On October 7, 2024, we began the process of notifying customers via email announcing our intention to eliminate the developer sandbox environment at the end of the year. We understand that this change might raise some questions, and we wanted to provide people with additional information, and links to resources to help you navigate this transition smoothly. 

First, this change will impact two groups of developers in different ways, and we want to help you ascertain which group you fall into so that you can plan accordingly. 

For Core, Advanced, and Ultra Customers:

• Impact: You are primarily affected only if your company is actively using the Developer Sandbox.
• Actions to Consider:
  • Migration Guide: Review the migration guide to understand necessary adjustments.
  • Developer Environment: If you need to keep development activities separate from your primary account, you must acquire an additional Developer Environment.
• Reassurance: This change will not affect your integration usage or consumption on the platform.

For ISVs and Free Developer Account Holders:

• Impact: Free developer accounts, which primarily relied on the sandbox, will see a more direct effect since the sandbox is being eliminated.
• Automatic Migration: All users with free developer accounts will automatically transition to a 6-month free trial of the new Development Environment product on November 4, 2024.
• Required Changes:
  • App Credentials: Replace sandbox app credentials (client ID and secrets) with production app credentials.
  • API Calls: Direct API calls to the production environment at platform.ringcentral.com instead of platform.devtest.ringcentral.com.
  • Configurations: Manually copy any special configurations (like call handling rules and IVR menus) from the sandbox to the new Developer Environment account.

Migration deadline: December 31, 2024

The Developer Sandbox environment will remain available until the end of the 2024. Developer have until that time to migrate any data out of sandbox that they wish to retain.

We are sorry, but no extensions can be granted.

We are committed to helping every developer make this transition successfully and with minimal disruption. Your projects and development workflows are important to us, and we are here to support you every step of the way.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if the removal of sandbox will affect me?

The quickest way to ascertain whether this change will impact you is to follow the following steps:

1. Login to the Developer Console
2. Click on each of the apps in your account, and visit the Analytics page
3. Toggle to the Sandbox tab and see if there is any API traffic 

If there are no apps, or no API traffic in sandbox, then this change will come and go and you will never be the wiser. But if you see API traffic in sandbox, then you will need to update your development practices and possibly the apps themselves to use production instead. 

I have a free developer account with a public application in use by RingCentral customers. What will happen to my app if I do not upgrade?

Rest assured, when your account is migrated to the new Developer Environment account on November 4, your production app will not be impacted. However, on the same day you will begin a 6-month trial of the new Developer Environment account. After six months, if you have not converted to a paid account, your application will be at risk of being removed from our marketplace. 

We do not want this change to negatively impact ISVs, developers and partners providing an solution actively used by RingCentral customers. If you have an app that is being used by RingCentral customers, please reach out to our Developer Support team for assistance and to see if you qualify for a complimentary account.

On November 4, when my account is upgraded to a trial, will I be charged? 

No holder of a free developer will be or can be charged until those developers opt-in to subscribe to the Developer Environment account by providing us with payment information. 

I no longer use my free RingCentral developer account, and would like to cancel.

If you are certain you do not wish to retain your RingCentral developer account we recommend you contact developer support and request your account be canceled. We will be sure to process your request accordingly. 

What happens to the graduation process? And how do I make edits to my production application now that sandbox is gone?

Earlier this year we made two important changes to the developer experience at RingCentral in preparation for this change:

1. We removed the graduation process. All apps could call APIs in our production environment the moment they were registered. 
2. We now permit developers to fully edit any app, even those that are “graduated.”

I think what is challenging is that by eliminating sandbox, we have greatly simplified the overall developer experience. However, it is a relatively large paradigm shift from how developer historically managed apps on the platform. By eliminating sandbox, we have simplified our developer experience considerably, and a lot of the hoops developers once had to jump through is now gone. Rejoice!

However, we would love for you to take this opportunity to reacquaint yourself with the RingCentral platform. On November 4, after your account has been migrated, visit us to check out some of our new AI, video, Contact Center, and messaging APIs. If you still do not wish to upgrade, you can login to the Developer Console and cancel your free trial and account right then and there. 

If you have any other questions or need assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our developer support team. We are here to ensure you receive the help you need. Thank you for your understanding and continued support.

Sincerely,
The RingCentral Team