Gemini sandbox API: testing Autoview before you trade live
Gemini's sandbox is a separate, fully working copy of the exchange, funded with test balances instead of real money, and Autoview connects to it as its own exchange option, Gemini Sandbox, priced at $0. If you want to prove a new alert or a new command works before it touches real funds, this is the account to connect first.
Gemini Sandbox is a separate account, not a mode inside your live account. You register a new account at exchange.sandbox.gemini.com and create its API key there, entirely apart from your live Gemini login.
What Gemini Sandbox is
Gemini runs its sandbox as a genuinely separate exchange, reachable at exchange.sandbox.gemini.com rather than the live exchange.gemini.com. Registering there creates a new account, auto-funded with test balances -- $100,000 USD and 1,000 BTC among them -- so you can place orders that look and behave like real fills without risking anything.
On Autoview, this shows up as its own exchange connection, Gemini Sandbox, priced at $0. It's a first-class connection, not a setting on your live Gemini account -- you add it separately, with its own API key, and it can run alongside your live Gemini connection or entirely on its own.
Register the sandbox account and create its API key
Two steps happen on Gemini before you touch Autoview:
- Go to
exchange.sandbox.gemini.comand register a new account. It's separate from any live Gemini account you already have -- there's nothing to link or import. - Once you're in, open Settings > API on that same sandbox site and create a new API key there.
This separation matters more than it sounds like it should. A live Gemini API key was never issued for the sandbox environment, so it doesn't authenticate against api.sandbox.gemini.com. If your connection fails, the first thing to check is whether the key actually came from the sandbox site rather than your live account's API page.
Grant the sandbox key trading permissions, the same as you would live. Gemini shows the API secret once, so copy both the key and the secret before you leave that screen.
Connect it to Autoview
In Autoview, add an account and choose Gemini Sandbox from the exchange list rather than Gemini. The form asks for the same two fields as a live Gemini connection:
- API Key: the public half the sandbox site displayed.
- API Secret: the private half it showed only once.
Paste the sandbox key's two values in, save, and run the connection test. A clean test means the sandbox key authenticated against the sandbox environment.
Sending commands: what changes, what doesn't
The command syntax is identical to live Gemini. Symbols, order types, and sizing all work the same way as the live Gemini setup describes; only the account and the funds behind it differ.
The one thing that changes is how the Chrome extension picks the exchange. On the webhook platform, a webhook is already tied to whichever account you connected it to, so you never set an exchange in the command itself. On the extension, swap e=GEMINI for e=GEMINISANDBOX (or the equivalent e=GEMINI-SANDBOX):
| Live Gemini (extension) | Gemini Sandbox (extension) |
|---|---|
e=GEMINI s=BTCUSD b=buy p=-5% q=1 | e=GEMINISANDBOX s=BTCUSD b=buy p=-5% q=1 |
Add d=1 to any command first, on sandbox the same as live, and Autoview parses it and reports what it would have done without placing anything. Worth doing even on sandbox funds, since it's the fastest way to confirm the resolved order matches what you meant before you check it against the fill on Gemini's sandbox.
What the sandbox actually accepts: market, limit, stop, and cancellation
Gemini's sandbox runs the same order code as live Gemini, so the same limits apply. There's no separate "market order" type on the wire: a t=market command still submits a limit order priced to cross immediately, at the current ask for a buy or the current bid for a sell. t=ioc, t=fok, and t=post map onto Gemini's own order options (immediate-or-cancel, fill-or-kill, maker-or-cancel).
Symbol precision and minimum size aren't fixed across every pair. Autoview reads them from Gemini's own /symbols response for each pair you trade, so BTCUSD and a smaller-cap pair can round differently. Fire a d=1 dry run first and check the resolved size and price in the log if you're unsure.
A single stop leg is supported: adding fpx= or px= sends a stop-limit order with one trigger price. There's no bracket or OCO field for Gemini in Autoview, live or sandbox, so a command written like a bracket doesn't get rejected outright. It sends only the stop leg and silently has nothing to carry a take-profit through. If your strategy needs both a stop and a target on Gemini, send them as two separate alerts.
Cancellation works the same way on sandbox as live: c=order hits Gemini's own cancel endpoint. c=all is not available on Gemini and returns a "not implemented" error. There's no separate sandbox cancellation behavior to account for.
Once sandbox looks right
A working Gemini Sandbox connection proves your command syntax and your alert wiring. It doesn't carry over to your live account's own API key or permissions -- those live on the regular Gemini site, so you'll still walk through the live setup on its own terms. When you're ready, follow the getting started with Gemini guide to create a live API key and run the same dry-run-then-live check at a small size.