Infrastructure

Environments

The 3PLGuys API provides two separate environments. Use sandbox for development and testing, then switch to production when your integration is ready to go live.

Production

https://api.3plguys.com

Live data and real shipments. Rate limits apply based on your plan. Use your production OAuth credentials.

Sandbox

https://sandbox.3plguys.com

Isolated test environment with separate data and credentials. Ideal for development, integration testing, and debugging.

Comparison

Feature	Sandbox	Production
Base URL	sandbox.3plguys.com	api.3plguys.com
Data	Test data — safe to create/delete freely	Live data — real inventory and shipments
Rate Limits	1,000 requests/hour	Varies by plan
Authentication	Separate sandbox OAuth credentials	Production OAuth credentials
Shipments	Not processed by warehouse	Processed and fulfilled

Making Requests

All API endpoints use the same paths in both environments. Simply change the base URL to switch between them.

Sandbox

curl -X GET https://sandbox.3plguys.com/v0/shipments \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <sandbox_token>"

Production

curl -X GET https://api.3plguys.com/v0/shipments \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <production_token>"

Environment Switching Pattern

Keep environment configuration in a single variable to simplify switching:

Node.js

const BASE_URL = process.env.NODE_ENV === "production"
  ? "https://api.3plguys.com"
  : "https://sandbox.3plguys.com";

// All API calls use BASE_URL
const res = await fetch(`${BASE_URL}/v0/shipments`, {
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` },
});

Python

import os

BASE_URL = (
    "https://api.3plguys.com"
    if os.environ.get("ENV") == "production"
    else "https://sandbox.3plguys.com"
)

res = httpx.get(f"{BASE_URL}/v0/shipments", headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {token}"})

Go-Live Checklist

Test the full shipment lifecycle in sandbox (create → configure → submit → track)

Verify token refresh works automatically without user re-authorization

Handle all error codes gracefully (400, 401, 404, 429)

Swap to production OAuth credentials and base URL

Store secrets in environment variables or a secrets manager

Important

Sandbox and production use completely separate databases — data does not sync between them.
OAuth credentials are environment-specific. A sandbox token will not work in production and vice versa.
Test your full integration flow in sandbox before going live.

Authentication

Shipments