Simulation Mode

Simulation Mode lets you test rules in production conditions without executing their actions. By running rules in shadow mode, you can verify they trigger correctly, review what actions would have been taken, and build confidence before going live. This eliminates the risk of a misconfigured rule sending unintended notifications or blocking merges.

How It Works

Every rule in TinyOps has a mode setting with three possible values:

Mode	Behavior
`disabled`	Rule does not evaluate
`shadow`	Rule evaluates but actions are not executed
`live`	Rule evaluates and actions execute normally

When a rule is in shadow mode, TinyOps runs the full evaluation pipeline (trigger matching, condition checking, data fetching) but stops before executing the action. Instead, it logs what would have happened with wouldExecute metadata in the execution history.

Shadow Mode Tracking

TinyOps tracks two counters for rules in shadow mode:

Counter	Description
`shadowSuccessCount`	Number of shadow runs where the rule triggered successfully
`shadowEvaluationCount`	Total number of shadow evaluations (triggered or not)

When a rule enters shadow mode, both counters reset to 0. This ensures promotion thresholds are measured from the start of the current shadow period.

Promotion Thresholds

Before a rule can be promoted from shadow to live, it must complete a minimum number of successful shadow runs. The threshold varies by plan:

Plan	Required Runs
Free	10
Pro	5
Team	3
Business	3

Once the shadowSuccessCount meets your plan’s threshold, the “Promote to Live” button becomes available on the rule detail page.

Configuration

rule-with-shadow-mode.yaml


name: friday-deploy-warning
mode: shadow
trigger:
  type: webhook
  event: push
  branch: main
condition:
  field: event.day_of_week
  operator: eq
  value: 5
action:
  type: notify
  channel: slack
  message: "Deploy on Friday detected. Proceed with caution."

Dashboard View

The rule detail page shows shadow mode statistics:

Current mode badge (disabled / shadow / live)
Shadow success count vs. required threshold (e.g., “3 / 5 runs”)
Progress indicator showing how close the rule is to promotion eligibility
Full execution history with wouldExecute metadata for each shadow run

Execution History

Shadow runs appear in the execution history alongside live runs but are clearly marked. Each shadow execution record includes:

Field	Description
`status`	Always `shadow`
`wouldExecute`	Boolean indicating the action would have fired
`action_details`	The action payload that would have been sent
`triggered_at`	Timestamp of the shadow evaluation

Policies - test policies in advisory mode before enforcing
PR Health Pack - shadow-test health rules before sending alerts
Approvals - promote rules to live mode through the approval workflow
Dashboard & Analytics - view shadow execution trends