Going Live

Moving from sandbox to production is straightforward, but there are a few things you need to get right.

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1. Get Production Credentials

Go to the Safaricom Developer Portal:

1. Create a production app (or upgrade your sandbox app)
2. Subscribe to the APIs you need:
3. Lipa Na M-Pesa Online (STK Push)
4. B2C (if sending money)
5. Account Balance (if checking balance)
6. Note your production Consumer Key, Consumer Secret, and Passkey
7. Your Shortcode is your real Paybill/Till number

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2. Update Your Code

The only change is the env parameter:

# Sandbox
mpesa = Mpesa(
    consumer_key=...,
    consumer_secret=...,
    passkey=...,
    shortcode="174379",       # Sandbox shortcode
    env="sandbox",
)

# Production — same code, just change env and credentials
mpesa = Mpesa(
    consumer_key="prod_key",
    consumer_secret="prod_secret",
    passkey="prod_passkey",
    shortcode="123456",        # Your real Paybill number
    env="production",
)

Don't use env vars in your codebase

Never hardcode production credentials. Use environment variables:

import os

mpesa = Mpesa(
    consumer_key=os.environ["MPESA_CONSUMER_KEY"],
    consumer_secret=os.environ["MPESA_CONSUMER_SECRET"],
    passkey=os.environ["MPESA_PASSKEY"],
    shortcode=os.environ["MPESA_SHORTCODE"],
    env=os.environ.get("MPESA_ENV", "sandbox"),
)

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3. Configure Callbacks

Your production callback URLs must be publicly accessible and use HTTPS:

mpesa.set_callback_url("https://your-app.com/mpesa/callback")

Make sure your server:

• Responds with 200 OK and {"ResultCode": 0} within 10 seconds
• Is idempotent — M-Pesa may retry callbacks
• Logs every callback for debugging

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4. Test with Small Amounts

Start with small transactions (KES 10–50) to verify everything works:

1. Send a test STK push to your own phone
2. Check the callback arrives at your server
3. Verify the payment query returns the correct status
4. Process a refund to verify B2C works
5. Monitor your logs for errors

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5. Monitor Your Usage

Things to watch in production:

• Callback failure rate — if callbacks aren't arriving, check your server logs
• STK Push success rate — a high timeout rate may indicate network issues
• Error rates — watch for APIError exceptions in your error tracker
• Transaction volumes — M-Pesa has rate limits; don't exceed ~50 requests/second

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Common Production Issues

Symptom	Likely Cause
Authentication fails	Wrong production consumer key/secret
STK push returns 1037 immediately	Wrong passkey
Callbacks not arriving	Server unreachable, or not returning 200
B2C failing	Initiator credentials not configured
"Invalid shortcode"	Shortcode not subscribed to the API

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Checklist

• [ ] Production credentials obtained from developer portal
• [ ] APIs subscribed in production app
• [ ] Callback URLs use HTTPS
• [ ] Server handles callbacks with 200 response
• [ ] Environment variables set for production credentials (not hardcoded)
• [ ] Tested with KES 10 to own number
• [ ] Error logging in place
• [ ] Monitoring set up for callback failures