This article describes how Evolv AI uses environments to collect data and publish projects in your digital experience.
Table of Contents
- What is an environment?
- How environments are utilized at Evolv
- Managing multiple environments
- Integrations and Environments
- Connecting Evolv to your digital experiences
What is an environment?
An environment is a specific configuration or context in which software applications or systems operate. Environments are instrumental in managing different stages of software development, testing, and deployment. They ensure that software functions consistently and accurately across various scenarios.
How environments are utilized at Evolv
Environments act as unique connection points, establishing a distinct link between Evolv and your digital landscape.
Each environment includes the following:
- Unique API Key
- Name & Description
- Theme color to distinguish them from each other in the Evolv AI Manager
- Critical Environment status that locked down publishing permissions to Admin users
- Custom integration configurations to manage integration differences across environments
Data collection
Data collected on audiences, events, and projects is exclusive to a particular environment. It's important to note that the entities remain independent of the environment.
Managing multiple environments
Account organizations can leverage the flexibility of having multiple environments to streamline their development workflow.
In the Evolv AI system, we primarily see the following types of environments:
- Production: This is the environment that directly impacts live site visitors. It represents the version of your digital experience that real users interact with.
- Staging: The staging environment is dedicated to quality assurance (QA) activities. It serves as a testing ground where project configurations can be thoroughly examined before making them live on the production site.
- Development: Individual developers use The local environment for personal testing and development. It allows them to experiment and refine their work before merging it with the larger project.
In the Manager, the default environment is labeled "Production," representing the live experience actual users visit.
To implement changes effectively, they must be published in a designated environment.
Example: Managing development workflow with environments
A development team wants to QA a project, so they publish their project changes from the draft to a staging environment. Once thoroughly tested and approved, these changes can be confidently published from the draft to the production environment, ensuring a seamless experience for real users.
Integrations and Environments
Each environment can have a custom configuration for an integration you add to your organization. For instance, Google Analytics may have distinct tracking codes for staging and production environments.
Connecting environments to your digital experiences
The Environment [API] Key is used to identify environments in a digital experience.
Environment Keys allow you to match environments across platforms, ensuring that when you deploy to the “Staging Environment” in Evolv AI, the project is deployed to the corresponding environment in your application.
Environment Keys are applied differently in Client-Side implementations and Full-Stack implementations.
We recommend configuring a project first in a non-end user-facing environment, such as “Staging,” and making it live within that environment. Once you’ve verified that everything works in a non-production environment, you can publish your project to the environment your visitors experience.
Learn more: Creating an environment
Important: It's crucial to ensure that environments do not intersect. This can lead to conflicts and inaccurate data collection.