# Quick Pay Checkout works with Sandbox Credentials... But Not Production Credentials

**URL:** <https://developer.squareup.com/forums/t/quick-pay-checkout-works-with-sandbox-credentials-but-not-production-credentials/23209>\
**Category:** Questions\
**Tags:** checkout-api, sandbox\
**Created:** [July 14, 2025, 2:54pm UTC](https://developer.squareup.com/forums/t/quick-pay-checkout-works-with-sandbox-credentials-but-not-production-credentials/23209 "2025-07-14T14:54:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gary1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gary1](https://developer.squareup.com/forums/u/Gary1)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 2:54pm UTC](https://developer.squareup.com/forums/t/quick-pay-checkout-works-with-sandbox-credentials-but-not-production-credentials/23209/1 "2025-07-14T14:54:53Z")

</div>

I’m using the Quick Pay Checkout API, and it works from start to finish when using my Sandbox Access token and Sandbox Location ID. The payment link opens the “Checkout API Sandbox Testing Panel” as follows…

(1) Overview: I then click _Next_…  
(2) Test Payment: I then click _Test Payment_…  
(3) Checkout Complete: it says “_your test payment was **successful**._”

I can then see these test transactions in my Sandbox test account under “_Transactions_”. Also, if I click “_Preview Checkout_”, the card details payment page appears as it should do.

Screenshots available if you think that could help? I’m also happy for you to log in to my account to see what you can find.

At this stage I’m feeling pretty excited, ready to go live, and so in my code I replaced the Sandbox Access token with the Production Access token, and I replaced the Sandbox Location ID with the Production Location ID, but I then get the following…

`{ "errors": [{ "category": "AUTHENTICATION_ERROR", "code": "UNAUTHORIZED", "detail": "This request could not be authorized." }] }`

Please can you advise what I can try? Needless to say when I change my Access token and Location ID back to Sandbox, it works perfectly again.

Is it just the changing of the Access token and Location ID that’s required? Or am I missing something?

Here’s my code but I suspect that’s probably not the cause…

```php
include 'basket_class_definition.php';

session_start();

$access_token="Production_Access_Token"; // Production Token
//$access_token="Sandbox_Access_Token"; // Sandbox Token

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://connect.squareupsandbox.com/v2/online-checkout/payment-links");
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POST, "true");
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, array('authorization: Bearer ' . $access_token, 'content-type: application/json', 'Square-Version: 2025-06-18'));
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);

$payment_as_integer = (int)($_SESSION['checkout_costs']->grand_total * 100);

$unique_value = uniqid();

$body = array(
  "idempotency_key" => $unique_value,
  "quick_pay" => array(
  "name" => "Test Order", "price_money" => array(
  "amount" => $payment_as_integer, "currency" => "GBP"),
  "location_id" => "Production_Location_ID")
);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, json_encode($body));

$response = curl_exec($curl);
curl_close($curl);
echo "$response";

```

Thank you, Gary.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Square-Dev-AI](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/square/forums/user_avatar/developer.squareup.com/square-dev-ai/32/2513_2.png) [@Square-Dev-AI](https://developer.squareup.com/forums/u/Square-Dev-AI)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 2:55pm UTC](https://developer.squareup.com/forums/t/quick-pay-checkout-works-with-sandbox-credentials-but-not-production-credentials/23209/2 "2025-07-14T14:55:07Z")

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👋 I’m Square Dev AI, here to help answer your question!  
Based on the information you’ve provided, the following documentation will help answer your question:

> **[Test in the Sandbox](https://developer.squareup.com/docs/devtools/sandbox/testing)**
>
> A quick reference for walkthroughs for various Square APIs that use the Sandbox for testing.

> **[Make your First API Call](https://developer.squareup.com/docs/get-started/make-api-request)**
>
> Learn how to get started and make a Square API request.

> **Additional Documentation**
>
> [Test Authorization with Web Server](https://developer.squareup.com/docs/oauth-api/build-with-oauth)  
> [Sandbox Payments](https://developer.squareup.com/docs/devtools/sandbox/payments)  
> [Square Sandbox](https://developer.squareup.com/docs/devtools/sandbox/overview)

If this documentation helped you find a solution, please check the box indicating that this reply solves the problem.  
Otherwise one of our Developer Advocates will provide additional assistance shortly.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Square-Dev-AI](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/square/forums/user_avatar/developer.squareup.com/square-dev-ai/32/2513_2.png) [@Square-Dev-AI](https://developer.squareup.com/forums/u/Square-Dev-AI)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 7:20pm UTC](https://developer.squareup.com/forums/t/quick-pay-checkout-works-with-sandbox-credentials-but-not-production-credentials/23209/3 "2025-07-14T19:20:11Z")

</div>

The issue you’re encountering is likely due to the use of the incorrect base URL for production requests. When switching from the Sandbox to the Production environment, you need to change the base URL from `https://connect.squareupsandbox.com` to `https://connect.squareup.com`.

Here are the steps you should follow to resolve the issue:

1. **Update the Base URL** : Change the base URL in your cURL request from `https://connect.squareupsandbox.com/v2/online-checkout/payment-links` to `https://connect.squareup.com/v2/online-checkout/payment-links`.

2. **Use Production Credentials** : Ensure that you are using the correct Production Access Token and Production Location ID. Double-check these values in your Square Developer Dashboard under the production settings for your application.

3. **Verify Permissions** : Make sure that your production application has the necessary permissions enabled to perform the actions you’re trying to execute. This can be checked in the OAuth permissions section of your application settings.

4. **Check API Version** : Ensure that the `Square-Version` header is set to a valid API version that is supported in production.

By making these adjustments, your requests should be properly authenticated in the production environment. If you continue to experience issues, double-check that all credentials and settings are correctly configured for production use.

_This answer was reviewed by @Bryan-Square._

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gary1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gary1](https://developer.squareup.com/forums/u/Gary1)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 4:57am UTC](https://developer.squareup.com/forums/t/quick-pay-checkout-works-with-sandbox-credentials-but-not-production-credentials/23209/4 "2025-07-15T04:57:36Z")

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Square-Dev-AI you are correct! I.e. the base URL I was using is incorrect.

It’s now working for production via curl functions, so thank you, even though you’re a bot 🤩

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gary1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gary1](https://developer.squareup.com/forums/u/Gary1)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2025, 1:26pm UTC](https://developer.squareup.com/forums/t/quick-pay-checkout-works-with-sandbox-credentials-but-not-production-credentials/23209/5 "2025-07-17T13:26:57Z")

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For anyone interested in using -X POST bash code like shown in Square Explorer, but you don’t have [shell\_exec()](https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.shell-exec.php) enabled, see post 9 just here: [HTTPS via curl\_init() versus HTTPS via -X POST - Questions - Square Developer Forums](https://developer.squareup.com/forums/t/https-via-curl-init-versus-https-via-x-post/23203/9)