# Prerequisites and readiness

> Confirm that your account, division, processor, credentials, and storefront are ready for a Custom Cart integration.

Source: https://help.boltapp.com/custom-cart/prerequisites

<span id="the-checklist" />

## Readiness checklist [#readiness-checklist]

Complete these requirements in sandbox before writing integration code.

| Requirement                           | Owner        | Ready when                                                                         |
| ------------------------------------- | ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Merchant account and sandbox access   | You and Bolt | You can sign in to the intended merchant account in sandbox                        |
| Custom Cart division and capabilities | Bolt         | Bolt has confirmed the division and the capabilities required by your flow         |
| Payment processor and currencies      | Bolt         | The processor accepts every currency you will test                                 |
| Sandbox credentials                   | You          | You have an API key, signing secret, and publishable key for the intended division |
| Trusted Domains for web               | You          | Every host that will open Bolt Checkout is registered                              |

## Merchant account and sandbox access [#merchant-account-and-sandbox-access]

Sign in to the [Sandbox Merchant Dashboard](https://merchant-sandbox.boltapp.com) and select the merchant account you will use for development. If your company does not have a Bolt merchant account, [start merchant onboarding](https://merchant.boltapp.com/onboarding/get-started).

<span id="why-the-division-matters" />

## Division and processor readiness [#division-and-processor-readiness]

### Custom Cart capabilities [#custom-cart-capabilities]

Ask your Bolt onboarding or Customer Success contact to confirm that the division is configured for Custom Cart and has the capabilities your checkout will use:

* Merchant Callbacks, including the Universal Merchant API if one URL will handle multiple events
* Transaction webhooks
* Split shipping and tax, if you will calculate them with separate callbacks
* Pre-authorization order creation, if your flow requires it

<Note>
  There is no API-key-authenticated endpoint that reports the division's platform or enabled capabilities. Do not infer readiness from an API key or a working sandbox order.
</Note>

### Processor and currencies [#processor-and-currencies]

Ask your Bolt onboarding contact to confirm that a payment processor is connected to the division and configured for every currency your storefront accepts. A connected processor is not necessarily configured for every purchase currency.

If order creation later returns `currency_not_supported` for a currency Bolt supports, ask Bolt to check the processor configuration before changing your cart.

<span id="verify-what-you-can" />

## Credentials and division ID [#credentials-and-division-id]

Follow [API keys](/getting-started/api-keys) to obtain these values from **Administration > API**:

* **API key:** Authenticates server requests.
* **Signing secret:** Verifies Merchant Callback and transaction webhook requests.
* **Publishable key:** Initializes the web or mobile client and identifies its division.

Keep the API key and signing secret in your backend secret manager. Do not put either secret in browser or mobile code.

### Find your division ID [#find-your-division-id]

The division ID used by later callback and webhook requests is the second dot-separated segment of the publishable key:

```text title="Text"
EXAMPLEKEY01.DIVISIONID01.0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef
             ^^^^^^^^^^^^
             division ID
```

<span id="run-the-checks" />

At this stage, confirm that all three credentials come from sandbox and that the publishable key identifies the intended division. You will verify registered callbacks and webhooks after configuring them in the later server integration guides.

## Trusted Domains [#trusted-domains]

For a web storefront, register every host that will open Bolt Checkout under **Administration > Trusted Domains**. Include staging hosts, CNAMEs, regional domains, and every production host.

Follow [Register Trusted Domains](/dashboard/account/trusted-domains/) for the dashboard steps. Register production domains before launch rather than relying on a checkout that works from a sandbox development host.

## Environments and hostnames [#environments-and-hostnames]

Start in sandbox. Sandbox and production credentials, transactions, and client resources are separate.

| Environment | Dashboard                      | API                       | Checkout scripts              |
| ----------- | ------------------------------ | ------------------------- | ----------------------------- |
| Sandbox     | `merchant-sandbox.boltapp.com` | `api-sandbox.boltapp.com` | `connect-sandbox.boltapp.com` |
| Production  | `merchant.boltapp.com`         | `api.boltapp.com`         | `connect.boltapp.com`         |

See [Environments](/api-reference/environments) for the complete environment reference.

## Next [#next]

When every checklist row is ready, [create an order token](/custom-cart/create-order-token) in sandbox.