Environments

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Overview

When building a website or app, it’s important to have safe spaces to experiment without affecting what your real users see. Think of it like having a practice kitchen where you can try new recipes before serving them in your restaurant. Stardeck gives you three separate environments:

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The Three Environments

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Sandbox

The sandbox is your personal development space where you build and test your application. What makes it special:

• Changes appear instantly as you work
• Safe to experiment—nothing here affects your live site
• Perfect for trying new features or fixing bugs
• Your sandbox runs only when you’re actively working

When to use it:

• Building new features
• Testing changes before sharing with others
• Debugging issues
• Experimenting with ideas

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Preview

Preview deployments let you share a working version of your changes before making them live. What makes it special:

• Creates a real, working version of your site that anyone can visit
• Each preview has its own shareable URL
• Great for getting feedback from clients or stakeholders
• Behaves like production but with test data

When to use it:

• Getting client approval before launch
• Sharing progress with stakeholders
• Testing with a wider group before going live
• Quality assurance and review

Creating a Preview:

1. Make your changes in the sandbox
2. Deploy a preview from the Stardeck dashboard
3. Share the preview URL with anyone who needs to review it

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Production

Production is your live site—the version that real users see and interact with. What makes it special:

• Accessible to everyone at your project URL
• Uses real data and real user accounts
• Automatically secured with SSL
• Globally distributed for fast loading

When to use it:

• Launching your finished work
• Serving real customers
• Running your actual business

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Understanding Data Separation

This is one of the most important concepts to understand: each environment has its own completely separate database.

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What This Means

Imagine you have a store. In sandbox, you might create a test product called “Sample Widget” and a test user called “Test Customer.” Here’s what happens: Nothing you create in sandbox automatically appears in preview or production. Each environment starts empty and only contains the data you specifically create there.

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Why This Is Actually Good

This separation is a feature, not a limitation:

• Safe testing: Create fake users, fake orders, and fake content without cluttering your real data
• No accidents: You can’t accidentally delete real customer data while testing
• Clean production: Your live site only has real data, not test entries
• Honest testing: You see exactly what new users will experience

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Seeding Data in Different Environments

Since each environment has its own database, you may need to populate them with initial data. The Stardeck agent can help you set this up.

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Option 1: Database Migration (All Environments)

If you need the same seed data in every environment (sandbox, preview, and production), ask the agent to create a database migration that inserts the data. Migrations run automatically when each environment starts. Example prompt:

“Create a migration that seeds the database with default product categories: Electronics, Clothing, Home & Garden, and Sports.”

This approach is ideal for:

• Default configuration data
• Required lookup tables
• Initial content that every environment needs

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Option 2: Seed Button (Specific Environment)

If you only want seed data in certain environments—like demo data for previews or initial setup for production—ask the agent to create a hidden seed button in your app. Example prompt:

“Add a seed data button to the admin dashboard that creates sample products and test customers. Hide it so only admins can see it.”

This approach is ideal for:

• Demo data for client previews
• One-time production setup (like creating an admin account)
• Test scenarios you want to trigger manually

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Common Scenarios

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”I created a test user but can’t log in on my live site”

Why this happens: The user account you created exists only in the environment where you created it. If you signed up in sandbox, that account only exists in sandbox. Solution: Create a new account in production (your live site). This is actually the correct behavior—you don’t want test accounts mixed with real customer accounts.

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”I added products in sandbox but they’re not showing in production”

Why this happens: Products, content, and all data are environment-specific. Your sandbox has its own database, separate from production. Solution: Add the products to production when you’re ready to sell them. Many teams do this by:

1. Testing the product setup in sandbox first
2. Re-creating the products in production once everything looks right

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”My client can’t see the changes I made”

Why this happens: Your sandbox is only visible to you. Clients can’t access your development environment. Solution: Deploy a preview and share that URL with your client. Preview deployments are real, accessible websites that anyone can visit.

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”I made changes but my live site looks the same”

Why this happens: Changes in sandbox don’t automatically publish to production. Solution: When you’re ready, publish your changes to production from the dashboard. See Publishing & Deployment for details.

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Best Practices

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For Development (Sandbox)

• Use test data that’s clearly fake (e.g., “Test User” instead of real names)
• Experiment freely—that’s what sandbox is for
• Test edge cases and error scenarios here

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For Review (Preview)

• Deploy previews when you want feedback
• Share preview URLs instead of describing changes
• Create realistic test scenarios for stakeholders to try

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For Launch (Production)

• Only publish when you’re confident in your changes
• Set up real data and real user accounts
• Monitor for issues after publishing

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FAQ

Q: Can I copy data from sandbox to production? A: Not automatically. Each environment is intentionally separate. However, you can ask the Stardeck agent to help you seed data—either through a migration (for all environments) or a seed button (for specific environments). See Seeding Data in Different Environments above. Q: How do I know which environment I’m looking at? A: In the Stardeck dashboard, the environment is clearly indicated. Your live production site is at your project URL (e.g., your-project.stardeck.site), while preview deployments have unique URLs. Q: Do environment variables work the same in all environments? A: Environment variables can be configured separately for each environment. This lets you use test API keys in sandbox and real ones in production. See Environment Variables for details. Q: What happens to preview deployments over time? A: Preview deployments remain accessible at their URLs. You can manage and remove old previews from your dashboard. Q: Can multiple team members work in sandbox at the same time? A: Each team member has their own sandbox environment for development. Changes are synchronized through your project’s version control.

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Understanding environments helps you work confidently—experiment freely in sandbox, get feedback with previews, and publish to production when you’re ready.