*This page
applies to **Apigee** and **Apigee hybrid**.*


*View [Apigee Edge](https://docs.apigee.com/api-platform/get-started/what-apigee-edge) documentation.*
![](https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/i/googlematerialicons/help/v13/gm_grey-24dp/1x/gm_help_gm_grey_24dp.png)

You can develop and test your Apigee APIs and API proxies in a local environment using
Cloud Code. Cloud Code is an extension that integrates your Apigee API
development, testing, and deployment into the
[Visual Studio Code (VS Code) IDE](https://code.visualstudio.com/),
including verifying the functionality through unit and manual testing using the Apigee Emulator
(local runtime).

During **local development**, use Apigee in Cloud Code to develop your API proxies and verify the functionality
through unit and manual testing using the Apigee Emulator (local runtime).

During **archive deployment**, deploy to Apigee for integration testing and release, leveraging an archive that contains the complete environment and API proxy configuration.

> [!WARNING]
>
> **Preview
> --- Archive deployment**
>
>
> This feature is
>
> subject to the "Pre-GA Offerings Terms" in the General Service Terms section of the
> [Service Specific
> Terms](https://docs.cloud.google.com/terms/service-terms#1).
>
> Pre-GA features are available "as is" and might have limited support.
>
> For more information, see the
> [launch stage descriptions](https://cloud.google.com/products/#product-launch-stages).

## Benefits of local development with Apigee

The benefits of local development with Apigee include:

- Quickly iterate through build and test cycles without impact to other dependent applications
- Access and manage APIs in your API hub catalog, including publishing new APIs to API hub
- Create and run repeatable unit tests that verify that the code is producing the intended outcome
- Identify the set of changes that are deployed as part of a release
- Track who made changes to a specific deployment

## Prevented actions with archive deployment

To support local development, you must [enable archive deployment](https://docs.cloud.google.com/apigee/docs/api-platform/deploy/manage-archive-deployments#enable-archive-deployment) for an environment in your Apigee organization.
When you enable archive deployment in an Apigee environment, you will be **prevented from performing
certain actions within the environment** to prevent conflicts with local development. For complete details, see [Summary of prevented actions with archive deployment](https://docs.cloud.google.com/apigee/docs/api-platform/fundamentals/environments-overview#archive-prevented-actions).