# Creating a Project
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/mdes-token-connect/documentation/tutorials-and-guides/create-project/index.md

## Overview {#overview}

This tutorial guides you to:

* create a new project
* generate the credentials required for testing in the sandbox environment.

## Sign up for a Mastercard Developers Account {#sign-up-for-a-mastercard-developers-account}

1. Create a [Mastercard Developers account](https://developer.mastercard.com/dashboard)
2. Activate your account by opening the link sent to your email address

## Creating a new API project {#creating-a-new-api-project}

1. To start, log in to your Mastercard Developers account and go to the [Projects](https://developer.mastercard.com/dashboard) page. Click the **Create new project** button in the top right corner.
2. Enter a relevant **Project name**.
3. If you are an issuer creating the project for your own CID, click **No**.
4. If you are a processor or a service provider creating this project for an issuer or a different CID, click **Yes** .
   1. Provide the **Client company name**.
   2. Provide the **Client legal business address** . ![Creating a new API project](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/mdes-token-connect/documentation/tutorials-and-guides/tutorial-5/createsandboxproject.png "Creating a new API project")

## Select API service {#select-api-service}

1. From the dropdown list, select **MDES Token Connect MTF**.
2. Click **Proceed**.

## Project Credentials {#project-credentials}

1. Enter **Key alias** and **Keystore password** . A key alias is a label for specific key within a keystore. Ensure that you make a note of the key alias and the keystore password as you will need this information when you send the API request to Mastercard. ![Add sandbox consumer key alias and password](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/mdes-token-connect/documentation/tutorials-and-guides/tutorial-5/createprojectcredentials.png) Note: If you are using a CSR to generate the project keys, click **Skip this step** , and continue with the project creation. Refer to generating [Adding Keys and CSR](https://developer.mastercard.com/mdes-token-connect/documentation/tutorials-and-guides/add-key/index.md) for details.
2. Click **Create project**.

## Download Sandbox Keys {#download-sandbox-keys}

1. To download the key information, click **Download key file** . The downloaded key file contains the sandbox key information. ![Create project loading icons and download keys button](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/mdes-token-connect/documentation/tutorials-and-guides/tutorial-5/downloadkeyfiles.png)
2. To see the project details, click **Open project**.

## Ready to Test in Sandbox {#ready-to-test-in-sandbox}

You now have everything you need to start sending MDES Token Connect API requests to the sandbox.

1. From the Mastercard Developers project summary page, navigate to sandbox credentials.
2. Under OAuth keys, next to the consumer key, click the copy icon to copy the Consumer Key and provide it to your CIS IM. ![Sandbox credentials](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/mdes-token-connect/documentation/tutorials-and-guides/tutorial-5/sandboxkeys.png "Sandbox credentials")

### What is Sandbox Testing {#what-is-sandbox-testing}

* Sandbox APIs are designed to return a successful response for a limited set of sample data.
* The sandbox environment allows the validation of connectivity, OAUTH authentication, and field-level encryption including the format of the requests.
* It is recommended to test the full functionality of the MDES Token Connect API in sandbox before proceeding through to the MTF and Production environments.

### Download Client Encryption Key for Static Sandbox {#download-client-encryption-key-for-static-sandbox}

Now you will need to download the Client Encryption Key (public key) that is used for field-level encryption in some of the API requests to MDES.

1. Download the [Public-Key-Certificate.crt](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/mdes-token-connect/uploads/Public-Key-Certificate.crt) (2KB) file. The public key contained in this certificate is used to wrap the one-time use AES key in requests to MDES
2. When testing in the sandbox environment, use fingerprint value: `4070BFE5119426F5F9E232CB86D372A4F9B2314C` for input field `encryptedPayload.publicKeyFingerprint`

Note:   

* Refer to [How to Consume the MDES Token Connect API](https://developer.mastercard.com/mdes-token-connect/documentation/api-basics/index.md) and [Securing Sensitive Data Using Payload Encryption](https://developer.mastercard.com/platform/documentation/security-and-authentication/securing-sensitive-data-using-payload-encryption/) for further information about the encryption of sensitive data.
* To request MTF access, refer to the [Testing in MTF](https://developer.mastercard.com/mdes-token-connect/documentation/tutorials-and-guides/mtf-create-project/index.md) section.