Test emails and phones

Most of Clerk's sign-in and sign-up flows involve verifying ownership of an email address or phone number via a one time passcode (OTP). To confirm that your integration works correctly, you can simulate verification flows without sending an email or SMS, by using reserved values in test mode.

Verification messages are used during sign-up, sign-in, and when adding an email address or phone number to an existing account.

Setup test mode

Every development instance has "test mode" enabled by default. If you need to use "test mode" on a production instance, you can enable it via the Clerk Dashboard or via the Backend API.

Test mode via the Clerk Dashboard

To enable test mode via the Clerk Dashboard, navigate to the Settings page in the Clerk Dashboard. In the Enable test mode section, ensure the toggle is toggled on.

How to use test mode

Once test mode is enabled, all you need to do is use the following test numbers as part of your standard flow.

Email addresses

Any email with the +clerk_test subaddress is a test email address. No emails will be sent, and they can be verified with the code 424242.

For example:

jane+clerk_test@example.com

doe+clerk_test@example.com

Phone numbers

Any fictional phone number(opens in a new tab) is a test phone number. No SMS will be sent, and they can all be verified with the code 424242.

Fictional phone numbers have the following structure:

+1 (XXX) 555-0100 to +1 (XXX) 555-0199

For example:

+12015550100

+19735550133

Email magic links

Testing magic links in E2E suites is an uphill task. We recommend turning on email verification codes, and using that flow to authenticate your tests. The flows are very similar.

Code examples

Testing sign in via email code

const testSignInWithEmailCode = async () => {
  const { signIn } = useSignIn();
  
  const emailAddress = "john+clerk_test@example.com";
  const signInResp = await signIn.create({ identifier: emailAddress });
  const { emailAddressId } = signInResp.supportedFirstFactors.find(
    (ff) =>
      ff.strategy === "email_code" && ff.safeIdentifier === emailAddress
  )! as EmailCodeFactor;
 
  await signIn.prepareFirstFactor({
    strategy: "email_code",
    emailAddressId: emailAddressId,
  });
 
  const attemptResponse = await signIn.attemptFirstFactor({
    strategy: "email_code",
    code: "424242",
  });
 
  if (attemptResponse.status == "complete") {
    console.log("success");
  } else {
    console.log("error");
  }
};

Testing sign up with phone number

const testSignUpWithPhoneNumber = async () => {
  const { signUp } = useSignUp();
 
  await signUp.create({
    phoneNumber: "+12015550100",
  });
  await signUp.preparePhoneNumberVerification();
 
  const res = await signUp.attemptPhoneNumberVerification({
    code: "424242",
  });
  if (res.verifications.phoneNumber.status == "verified") {
    console.log("success");
  } else {
    console.log("error");
  }
};