Asante and Efua Mensah (employee ids SBX-001 to SBX-003). They have placeholder emails ending in @sandbox.chargeexpress.invalid, no logins, and are never emailed.
• A vehicle for each driver, registered SBX 1001-26, SBX 1002-26 and SBX 1003-26.
• A wallet with 500 kWh of prepaid credit and a GHS 1,000 credit limit, at your live fleet’s unit price.

{
  "login_invite": {
    "status": "skipped",
    "message": "Sandbox drivers don’t get logins or emails"
  }
}

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Simulated chargers

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How the simulation runs

• Energy delivered is max_power_kw × elapsed time × 60, capped by the session’s budget. One real second is one simulated minute, so SIM-DC-60 delivers 1 kWh per second and SIM-AC-22 about 0.37 kWh per second.
• A server job advances every running sandbox session every 5 seconds, so meter readings and events move in 5-second steps.
• A session ends on its own after about 2 minutes (two simulated hours), or as soon as it reaches its budget, whichever comes first.
• When a session reaches its budget you get session.stopped_by_limit with stop_reason: "budget_reached", then session.completed.
• Stopping a session in the portal ends it right away and settles the energy delivered so far.

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Walkthrough

export CHARGEEXPRESS_API_KEY=cxk_test_…
export CX=https://stage.partners.chargeexpressltd.com/api/public/v1

curl "$CX/charge_points" -H "Authorization: Bearer $CHARGEEXPRESS_API_KEY"

{
  "data": [
    {
      "object": "charge_point",
      "id": "SIM-DC-60",
      "description": "Simulated 60 kW DC fast charger",
      "online": true,
      "status": "Operative",
      "max_power_kw": "60.000",
      "latitude": null,
      "longitude": null,
      "address": null,
      "simulated": true,
      "connectors": [
        { "connector_id": 1, "status": "Available", "rated_power_kw": "60.000" }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "has_more": false,
  "next_cursor": null
}

{
  "object": "session",
  "id": "sim_17918822001234567",
  "status": "charging",
  "charge_point_id": "SIM-DC-60",
  "driver_id": "d3x7n2q9k4m8p1r6t0v5w2yz",
  "vehicle_id": "v6b1c8n3m5k2j9h4g7f0d2sa",
  "energy_kwh": "10.0000",
  "budget_kwh": "10.0000",
  "unit_price": "3.85",
  "cost": "38.50",
  "on_credit": "0.00",
  "currency": "GHS",
  "paid_after_session": false,
  "started_at": "2026-10-13T09:00:00.000Z",
  "stop_requested_at": null,
  "ended_at": null,
  "stop_reason": "budget_reached"
}

curl "$CX/wallet/fundings" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CHARGEEXPRESS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: 3a1f9c2e-7b4d-4e8a-9f6c-1d2e3f4a5b6c" \
  -d '{ "amount": 500 }'

{
  "object": "funding",
  "id": "wallet-6f1d2c3a-9b8e-5c4d-a7f6-0e1d2c3b4a59",
  "status": "pending",
  "amount": "500.00",
  "currency": "GHS",
  "unit_price": "3.85",
  "kwh": "129.8701",
  "credited_kwh": null,
  "debt_repaid": null,
  "invoice_number": null,
  "checkout_url": null,
  "credited_at": null,
  "created_at": "2026-10-13T10:00:00.000Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-13T10:00:00.000Z",
  "sandbox": true
}

curl -X POST "$CX/sandbox/fundings/wallet-6f1d2c3a-9b8e-5c4d-a7f6-0e1d2c3b4a59/succeed" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CHARGEEXPRESS_API_KEY"

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Test failure paths

• SIM-OFFLINE is never connected, so no session starts and nothing is reserved.
• SIM-REJECT rejects the start: the wallet reservation is released and session.start_failed carries the session with status: "cancelled", as when a real charger rejects a start.

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Send test events of any type

curl -X POST "$CX/webhook_endpoints/we_m4n8p2q6r0s4t8u2v6w0x4y8/test" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CHARGEEXPRESS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "type": "invoice.created" }'

{
  "object": "webhook_test",
  "event_id": "evt_p0q1r2s3t4u5v6w7x8y9z0a1",
  "type": "invoice.created",
  "succeeded": true,
  "response_status": 200,
  "response_body": "OK",
  "error": null,
  "duration_ms": 184
}

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Reset the sandbox

curl -X POST "$CX/sandbox/reset" -H "Authorization: Bearer $CHARGEEXPRESS_API_KEY"

{ "object": "sandbox_reset", "reset": true }

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In the portal

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What the sandbox never touches

• Billing: nothing in the sandbox is billed. Sandbox credit and debt are not real money.
• Invoicing: sandbox sessions and top-ups are never invoiced, so invoice_number stays null and invoice.created isn’t sent for sandbox activity.
• Payments: sandbox top-ups and invoice payments never reach ExpressPay.
• Real chargers: sandbox sessions never send commands to a charger.
• Real people: sandbox drivers have no logins and are never emailed.

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Going live