> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.whitecircle.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Environments

> Isolate sessions across production, staging, and development.

export const domain = 'https://eu.whitecircle.com';

Environments isolate sessions for different instances of your application, such as production, staging, and development.

<Warning>
  **We're renaming Deployments to Environments.** Everything you used to call a "Deployment" is now an "Environment" across the platform and documentation.

  Nothing breaks and you can migrate at your own pace:

  * In API requests that select an Environment, pass `environment_id` or `environment_ids`. The old `deployment_id` and `deployment_ids` names still work as deprecated aliases.
  * Responses that identify Environments use `environment_id` or `environment_ids`.
</Warning>

## What is an Environment?

An Environment is an isolated boundary for sessions, Policies, and Metrics within one application instance.

<Warning>
  An Environment only defines the deployment boundary. A Policy runs only if an active Condition attached to that Environment matches the Event.
</Warning>

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Environment Isolation" icon="server">
    Keep production, staging, and development Sessions completely separate.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Safe Testing" icon="flask">
    Validate new Policies in non-production Environments before deploying them.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## When to Create a New Environment

Create a new Environment when you have an independent deployment of your application.

Typical examples include:

* **Production**
* **Staging**
* **Development**
* **Local testing**
* **Customer-specific deployments** (if each deployment is managed independently)

Do **not** create separate Environments for different subscription tiers, models, or workflow stages. Use [Conditions](/latest/condition/overview) for those instead.

## Using Conditions

Conditions determine which Policies and Metrics evaluate Events within an Environment.

For example, a single production Environment can apply different Policies and Metrics based on:

* Region
* User subscription
* Model
* Workflow stage
* Request metadata

This lets you keep a single production Environment while dynamically selecting different Policies and Metrics for each Event.

See [Conditions](/latest/condition/overview) for metadata expressions and routing behavior.

## Creating an Environment

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Environments Page">
    Go to the <Link href={`${domain}/environments`} target="_blank">Environments</Link> page in your White Circle dashboard.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create an Environment">
    Click **Add Environment**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Attach Conditions">
    Add the Conditions that should be available within this Environment.
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Create an Environment" icon="globe" href={`${domain}/environments`}>
    Create and manage Environments on the platform.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>