Getting Started
Getting Started with the Control Center
The Control Center is Hyperswitch's no-code dashboard. It sits on top of the Hyperswitch payments engine and lets your team connect processors, run and monitor payments, configure smart routing, manage refunds and disputes, and administer users — all without writing code.
This guide gets you from "I just logged in" to "I understand what I'm looking at and made my first test payment."
What is the Control Center?
Operations / Support
Payments, Refunds, Disputes, Customers
Developer
API Keys, Webhooks, Payment settings
Admin / Owner
Connectors, Routing workflows, Team & Roles, Org settings
Step 1 — Log in and pick your environment
Open the Sandbox Control Center URL https://app.hyperswitch.io/ and sign up.
On first sign-up your Organization and a Merchant account are created for you
Test vs. Live mode
Test / Sandbox — a safe playground. Use test card numbers, no real money moves. Start here.
Live — real processors, real money. Enabled after you've tested your setup.
You'll be taken to Test mode by default. Access to Production mode is granted only after the required agreements have been signed
Step 2 — Understand the account hierarchy
This is the concept new users trip on the most. Everything in the Control Center is scoped to a three-level hierarchy:
Organization — the top-level account for your company.
Merchant Account — a business unit under the organization. Larger companies may have several. API keys are under Merchant Account
Business Profile — the level where you actually attach connectors, routing logic process transactions. A merchant can have multiple profiles (e.g. one per region, brand, or product line).
Refer the below guide to understand how to create a new Profile and rename Merchant/Profiles
You switch between merchants and profiles using the switcher near the top of the sidebar. Connectors and settings live at the profile level, so if a connector "disappears," confirm you're on the right profile.
Step 3 — Take the dashboard tour
The left sidebar is grouped into sections you'll return to constantly:
Overview / Home
Snapshot of volume, success rate, recent activity
Operations
Payments, Refunds, Disputes, Customers, Payouts
Connectors
Payment processors and payment-method configuration
Analytics
Insights, charts
Workflow
Routing, 3DS Decision Manager, Surcharge, Fraud & Risk
Vault
Stored customers and tokens
Developers
API Keys, Webhooks, Payment settings
Users(top left)
Team & roles, Invites
Theme(top left)
Configure control center to your branding
Exploring other product modules
Hyperswitch is more than payments. Alongside the sections above, the dashboard gives you direct access to the wider product suite:
Orchestrator
The core payments dashboard (everything described in this guide)
Vault(part of Orchestrator)
Secure storage and tokenization of payment credentials
Recon(available on request)
Automated reconciliation for finance teams
Revenue Recovery(Demo mode)
Recover failed and churned payments
Cost Observability(Demo mode)
Visibility into your payment processing costs
Intelligent Routing(Demo mode)
Success-rate–based dynamic routing
You can jump into any of these straight from the dashboard.
🆕 First-time visitors: the first time you open a module, the Control Center automatically creates a merchant account for you for that product so you can start exploring immediately — no manual setup required. Each module is scoped to its own account under your organization, so you can try one without affecting the others.
Step 4 — Make your first test payment
The fastest way to see the dashboard come alive:
Go to Connectors → Payment Processors and connect a test processor (a dummy/test connector works).
Go to Overview -> Try It Out to open the checkout SDK
Use the test card details for making a payment
Go to Operations → Payments and watch your payment appear. Click it to explore the payment details, timeline, and available actions (capture, refund).
Where to go next
Operations → day-to-day management of payments, refunds, and disputes.
Connectors → connect real processors and enable payment methods.
Workflow → set up routing and smart-payment features.
Developers → API keys and webhooks for your integration.
Users → invite your team and manage roles.
💡 New-user tip: If something looks empty or wrong, check the two things that scope everything — your mode (Test/Live) and your selected merchant/profile.
Last updated
Was this helpful?

