Test Mode

Run sandboxed test sessions with MCP access and multi-agent delegation - before going live in Slack.

Test Mode lets you have a conversation with an agent inside the dashboard, exactly the way Slack would, but without posting anything to a real channel. MCPs work, boss delegation works, memory works - it’s a safe sandbox for iterating.

Open the Test tab

1. Go to the agent’s detail page
2. Click Test in the tab bar
3. You’ll see an empty conversation pane

Start a test session

Type your prompt at the bottom and press Enter:

What tables do we have in the warehouse?

The agent streams its reply with the same tool-call trace you’d see in logs - every MCP call, every read, every tool result is visible inline.

Use MCPs in the test

MCPs assigned to the agent work in Test Mode. If the agent has playwright, asking it to browse a URL actually opens a browser. If it has notion, it reads real Notion pages. No mocking - real tools, real side effects.

Side effects are real. Test deletes, writes, or postings are not isolated. Use a sandbox workspace for destructive MCPs.

Delegate to other agents

Type @another-agent-slug in your message and Test Mode routes the request through your Boss agent, exactly like Slack would. You’ll see:

1. Your original message
2. Boss’s delegation line
3. The specialist’s reply streaming in
4. Boss’s summary

This exercises the full multi-agent delegation path without sending anything to Slack.

Inspect the trace

Each turn shows:

• Tool calls - chips with the tool name, args, and result
• Cost - total tokens and dollar estimate
• Duration - wall-clock time for the turn
• Session ID - click to tie back to the log stream

When to use Test Mode

• Before first deployment - confirm the agent replies the way you expect
• After a Coach-driven change - sanity-check the new prompt
• When an MCP seems off - reproduce without the Slack round-trip
• Debugging delegation - exercise @mention chains in isolation

Once it works in Test Mode, it works in Slack.