> Documentation index: [Saleor](/llms.txt) · [This section](/cloud/llms.txt)
> Source: https://docs.saleor.io/cloud/environment

# Environment Management

A Saleor environment is an isolated Saleor instance. Each environment includes:

-   Database
-   GraphQL API
-   API Playground
-   Saleor Dashboard

<a id="production-vs-sandbox"></a>

## Production vs Sandbox

Saleor Cloud provides two types of environments: sandbox environments for development and testing and production environments for live stores. Although they look similar, they differ in their limits, upgrades, support, and permitted uses.

Production environments do not have the rate and resource limits applied to sandboxes, including limits for orders, API requests, and products.

The limits imposed on sandboxes are displayed in the Cloud Console.

<a id="key-differences"></a>

### Key Differences

| Feature or Capability | Sandbox Environment | Production Environment |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Purpose** | Development, testing, and demos | Live, customer-facing storefronts |
| **Permitted use** | Not permitted for production commerce | Supported for real transactions |
| **Rate limits** | **Free plan:** 120 requests per minute  
**Paid plan:** 2,000 requests per minute | No enforced request limit |
| **Upgrades** | **Free-plan sandboxes:** automatically upgrade to the latest minor version  
**Paid-plan sandboxes:** you control minor-version upgrades | You control minor-version upgrades |
| **Snapshots/backups** | Cloud users create snapshots on demand | Saleor automatically creates daily snapshots |
| **Support** | Limited | Depends on your [plan](https://saleor.io/pricing) |
| **SLA** | No SLA | See the [SLA terms](https://saleor.io/legal/sla) |
| **Promote action** | Converts the sandbox to production. Expect about five minutes of downtime during the database restore. | Not applicable |
| **Selling products** | **Not allowed under the [Terms of Service](https://saleor.io/legal/terms)** — sandboxes are for testing only | Supported for commerce |

<a id="promoting-a-sandbox"></a>

### Promoting a Sandbox

Clicking **Promote** converts your sandbox environment to production. The promotion typically causes about five minutes of downtime while Saleor migrates the database.

After promotion, the environment receives production benefits, including SLAs, backups, higher limits, and permission to process real orders.

warning

Although a sandbox can technically process orders, Saleor does not support this use, provide SLA coverage for it, or permit it under the [Terms of Service](https://saleor.io/legal/terms). Saleor cannot guarantee support for related issues until you upgrade the environment to production.

<a id="accessing-your-environment"></a>

## Accessing Your Environment

<a id="dashboard-access"></a>

### Dashboard Access

On the environment page in the Saleor Cloud Console, click **Go to Dashboard**. Saleor logs you in automatically through single sign-on (SSO).

<a id="api-access"></a>

### API Access

On the environment page, click **Go to Playground** to interact with the environment's GraphQL API.

To learn more, see the [GraphQL API overview](/api-usage/overview.md).

<a id="managing-an-environment"></a>

## Managing an Environment

<a id="version-upgrades"></a>

### Version Upgrades

You can upgrade Saleor versions on demand through the Cloud Console.

-   You manage the version of each environment independently, so you can test new features before applying them to production.

Saleor version numbers, such as `3.23.1`, follow the `major.minor.patch` pattern:

-   **Patch release:** `3.23.0` to `3.23.1` — bug fixes, security updates, and sometimes small features.
-   **Minor release:** `3.22` to `3.23` — new features, improvements, and breaking changes.
-   **Major release:** `3.x` to `4.0` — significant architectural changes.

The table below shows how environments are updated:

| Project type | Environment | Patch | Minor |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Developer Project | Sandbox | Automatic | Automatic |
| Production Project | Sandbox | Automatic | Manual — requires **Manage Sandbox Environments** permission |
| Production Project | Production | Automatic | Manual — requires **Manage Production Environments** permission |

<a id="access-control"></a>

### Access Control

To control **Trusted client origins**, **Allowed API origins**, and **API Password Protection**, see [Restricting API Access](/cloud/restricting-api-access.md).

<a id="subdomain-management"></a>

### Subdomain Management

You can change an environment's subdomain, such as `[your_subdomain].saleor.cloud`, on demand in the Cloud Console.

Changing the subdomain may impact apps. Update any hard-coded callbacks, CORS settings, allowed origins, and external services accordingly.

warning

Before promoting an environment to production, review its domain name. Avoid words that indicate non-production use, such as "test", "staging", or "sandbox", in production domains.

<a id="maintenance-mode"></a>

### Maintenance Mode

Use maintenance mode during planned maintenance windows or when performing data operations that must not be interrupted.

When enabled:

-   API requests return a maintenance response.
-   Webhooks are not delivered.
-   You can enable or disable maintenance mode from the environment page in the Cloud Console.

<a id="demote-an-environment"></a>

### Demote an Environment

Use **Demote** to convert a production environment back to a sandbox. Do not use a demoted environment for live commerce.

<a id="duplicate-an-environment"></a>

### Duplicate an Environment

You can duplicate an existing environment to create a new sandbox. Use duplication when you need a staging or development environment with the same volume of Saleor data and the same database configuration as the source environment.

To duplicate an environment:

1.  In the Saleor Cloud Console, open the project and select the environment that you want to copy.
2.  Click **Duplicate Environment**.
3.  Enter a name and domain for the new environment.
4.  Select the Saleor version for the new environment.
5.  Click **Duplicate** and wait for the new sandbox to become available.
6.  Open the new environment and verify its extensions and external integrations before using it.

Duplication creates a new sandbox and restores a snapshot of the source environment into it. It copies the [database content described below](#what-a-snapshot-includes), including products, orders, customers, tax configuration, and models.

<a id="data-management"></a>

## Data Management

Saleor Cloud Console lets you manage environment data in a few ways: you can load a sample database, create and restore snapshots, or clear the database.

You can find all data management actions in the **Danger Zone** at the bottom of the environment page in the Cloud Console.

<a id="snapshots"></a>

### Snapshots

Snapshots copy the entire Saleor database of a sandbox or production environment. You can restore a snapshot to the source environment or use it to populate another environment in the same project.

info

Production environments automatically create daily snapshots, which are retained for 7 days.

Snapshots support development and testing workflows, such as:

-   Replicating the latest production data to a staging environment.
-   Running integration tests from a consistent starting point.
-   Developing migration scripts step by step, saving each successful stage and reverting if needed.

<a id="what-a-snapshot-includes"></a>

#### What a Snapshot Includes

| Data or configuration | Result |
| --- | --- |
| Catalog data | Including: products, variants, categories, collections, attributes, and product media references. |
| Transactional data | Including: orders, checkouts, payments, transactions, invoices, vouchers, and gift cards. |
| People and addresses | Including: customers, staff users, addresses, and permissions. This can include personal data. |
| Commerce configuration | Including: channels, warehouses, shipping configuration, tax configuration, menus, site settings, models, and metadata stored in Saleor. |
| Extensions | Including: app installations, webhooks, plugins, and their database configuration. Saleor disables them when restoring the snapshot to a different domain. Review them before enabling them again. |
| Cloud environment settings | Not included. The domain, environment type, plan, region, and other Cloud infrastructure settings belong to the destination environment. |
| External data and configuration | Not included: app-owned databases, external service configuration, secrets stored outside Saleor, data held by payment providers, exports, and other third-party data. |

Snapshot Data

A snapshot of a production environment contains personal data. After restoring a production snapshot to a non-production environment, use the [Anonymizer App](https://apps.saleor.io/apps/anonymizer) to remove personal data.

See the [Anonymizer App documentation](/developer/app-store/apps/anonymizer.md#bulk-anonymization-sanitizing-a-snapshot).

<a id="create-a-snapshot"></a>

#### Create a Snapshot

1.  In the Saleor Cloud Console, open the project and select the environment that you want to capture.
2.  Click **Create Snapshot** on the environment page.
3.  Enter a descriptive snapshot name that identifies the environment and purpose.
4.  Confirm the action and wait for the snapshot to become available.

<a id="restore-a-snapshot-to-an-existing-environment"></a>

#### Restore a Snapshot to an Existing Environment

Restoring replaces the destination environment's database with the snapshot data.

1.  Open the destination environment in the Saleor Cloud Console.
2.  In **Danger Zone**, select **Restore from snapshot**.
3.  Select the snapshot that you want to restore.
4.  Review the source and destination, then confirm the restore.
5.  Wait for the environment to become available.

<a id="create-a-sandbox-from-a-snapshot"></a>

#### Create a Sandbox from a Snapshot

1.  Open the project in the Saleor Cloud Console and click **New Sandbox**.
2.  Enter a name and domain and select the Saleor version.
3.  In the **Database** section, select **Use snapshot**.
4.  Select the snapshot and create the sandbox.
5.  When the sandbox is ready, review its extensions and external integrations.

info

Saleor disables all apps, webhooks, and plugins when it restores a snapshot to an environment with a different domain. This prevents the copied environment from sending events or requests through production integrations. Reconfigure and enable only the extensions that the destination needs.

<a id="clear-the-database"></a>

### Clear the Database

The **Clear database** action removes all business-related records, including orders, products, categories, customer accounts, vouchers, and gift cards. You cannot undo this action unless you create a Snapshot prior to performing this action.

Use **Clear database** in a sandbox environment when you want to start from a clean slate.

It does not remove environment configuration, such as:

-   Staff and superuser accounts
-   Channels
-   Plugin configurations
-   Apps
-   Site settings
-   Navigation menus

<a id="clear-orders"></a>

### Clear Orders

The **Clear orders** action removes order-related records from the environment while keeping the rest of your catalog, customers, and configuration intact. This is useful when you need to reset transactional data without rebuilding the entire environment — for example:

-   Cleaning up test orders before a demo or a new QA cycle.
-   Going live with a production environment — place a few test orders to verify your storefront end-to-end, then clear them before opening the store to real customers.
-   Resetting a staging environment after integration testing.
-   Removing sample transactions created during development.

The following data is permanently removed:

-   Payments and transactions
-   Allocations
-   Reservations
-   Gift cards
-   Checkouts
-   Invoices
-   Orders
-   Unassigned addresses

Everything else is preserved — products, categories, customers, staff accounts, channels, apps, and all environment configuration.

warning

This operation is irreversible. Create a snapshot before proceeding if you may need to restore the data later.

To confirm the action, type the environment name in the confirmation dialog.

<a id="replace-the-database-with-sample-data"></a>

### Replace the Database with Sample Data

This action erases all existing business-related records and environment configuration, such as staff members and permissions, and loads a sample dataset. This is useful for demos and quick evaluations.

<a id="removing-an-environment"></a>

## Removing an Environment

<a id="deleting-an-environment"></a>

### Deleting an Environment

You can delete an environment from the Cloud Console.

warning

Deletion is permanent. Before deletion, Saleor automatically creates a final snapshot. You can create a new environment later and restore data from this snapshot. See [Restoring Deleted Environments](#restoring-deleted-environments).

<a id="restoring-deleted-environments"></a>

### Restoring Deleted Environments

When an environment is deleted, Saleor creates a final snapshot which you can restore the data by following [Create a Sandbox from a Snapshot](#create-a-sandbox-from-a-snapshot). You can reuse the deleted sandbox's domain for the new sandbox.

When selecting a snapshot, choose the one with `final` in its name. This is the backup created before the environment was deleted.

note

Snapshots from deleted environments are retained for 7 days.