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OTP Test Mode

Test mode allows for control over how OTPs are handled during development and testing.

Common use cases include:

  • Internal testing (e.g. Allowing specific accounts to authenticate with fixed codes for ease of testing).
  • Testing SMS, WhatsApp, or email login via OTP, but don't want to rely on the actual OTP delivery.
  • App Store Reviewers. See Tips for Apple App Store Review with Passwordless Login.

How to enable test mode

In your portal, navigate to Advanced > Edit Config

Then add the following to the yaml:

test_mode:
  oob_otp:          # rules defined below apply to all OOB channels (email, sms, whatsapp)
    enabled: true
    rules:
    - regex: .*
      fixed_code: "000000" 
  sms:              # channel specific rules defined here
    enabled: true
    rules:
    - regex: .*
      suppressed: true

How this works

  • regex: Defines target emails/phone numbers the rule applies to using a regular expression
  • fixed_code: A 6-digit code accepted as the OTP for targets
  • suppressed: false by default. If true, messages will not be sent to the target
  • enabled
  • Set to true to enable test mode
  • false by default. This means the OTP flow will work as expected, and fixed codes will not be accepted for the channel.

Examples

Case 1: Development

In development, you may want to use a fixed code for testing.

test_mode:
  oob_otp:
    enabled: true
    rules:
    - regex: .*
      fixed_code: "000000"
  sms:
    enabled: true
    rules:
    - regex: ^\+85291231234$ # SMS not suppressed for +85291231234
    - regex: .*
      suppressed: true
  whatsapp:
    enabled: true
    rules:
    - regex: .*
      suppressed: true
  email:
    enabled: true
    rules:
    - regex: .*
      suppressed: true

In this case,

  • The rule in oob_otp matches all target so a fixed OTP 000000 will be used.
  • SMS is not suppressed for +85291231234 only. They will receive 000000 via SMS so the SMS sending capability can be tested.
  • No messages will be sent to WhatsApp or email channels

Note

Since rules are evaluated top to bottom, always order them from most to least specific.

If the rules in sms were reversed in the example above, the .* regex would match all accounts first, making more specific rules unreachable.

Case 2: App review

During app review, you can enable "test mode" for a specific phone number or email address that allows the account to authenticate with a fixed OTP. So this account can be shared with the app reviewer to complete the passwordless login flow

test_mode:
  oob_otp:
    enabled: true
    rules:
    - regex: ^\+85291231234$
      fixed_code: "000000"
  sms:
    enabled: true
    rules:
    - regex: ^\+85291231234$
      suppressed: true
  whatsapp:
    enabled: true
    rules:
    - regex: ^\+85291231234$
      suppressed: true

In this example,

  • Only +85291231234 can be passed with the fixed code 000000 and other accounts should use real OTP.
  • SMS and WhatsApp are suppressed for +85291231234