Sandbox and test keys

Develop against ASIC sample data for free with asicapi test keys, learn how placeholder names and images behave, and simulate errors with valid test ACNs.

The asicapi sandbox lets you build and test an ASIC integration without paying statutory fees. Requests made with an asicapi_test_ key run against ASIC's sample client, a special account ASIC gives information brokers for testing and demonstrations. The register structure, codes, dates and document lists are real, but names of commercial value are replaced with placeholders, no fees are levied, and document images are only served for ASIC's public sample company 009 136 109. Everything else, from the URL paths to the error codes, is identical to production.

Using the sandbox

Create a test key in the dashboard and use it exactly like a live key against the same base URL. The sandbox follows the same three tiers as production (see free lookups, extracts and orders): free lookups are free, a purchase returns 201 with a real extract id, and an order returns 202. The only difference is that meta.billable is always false. Purchase a company extract first, then read it.

Request

curl -X POST https://api.asicapi.dev/v1/companies/009136109/extracts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer asicapi_test_5Kx2mQ9pL7vN3rT8wY1zB4cD6fG0hJ" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "type": "current" }'

Response (201 Created, abridged)

{
  "object": "extract",
  "id": "ext_01J9ABTEST0001",
  "kind": "company",
  "type": "current",
  "subject": {
    "acn": "009136109",
    "formatted": "009 136 109",
    "numberType": { "code": "ACN", "label": "Australian Company Number" },
    "name": "ASIC SAMPLE COMPANY PTY LTD",
    "type": { "code": "APTY", "label": "Australian Proprietary Company" },
    "status": { "code": "REGD", "label": "Registered" },
    "abn": null,
    "registeredCharity": false
  },
  "purchasedAt": "2026-09-04T03:12:44Z",
  "asOf": "2026-09-04T03:12:41Z",
  "expiresAt": "2027-09-04T03:12:44Z",
  "officeholders": [
    {
      "object": "officeholder",
      "role": { "code": "DR", "label": "Director" },
      "status": { "code": "C", "label": "Current" },
      "appointedAt": "2012-06-18",
      "ceasedAt": null,
      "party": {
        "type": "person",
        "person": { "familyName": "FAMILY NAME", "givenNames": ["GIVEN NAME1", "GIVEN NAME2"], "formatted": "GIVEN NAME1 GIVEN NAME2 FAMILY NAME" },
        "birth": { "date": "1970-01-01", "locality": "LOCALITY", "stateOrCountry": "NSW" },
        "organisation": null
      },
      "address": { "careOf": null, "line1": null, "street": "1 SAMPLE STREET", "locality": "SYDNEY", "state": "NSW", "postcode": "2000", "country": "AUSTRALIA" },
      "sourceDocument": { "documentNumber": "0E5123456", "qualifier": null },
      "cessationDocuments": [],
      "court": null
    }
  ],
  "meta": { "billable": false, "product": null, "requestId": "req_01J8ZKJ7J2K6L0" }
}

The extract is stored and readable for 12 months like a live one, so the section endpoints now work for this company.

Request

curl https://api.asicapi.dev/v1/companies/009136109/officeholders \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer asicapi_test_5Kx2mQ9pL7vN3rT8wY1zB4cD6fG0hJ"

Response

{
  "object": "list",
  "data": [
    {
      "object": "officeholder",
      "role": { "code": "DR", "label": "Director" },
      "status": { "code": "C", "label": "Current" },
      "appointedAt": "2012-06-18",
      "ceasedAt": null,
      "party": {
        "type": "person",
        "person": { "familyName": "FAMILY NAME", "givenNames": ["GIVEN NAME1", "GIVEN NAME2"], "formatted": "GIVEN NAME1 GIVEN NAME2 FAMILY NAME" },
        "birth": { "date": "1970-01-01", "locality": "LOCALITY", "stateOrCountry": "NSW" },
        "organisation": null
      },
      "address": {
        "careOf": null,
        "line1": null,
        "street": "1 SAMPLE STREET",
        "locality": "SYDNEY",
        "state": "NSW",
        "postcode": "2000",
        "country": "AUSTRALIA"
      },
      "sourceDocument": { "documentNumber": "0E5123456", "qualifier": null },
      "cessationDocuments": [],
      "court": null
    }
  ],
  "hasMore": false,
  "nextCursor": null,
  "totalCount": null,
  "extract": { "id": "ext_01J9ABTEST0001", "type": "current", "purchasedAt": "2026-09-04T03:12:44Z", "asOf": "2026-09-04T03:12:41Z" },
  "meta": { "billable": false, "product": null, "requestId": "req_01J8ZKJ8K3L7M1" }
}

Skip the purchase and the section endpoint returns 402 extract_required exactly as it would in production, which makes the sandbox the right place to test your buy-then-read handling.

How sample data differs from live data

Aspect	Sandbox behaviour
Names	Office holder, member and related party names are replaced with placeholders such as `FAMILY NAME, GIVEN NAME1`. Company names are returned as held
Fees	Never charged. Every response has `"meta": { "billable": false, "product": null }`, including the `201` from a purchase and the `202` from an order
Extracts	Purchases succeed and return a real `ext_` id. The extract is stored for 12 months and readable through `GET /v1/extracts/{id}` and the section endpoints, with placeholder names
Document images	Available only for documents belonging to company 009 136 109. Image orders for any other document return `document_not_imaged`
Charges extract orders	Available only for company 009 136 109
Weekly summaries	Not served by ASIC's sample client. Every `/v1/weekly-summaries/{type}` request returns `403 sandbox_product_unavailable`
People search	Works, with placeholder names in results and extracts
Registers	Browse and extract work with placeholder names
Offline searches	Accepted and delivered, with placeholder data
Webhooks	Delivered normally to endpoints configured for the test environment
Rate limits	Same as live: 600 requests per minute, 20 concurrent

Because names are placeholders, write your tests against structure (field presence, codes, dates, counts) rather than against specific name strings. Codes and labels are real, so role.code === 'DR' is a stable assertion; party.person.familyName === 'SMITH' is not.

Sample data is still ASIC data

The sandbox reads ASIC's register with names masked, so registration dates, statuses and document lists reflect the real records for the ACNs you query. Do not assume a company in the sandbox is fictional.

Test ACNs

ASIC publishes these numbers as valid ACNs for check digit testing. Each passes the mod 10 weighted check and is accepted by every endpoint; whether ASIC holds a record behind it varies, which makes the set useful for exercising both the success and the company_not_found path.


000 000 019	000 250 000	000 500 005	000 750 005
001 000 004	001 250 004	001 500 009	001 749 999
001 999 999	002 249 998	002 499 998	002 749 993
002 999 993	003 249 992	003 499 992	003 749 988
003 999 988	004 249 987	004 499 987	004 749 982
004 999 982	005 249 981	005 499 981	005 749 986
005 999 977	006 249 976	006 499 976	006 749 980
006 999 980	007 249 989	007 499 989	007 749 975
007 999 975	008 249 974	008 499 974	008 749 979
008 999 979	009 249 969	009 499 969	009 749 964
009 999 964	010 249 966	010 499 966	010 749 961

Two more numbers are worth knowing:

009 136 109 is ASIC's public sample company. Its document list, document images and charges extract all work in the sandbox, so use it for any end-to-end test that needs a PDF.
004 085 616 is the worked example in ASIC's check digit algorithm and is used throughout these docs.

The check digit algorithm: weight the first eight digits 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, sum the products, take the remainder mod 10, and subtract it from 10 (a result of 10 becomes 0). For 004 085 616 the products sum to 84, the remainder is 4, and 10 minus 4 gives the check digit 6. ARBNs use the same formula. GET /v1/identifiers/{value} runs this for you.

Simulating errors

Most errors can be triggered with ordinary requests. For conditions that depend on ASIC's state, the sandbox accepts an X-Sandbox-Simulate header naming the error code to return.

Error to reproduce	How
`acn_invalid`	Request `/v1/companies/004085617` (last digit changed)
`company_not_found`	Request a test ACN ASIC holds no record for, for example `/v1/companies/001749999`
`abn_invalid`	Request `/v1/companies/53004085617`
`abn_not_acn_based`	Request an 11-digit ABN whose last nine digits fail the ACN check
`no_matches`	Search `q=ZZZZQQQQ%20PTY%20LTD&exact=true`
`too_many_matches`	Search `q=PTY` with `scope=everything-current-and-deregistered`
`name_invalid_characters`	People search with `familyName=SMITH.`
`extract_required`	Call `/v1/companies/{id}/officeholders` for a company you have not purchased an extract for, or request `status=all` while holding only a current extract
`extract_expired`	`X-Sandbox-Simulate: extract_expired` on `GET /v1/extracts/{id}` or a section endpoint
`extract_unavailable_for_type`	Purchase an extract for an ASIC identifier that belongs to a business name
`search_expired`	Use a person id from a search made more than 30 days ago, or send `X-Sandbox-Simulate: search_expired`
`document_not_imaged`	Order an image for any document not belonging to 009 136 109
`page_range_invalid`	Order pages 1 to 99 of a four-page document
`document_too_large_for_delivery`	Order with `delivery.method=email` and send `X-Sandbox-Simulate: document_too_large_for_delivery`
`sandbox_product_unavailable`	Request any weekly summary
`product_not_enabled`	Search with `jurisdiction=QLD` on an account without Queensland enabled
`product_unavailable_in_jurisdiction`	Search with `jurisdiction=VIC` (Victoria)
`rate_limited`	Send more than 600 requests in a minute, or `X-Sandbox-Simulate: rate_limited`
`asic_unavailable`	`X-Sandbox-Simulate: asic_unavailable`
`asic_application_error`	`X-Sandbox-Simulate: asic_application_error`
`order.failed` webhook	Create an image order with `X-Sandbox-Simulate: order_failed`; the order moves to `failed` after a few seconds

Request

curl https://api.asicapi.dev/v1/companies/004085616 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer asicapi_test_5Kx2mQ9pL7vN3rT8wY1zB4cD6fG0hJ" \
  -H "X-Sandbox-Simulate: asic_unavailable"

Response (503 Service Unavailable)

{
  "error": {
    "type": "asic_unavailable_error",
    "code": "asic_unavailable",
    "message": "Simulated: ASIC's database is not available. Retry after 300 seconds.",
    "param": null,
    "asicCode": "ZZ51",
    "requestId": "req_01J8ZKK9L4M8N2",
    "docUrl": "https://asicapi.dev/docs/errors#asic_unavailable"
  }
}

The header is ignored on live keys. Simulated responses carry the same headers as real ones (Retry-After on 429 and 503), so retry logic can be tested end to end.

Moving to production

Create a live key and enable the products and jurisdictions you need.
Swap the key. No URL or code changes are required.
Check meta.billable in your logs for the first live purchases and orders so you know which requests incur fees. Reads stay free.
Set an X-Client-Reference on purchase and order requests so your invoice lines up with your own records.
Remember that sandbox extracts do not carry over: the first live section read for a company returns 402 extract_required until you purchase a live extract.

Sandbox and test keys

Using the sandbox

How sample data differs from live data

Test ACNs

Simulating errors

Moving to production

Authentication

Quickstart

Errors

On this page

Sandbox and test keys

Using the sandbox

How sample data differs from live data

Test ACNs

Simulating errors

Moving to production

Related

Authentication

Quickstart

Errors

On this page