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Beta: The environments feature is currently being tested in beta. Not all Elementum customers have access to this functionality.
An organization environment is a separate Elementum workspace tied to your production organization. You can build and test changes without affecting live workflows, then copy app configurations to another environment when you are ready.

Organization environments

Each environment:
  • Uses its own subdomain (for example dev-yourorg.elementum.io)
  • Needs its own CloudLink configuration to reach your data warehouse
  • Holds its own copies of apps you deploy into it
  • Runs independently of other environments
Your organization begins with Production—the default, live environment. You can add environments for purposes such as Development, Testing, Staging, and Training. Environments do not share app configuration by default; you move configuration between them using deployment (see the next section). Why teams use multiple environments
  • Develop and change apps without risking production data or workflows
  • Validate behavior with realistic configuration before go-live
  • Let several people work in parallel in separate workspaces
  • Release changes in a controlled way after review

Deploying apps between environments

Deployment copies an app and its configuration from a source environment to a target environment. The deployment is tracked with status and history on the app’s Deployments page. You can deploy in any direction: from a non-production environment to Production, from Production into another environment to test changes, or between non-production environments. What is included in a deployment Automations; record layouts, related views, and form builder configuration; Flow definitions; approval processes; assignment rules; and report and analytics configuration for that app.

Subsequent deployment behavior

The first time you deploy an app to a target environment, settings are copied from the source. On later deployments to the same target, most configuration is updated to match the source, but the following destination values are left as you set them in that environment:
ConfigurationInitial deploymentLater deployments
AI Search target lagCopied from sourceTarget environment’s value is kept
Access policiesCopied from sourceTarget environment’s policies are kept
After the first deployment, you can set AI Search target lag and access policies per environment; later deployments will not overwrite those choices.

Deployment history

Each app keeps a log of deployments: who ran them, source and target environment, time, outcome (Success or Failure), and error details on failed runs. Error details stay on the record even after related background work is removed. Any user who can open the app can open Deployments and read this history. It is paginated and includes the full history, not only recent entries.
FieldDescription
Source environmentWhere the app was deployed from
Target environmentWhere it was deployed to
Initiated byUser who started the deployment
TimestampWhen the deployment started
OutcomeSuccess or Failure
Error detailsOn failures, shown on the same record
Each environment needs its own CloudLink configuration. Set up credentials in the environment before deployed apps can use Snowflake-backed data there.
Isolated environments need separate warehouse connections. Plan Snowflake users, roles, databases, and schemas before you connect CloudLink; then verify the connection works before relying on deployments.

Isolating platform data

ComponentRequirement
UserOne Snowflake user per environment (for example ELEMENTUM_DEV, ELEMENTUM_PROD)
RoleOne role per environment
DatabaseOne database per environment for platform data
SchemaA dedicated platform schema in that database
This separation limits cross-environment access to platform data and supports auditing. External (non-platform) tables can be shared across environment users if your governance allows it; changes to those shared tables are visible in every environment that uses them. Example
EnvironmentUserRolePlatform databasePlatform schema
ProductionELEMENTUM_PRODELEMENTUM_PRODELEMENTUM_PRODELEMENTUM_PLATFORM
DevelopmentELEMENTUM_DEVELEMENTUM_DEVELEMENTUM_DEVELEMENTUM_PLATFORM
StagingELEMENTUM_STAGINGELEMENTUM_STAGINGELEMENTUM_STAGINGELEMENTUM_PLATFORM

Data connections after deployment

Apps whose Tables or Elements use Snowflake need extra steps in the target environment after deployment: pick database, schema, and table in that environment’s CloudLink, and map fields. Apps with no Snowflake dependencies are ready once deployment finishes. To get started, see Set up Environments and Deploy Apps.

Example workflows

  1. Add a Development environment from Production.
  2. Deploy an app into Development and change it there.
  3. When satisfied, deploy from Development to Production.
  1. Add Staging (and optionally Development).
  2. Move apps Development → Staging for review, then Staging → Production when approved.
  1. Add a Training environment and deploy the apps users will see in Production so they can practice without touching live data.

Practices to follow

  • Naming — Use clear names (Development, QA, Staging, Training) so the purpose of each environment is obvious; keep naming consistent across your organization.
  • CloudLink — Prefer separate Snowflake service accounts per environment; document which databases and schemas each environment uses; confirm connections stay healthy.
  • Deployments — Validate in non-production environments before Production; deploy one app at a time when practical so failures are easier to trace; use deployment history to see what ran.
  • Access — Restrict who can create environments and deploy apps; use non-production accounts for testing where appropriate; review access periodically.

Next steps

Set up Environments and Deploy Apps

Create environments, configure CloudLink, and deploy apps step by step

CloudLink Setup

Configure CloudLink connections for your environments

Apps Overview

Learn about apps and how they organize your business processes

Snowflake Connection

Detailed guide for connecting Snowflake to Elementum