Test information
On this page, you can find information to test your Personalausweis integration in a sandbox environment using the AusweisApp with physical and virtual test cards.
You can test your integration with any of these methods:
- Personalausweis sample card
- Internal card simulator in AusweisApp
- PersoSim
Note that data attributes and functionality vary depending on the method you choose. Find out more below.
Before you can test your integration using any of the methods described on this page, you must enable developer mode in AusweisApp.
Before you begin
Download AusweisApp
You can download AusweisApp at https://www.ausweisapp.bund.de/en/download.
Enable developer mode in AusweisApp
To test your integration, make sure to first enable developer mode in the AusweisApp.
- Go to Help, then navigate to Information.
- Click 10 times on Application Version to activate advanced settings.
- Go to Settings.
- Navigate to Developer options.
- Enable Developer mode.
- Optional. Enable Internal card simulator to test with the Internal card simulator.
Note that the instructions above apply to AusweisApp on desktop only.
Test methods
Personalausweis sample card
To test your integration with Personalausweis, Signicat can provide you with a sample ID card, a physical card produced by Bundesdruckerei - the official producer of identification documents. A sample card contains fake data to simulate an authentication flow.
To receive a sample card, contact us stating the number of cards needed and a shipping address.
Example of a sample card:
Once you receive your sample card, you can perform authentication with Personalausweis as a typical end-user would. While this is the best option to test your integration, you should account for shipping time.
To test authentication with a sample card, make sure that in Settings > Developer options you have enabled Developer mode, as explained in Enable developer mode in AusweisApp.
Internal card simulator in AusweisApp
AusweisApp allows you to test your integration with a virtual card available inside the app.
To use the Internal card simulator in AusweisApp, make sure that in Settings > Developer options you have enabled both Developer mode and Internal card simulator as explained in Enable developer mode in AusweisApp.
Now, you can choose the Internal card simulator as a method for authentication in the AusweisApp without the need to use any physical card. This is the quickest option to set up but offers limited customisation for testing edge cases.
PersoSim
PersoSim Simulator is a desktop application that simulates an identity card. It offers approximately 20 preset ID profiles for different document types. With the PersoSim's editor, you can modify attributes in an ID profile or create a new one. The simulator can be used for testing flows that mock USB-connected card readers and NFC-enabled smartphones as card readers.
While PersoSim lets you test and edit both data and settings for multiple scenarios, it takes a few extra installation steps to run it on your device.