# Organizations, applications and credentials

How applications are registered, what credentials you get, and how to keep them safe.

> **Note:** SANDBOX ONLY — the API is live and answering, and the portal at www.ryde.us.com/developer issues sandbox credentials automatically. Production credentials are NOT issued yet: production access is reviewed per organization, and per application after that. Build and test against sandbox now; do not schedule a production launch until your organization is approved.

```
  Organization
       |
       +-- Application A   (sandbox credentials, then production on review)
       +-- Application B
       +-- Application C
```

## Public and confidential clients

| Type | Use it for | Secret |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Confidential | A server you control. | Issued. Shown once, stored hashed — Ryde cannot show it to you again. |
| Public | Mobile apps, browser apps, desktop binaries, anything a user could inspect. | None. PKCE replaces it. |

> **Important:** Never put a client secret in a mobile app, front-end JavaScript, a public repository, a desktop binary, or an AI prompt. A secret shipped to a device is not a secret. If your application runs anywhere a user can look at it, register it as a public client and use PKCE.

## Rotation

Rotate a secret from the portal at any time. Rotation issues the new secret with an overlap window in which both work, so you can deploy without a moment of downtime — then the old one stops. Rotate immediately if a secret was ever committed, logged, or pasted anywhere it could be read.

## Sandbox and production

```
  create account -> accept Developer Agreement -> create app
                                                     |
                                          SANDBOX CREDENTIALS (automatic)
                                                     |
                                              build and test
                                                     |
                                         request production access
                                                     |
                                                RYDE REVIEW
                                                     |
                                       PRODUCTION CREDENTIALS
```