> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cedarai.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Sandbox

> Practice in a copy of your live ARMS data without changing production.

Sandbox is a copy of your railroad's ARMS data. Use it when you want to try something that would be risky on the live railroad — a setting, a car action, a note, a new view — and then go back to production unchanged.

You stay signed in with the same account. The header tells you which world you are in.

***

## Enter and exit

The soccer-ball button appears in the ARMS header when sandbox is available for the railroad you currently have selected.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Look for Enter sandbox">In the header, click the soccer-ball button labeled **Enter sandbox**. ARMS reloads into the copy.</Step>
  <Step title="Confirm the header">The header turns blue and shows **Sandbox Environment**. Until you leave, every ARMS screen you open is the copy — not live.</Step>
  <Step title="Leave when you are done">Click **Exit sandbox**. ARMS reloads back to live production. Your live inventory, settings, and notes are unchanged.</Step>
</Steps>

<Info>
  Sandbox is saved in this browser until you click **Exit sandbox**. A new browser, a private window, or another computer
  starts you on live production unless you enter sandbox there too.
</Info>

While you are in sandbox, **Last refreshed …** appears next to the button. That is how old the copy is relative to live (for example, "Last refreshed 3 hours ago"). Hover the text to see the exact time.

Cedar refreshes the copy from live from time to time. After a refresh, practice changes in sandbox are gone and the copy matches live again. Write down any setting or view you want to recreate on production.

***

## When to use sandbox

These are things sandbox is built for. In each case you are working on the copy, and live production does not change.

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Try a setting before turning it on for the railroad" icon="gear" defaultOpen>
    [Carrier settings](/user-docs/arms/ops/settings#carrier-settings), [button visibility](/user-docs/arms/ops/settings#button-visibility-and-permissions), and [equipment notes behavior](/user-docs/arms/ops/settings#equipment-notes-behavior) all live with your railroad's ARMS data. In sandbox you can flip them, then walk the screens they affect.

    Examples that stay in the copy:

    * Turn on **customer disputes** and see the dispute screens without enabling them for live customers
    * Change **commodity attributes on billing forms**, **weight retention on bills**, or **cleanout / shrink on a commodity move**, then open a bill or move and check the form
    * Switch equipment notes from **per-equipment** to **per-trip** (or the reverse) and see how notes behave on a car
    * Hide inventory actions your team never uses, and confirm the toolbar still makes sense

    Exit sandbox when you are done. Production still has the old setting. If you like what you saw, turn the same setting on in live — it does not copy over by itself.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Walk through a car action on a copy of a real car" icon="train">
    [Inventory](/user-docs/arms/ops/inventory) in sandbox shows the same cars as live at last refresh. Select a car, use the action toolbar, and go through a move, a restencil, a bill, or a waybill print the way you would on a busy day.

    The car on production does not move. Connecting railroads are not notified. Use this to learn the screens or to check "what does this button ask for?" — not to complete a real interchange or delivery with another railroad.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Leave a practice note without cluttering live records" icon="note-sticky">
    [Notes](/user-docs/arms/ops/notes) in sandbox are a separate thread. Open a shipment or a car, write a handoff note, attach a photo, or `@` mention another record.

    After you **Exit sandbox**, that note is not on the live record, and live notes are not in sandbox. Anyone else who is also in sandbox for your railroad **can** see it — the copy is shared.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Train someone on your actual cars and customers" icon="chalkboard-user">
    A new operator can enter sandbox and work through Inventory, Shipments, and Waybills against your real marks and customers, as of last refresh, without touching the day's live work.

    Stay in sandbox together if you are walking through it side by side. You are on the same copy: their practice move is what you will see too.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Build a view or filter without changing live lists" icon="table-columns">
    Saved [views](/user-docs/arms/ops/views-and-export) you create or edit in sandbox stay in sandbox. Try columns, sorts, and filters on Inventory or Shipments until the list looks right.

    Recreate the view on production after you **Exit sandbox**. It does not appear on live lists by itself.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<Warning>
  Sandbox is **shared for your railroad**, not private to you. If two people click **Enter sandbox**, they are looking at
  the same copy. One person's practice move, setting change, or note is visible to the other.
</Warning>

***

## What sandbox does not do

Sandbox is for trying screens and data. It is not a second production railroad.

* **Other railroads are not contacted.** Sandbox does not send EDI or other messages to Railinc or a connecting carrier. Do not use **Send 404** or a live interchange as a test.
* **Timed production jobs do not run here.** [Scheduled paperwork](/user-docs/arms/ops/settings#scheduled-paperwork) you configure in sandbox will not email anyone. Inbound railroad messages are not processed. Overnight cleanup such as [stale inventory](/user-docs/arms/stale-inventory-cleanup) does not run. You can still open those settings to see how the forms work.
* **Users and roles are not a copy.** The [Admin Portal](/user-docs/arms/ops/admin) is always production. Do not add or remove people in sandbox as a trial.
* **Customer-facing documents** should be sent from production. A bill or waybill you create in sandbox is practice.
* **The copy can be behind live.** Anything that happened on production after **Last refreshed** is not in sandbox yet.

<Tip>
  Need to confirm a production number, a live note, or a car that just arrived? Click **Exit sandbox** first. The blue
  **Sandbox Environment** label is the reminder.
</Tip>

***

## If you do not see Enter sandbox

The soccer-ball button only appears when sandbox is up for the railroad you have selected.

* Switch to the railroad you want to practice on, then check the header again.
* If the button is still missing, sandbox is not enabled for that railroad yet — ask your Cedar contact.
* If you click **Enter sandbox** and see an error that ARMS could not enter sandbox, you are left on live production. Try again, or contact support.

***

## Related pages

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Settings" icon="gear" href="/user-docs/arms/ops/settings">
    Try carrier settings and button visibility in sandbox before turning them on live.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Inventory" icon="train-subway" href="/user-docs/arms/ops/inventory">
    Practice car actions on a copy of your real cars.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Notes" icon="note-sticky" href="/user-docs/arms/ops/notes">
    Notes written in sandbox stay in sandbox.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Views & Export" icon="table-columns" href="/user-docs/arms/ops/views-and-export">
    Saved views you build in sandbox do not change live lists.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


## Related topics

- [Notes](/user-docs/arms/ops/notes.md)