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Environments#

CMDS runs in three separate environments - Test, Demo, and Live - each serving a different purpose. Understanding what each one is for will help you know which one to log in to and what you can expect when you do.

Why three environments?#

Running CMDS as a single "one size fits all" system would be risky. New features could affect real learners mid-course; a developer testing a change could accidentally touch live records; there'd be nowhere safe to practice before rolling something out.

Separating the three jobs - building, previewing, and running - gives each its own space:

  • Developers can build and break things without consequence.
  • You can preview new features and practise workflows before they affect your people.
  • Your real learners work in a stable environment with their real data.

All three environments run the same software. What differs is the audience, the data, and how stable things are.

Test#

For the development team and for integrators. This is the workspace where our developers build and validate new features. Code changes appear here first, often several times a day. Data resets frequently and nothing here is considered permanent.

If you are building an integration against the CMDS API, build and test it here, against https://test-api.cmds.app, before you point it at Live. Otherwise you generally won't be invited to Test unless you're actively working with our team on a feature or debugging something. It's noisy and experimental, and not meant for everyday customer work.

Demo#

For you to preview and practise. Demo is where each release lands about a week before it goes Live. If you want to see a new feature before your learners do, or rehearse a training program, or explore a configuration change safely, Demo is the place.

Demo uses a separate dataset from Live. Nothing you do here affects your real users, and nothing they do affects you. It's a safe place to poke around, make mistakes, and learn.

To log in to Demo, choose your organization on the Demo links page.

Tip: check What's new in CMDS to see when each release will appear in Demo.

Live#

For your real users. Live is the production environment your learners, validators, and administrators use every day. It holds your real data - completions, certificates, registrations - and it's the environment your reports and integrations pull from.

Live is the most stable environment. Updates only arrive after a release has spent a week in Demo, giving our team and yours time to catch anything that needs attention before real users see it.

To log in to Live, choose your organization on the Partners page.

Quick comparison#

Environment Audience Data Stability
Test Development team, integrators Throwaway Low
Demo You, for previewing & practice Separate Medium
Live Your real learners Real data High

Which one do I log in to?#

  • Doing your normal work? Use Live.
  • Want to try a new feature, practise a workflow, or test a setting? Use Demo.
  • Building an integration against the API? Use Test (https://test-api.cmds.app), then move to Live.
  • Working with our development team on a specific issue? Use Test (we'll point you there).

If you're unsure, start with Live.