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Freshworks Enterprise tier includes a sandbox environment per product. It is not a perfect mirror of production. Treating it as one will burn you. Treating it as a configuration scratchpad with deliberate sync windows works.

What the sandbox is good for

  • Testing workflow automator changes
  • Validating new dispatcher rules
  • Trying out custom field changes before promoting
  • Marketplace app installation testing
  • Training new admins

What the sandbox is not good for

  • Load testing (rate limits are lower)
  • Realistic data scenarios (sample data is sparse)
  • Integration testing with production-only third parties
  • Email deliverability verification (sandbox uses test domains)

Refresh cadence

Sandbox refreshes from production are manual and overwrite local changes. Plan a refresh schedule and communicate it. Weekly is too often; monthly is usually right. Pre-refresh, export anything you want to keep.

Refresh checklist:
  - Export sandbox-only configurations
  - Snapshot current workflows
  - Notify team 24 hours ahead
  - Refresh during low-activity window
  - Re-import sandbox-only configs

Promotion path

There is no native “promote from sandbox to production” button for most artifacts. You re-create the configuration in production manually, or use the API to scripted-deploy. Document the artifacts you have changed in a ticketed change request.

API-driven promotion

For workflow automator rules, custom fields, and dispatcher rules, the API supports create/update. Build a small CI script that reads YAML definitions and applies them.

// promote-workflow.js
const def = yaml.load(fs.readFileSync("./workflows/sla-warning.yaml"));
await freshdesk.workflows.create(def);

Marketplace apps in sandbox

Install apps in sandbox first. Some apps require the production URL for OAuth callbacks; reconfigure post-promotion. Document this per app.

Configuration drift

Without discipline, sandbox and production drift apart. Schedule a quarterly diff: pull both configs via API, compare. Surprises here are bugs waiting to happen.

What to do this week

Set the monthly refresh window, document your top 10 workflow rules in YAML for repeatable promotion, and run the quarterly config diff for the first time.

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