An important part of building something is testing it. For this reason, we've included a simulator in the flow editor that lets you test your flows from a contact's perspective, so you can quickly see what works and what needs to be tweaked.

Accessing the Simulator

To open the simulator, click the Phone Simulator tab on the right side of the flow editor:

Using the Simulator

Once opened, the simulator starts the first step in your flow. Between the messages, the simulator shows the action log as small collapsed summaries. The action log describes things that happen in the platform that the contact doesn't see while interacting with a flow. The action log in the flow simulated below shows that:

• The response "Maya" has been assigned to the flow variable @results.name.

• The contact's name has been updated from its previous value to "Maya" via an Update the Contact action.

• The contact has been added to the Volunteers group via an Add to Group action.

• The contact has exited the flow.

Simulator Features

1. X: Hides the simulator.
2. Following: Has the simulator automatically follow you through your flow, showing each node and action as it's triggered during testing. Click the Following icon to turn this on.
3. @ Context Explorer: Shows what data is stored in your variables at each step, so you can see which @ values are available and what they contain while testing your flow.
4. Size: Switches between small, medium and large simulator views. You can also grab the top of the simulator to drag it around your canvas.
5. Back arrow: Restarts the flow.

To make your testing more complete, you can add the following to your messages:

1. Image
2. Video
3. Audio
4. Location

Click the + icon to the left of the message box.