What Is the Playground?

The Playground is a built-in testing tool inside the Visual Builder. It lets you simulate how your automation will run — step by step — without actually sending messages, creating tickets, or consuming credits.

Use it to verify your flow logic, preview message content, and catch mistakes before going live.

Opening the Playground

1. Open an automation in the Visual Builder
2. Click the ▶ Playground button in the top toolbar (purple highlight when active)
3. The Playground opens as a side panel on the right — your canvas stays visible on the left so you can see both your flow design and the simulation

To close the Playground, click the ✕ button or click the Playground button again.

Playground Layout

The Playground panel has two columns:

Left Column — Flow Steps

Shows all nodes from your automation vertically, in execution order (top to bottom). Each step shows:

• Icon — matching the action type (⚡ trigger, 💬 message, 📧 email, 🤖 AI, 🏷️ tag, 👥 team, etc.)
• Label — the action name ("Send message", "Assign to team", etc.)
• Sub-label — a preview of the configuration (first 30 characters of the message, tag name, team name)
• Status indicator — blue pulsing dot when active, green checkmark when completed

Steps are connected by vertical lines that turn green as the simulation progresses.

Right Column — Chat Simulation

A chat interface that shows how the automation responds to a message. You'll see four types of bubbles:

• User messages (blue, right-aligned) — the test message you type
• Bot messages (gray, left-aligned) — actual message content from your automation
• System messages (centered, gray badge) — trigger activation, channel detection, conditions
• Action badges (centered, blue badge) — tags added, teams assigned, webhooks fired

Running a Simulation

1. Type a message in the input field at the bottom (e.g., "Hello" or "I have a question")
2. Press Enter or click Send
3. The Playground animates through each step with a short delay (~1 second per step)
4. Watch the flow steps light up on the left while messages appear on the right

Quick Start Suggestions

If the chat is empty, the Playground shows three clickable suggestion chips ("Hello", "I have a question", "Order") to quickly start a simulation.

What the Playground Shows

Channel Detection

The Playground automatically detects the channel based on your trigger configuration:

• 💬 WhatsApp — for WhatsApp or WooCommerce triggers
• 📧 Email — for email triggers
• 📸 Instagram — for Instagram triggers
• 💬 Messenger — for Messenger triggers

A system message shows the detected channel at the start of every simulation.

Message Preview

For Send Message and AI Reply actions, the Playground displays the actual message text from your node configuration — not a generic placeholder. This lets you review exact message content before going live.

Email Template Preview

For Send Email actions, the Playground fetches your saved email templates and shows:

• Template name — e.g., "Order Confirmation"
• Subject line — the email subject

If no template is selected, it shows a warning.

Interactive Menu Preview

For Interactive Menu actions, the Playground renders the full menu structure:

• Header text
• Numbered list of menu items with titles and descriptions
• Footer text

WhatsApp Template Preview

For Send Template actions, shows the template name.

Conditions

Condition nodes show the branch taken (defaults to "Yes" in simulation mode).

Other Actions

Tags, team assignments, webhooks, close conversation, and other actions are displayed as action badges with the relevant details (tag name, team name, etc.).

Resetting the Simulation

Click the Reset button in the chat header to clear all messages and step states. This lets you run a new simulation from scratch.

Important Notes

• The Playground reads your current unsaved canvas — you don't need to save before testing
• Add steps to your flow before opening the Playground (empty flows show "Add steps to your flow first")
• The simulation always takes the Yes branch for conditions
• Delays are simulated instantly (no actual waiting)

Related Articles

• Visual Builder & Workflow Canvas
• All Action Types — Complete Reference
• All Trigger Types Explained
• Interactive Menus in Automations