Reality Slider

The Reality Slider is a unified control mechanism that adjusts the realism of your mock environment from simple static stubs to full production-level chaos. It coordinates three key subsystems: Chaos Engineering, Latency Simulation, and MockAI.

Overview

By adjusting a single slider from 1 to 5, you can instantly transform your mock environment to match different testing scenarios without manually configuring each subsystem.

Reality Levels

Level 1: Static Stubs

Use Case: Fast, predictable responses for basic functionality testing

  • Chaos: Disabled
  • Latency: 0ms (instant responses)
  • MockAI: Disabled
  • Best For: Unit tests, rapid prototyping, simple integration checks

Level 2: Light Simulation

Use Case: Minimal realism with basic intelligence

  • Chaos: Disabled
  • Latency: 10-50ms (minimal network delay)
  • MockAI: Basic AI (simple response generation)
  • Best For: Frontend development, basic API testing, quick demos

Level 3: Moderate Realism (Default)

Use Case: Balanced realism for most development scenarios

  • Chaos: 5% error rate, 10% delay probability
  • Latency: 50-200ms (moderate network conditions)
  • MockAI: Full AI enabled (intelligent responses, relationship awareness)
  • Best For: Integration testing, development environments, staging-like behavior

Level 4: High Realism

Use Case: Production-like conditions with increased complexity

  • Chaos: 10% error rate, 20% delay probability
  • Latency: 100-500ms (realistic network conditions)
  • MockAI: Full AI + session state management
  • Best For: Pre-production testing, realistic user flows, stress testing preparation

Level 5: Production Chaos

Use Case: Maximum realism for resilience testing

  • Chaos: 15% error rate, 30% delay probability
  • Latency: 200-2000ms (production-like network conditions)
  • MockAI: Full AI + mutations + advanced features
  • Best For: Chaos engineering, resilience testing, production simulation

Usage

UI Usage

Dashboard

The Reality Slider is available on the Dashboard page:

  1. Navigate to Dashboard in the admin UI
  2. Find the Environment Control section
  3. Use the slider to adjust the reality level (1-5)
  4. Click level indicators for quick selection
  5. View current configuration in the details panel

Configuration Page

For advanced control and preset management:

  1. Navigate to Configuration → Reality Slider
  2. Use the full-featured slider with visual feedback
  3. Manage presets (export/import configurations)
  4. View keyboard shortcuts reference

CLI Usage

Command Line Flag

# Set reality level at startup
mockforge serve --reality-level 5

# With OpenAPI spec
mockforge serve --spec api.yaml --reality-level 3

Environment Variable

# Set via environment variable
export MOCKFORGE_REALITY_LEVEL=4
mockforge serve

# Or inline
MOCKFORGE_REALITY_LEVEL=2 mockforge serve --spec api.yaml

Precedence: CLI flag > Environment variable > Config file > Default (Level 3)

Configuration File

Add to your mockforge.yaml:

reality:
  enabled: true
  level: 3  # 1-5

Or use per-profile configuration:

profiles:
  development:
    reality:
      level: 2
  staging:
    reality:
      level: 4
  production:
    reality:
      level: 5

Keyboard Shortcuts

Quick reality level changes from anywhere in the UI:

ShortcutAction
Ctrl+Shift+1Set to Level 1 (Static Stubs)
Ctrl+Shift+2Set to Level 2 (Light Simulation)
Ctrl+Shift+3Set to Level 3 (Moderate Realism)
Ctrl+Shift+4Set to Level 4 (High Realism)
Ctrl+Shift+5Set to Level 5 (Production Chaos)
Ctrl+Shift+RReset to default (Level 3)
Ctrl+Shift+POpen preset manager (Config page)

Note: Shortcuts are disabled when typing in input fields to avoid conflicts.

Presets

Exporting Presets

Save your current reality configuration for reuse:

  1. Navigate to Configuration → Reality Slider
  2. Click Export Current
  3. Enter a preset name (e.g., “production-chaos”, “staging-realistic”)
  4. Optionally add a description
  5. Click Export Preset

Presets are saved as JSON or YAML files in the workspace presets directory.

Importing Presets

  1. Navigate to Configuration → Reality Slider
  2. Click Import Preset
  3. Select a preset from the list
  4. Click Load to apply

Preset File Format

Presets are stored as JSON or YAML:

{
  "metadata": {
    "name": "production-chaos",
    "description": "Maximum realism for resilience testing",
    "created_at": "2025-01-15T10:30:00Z",
    "version": "1.0"
  },
  "config": {
    "chaos": {
      "enabled": true,
      "error_rate": 0.15,
      "delay_rate": 0.30
    },
    "latency": {
      "base_ms": 200,
      "jitter_ms": 1800
    },
    "mockai": {
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions

env:
  MOCKFORGE_REALITY_LEVEL: 3  # Moderate Realism for tests

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Run tests with mock
        run: |
          mockforge serve --reality-level ${{ env.MOCKFORGE_REALITY_LEVEL }} &
          # Run your tests

Docker Compose

services:
  mockforge:
    environment:
      - MOCKFORGE_REALITY_LEVEL=${MOCKFORGE_REALITY_LEVEL:-3}

API Reference

Get Current Reality Level

GET /__mockforge/reality/level

Response:

{
  "level": 3,
  "level_name": "Moderate Realism",
  "description": "Some chaos, moderate latency, full intelligence",
  "chaos": {
    "enabled": true,
    "error_rate": 0.05,
    "delay_rate": 0.10
  },
  "latency": {
    "base_ms": 50,
    "jitter_ms": 150
  },
  "mockai": {
    "enabled": true
  }
}

Set Reality Level

PUT /__mockforge/reality/level
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "level": 5
}

Use Cases

Development Workflow

  1. Start Development: Level 2 (Light Simulation)

    • Fast responses for rapid iteration
    • Basic AI for realistic data

  2. Integration Testing: Level 3 (Moderate Realism)

    • Some chaos to catch error handling
    • Realistic latency for network-aware code

  3. Pre-Production: Level 4 (High Realism)

    • Production-like conditions
    • Full feature set enabled

  4. Resilience Testing: Level 5 (Production Chaos)

    • Maximum chaos for stress testing
    • Simulate worst-case scenarios

Testing Scenarios

Unit Tests

# Fast, predictable responses
MOCKFORGE_REALITY_LEVEL=1 npm test

Integration Tests

# Moderate realism
MOCKFORGE_REALITY_LEVEL=3 npm test

E2E Tests

# High realism for production-like testing
MOCKFORGE_REALITY_LEVEL=4 npm test

Chaos Engineering

# Maximum chaos for resilience testing
MOCKFORGE_REALITY_LEVEL=5 npm test

Best Practices

  1. Start Low, Increase Gradually: Begin with Level 1-2 for development, increase as you approach production
  2. Use Presets: Save common configurations for different environments
  3. CI/CD Integration: Set appropriate levels for different test stages
  4. Monitor Impact: Watch metrics as you change levels to understand the impact
  5. Document Your Levels: Use preset descriptions to document when to use each configuration

Troubleshooting

Level Changes Not Applying

  • Check that the reality slider is enabled in configuration
  • Verify API endpoint is accessible: curl http://localhost:9080/__mockforge/reality/level
  • Check server logs for errors

Shortcuts Not Working

  • Ensure you’re not typing in an input field
  • Check browser console for JavaScript errors
  • Verify shortcuts are enabled (disabled in compact mode)

Presets Not Loading

  • Verify preset file format (JSON or YAML)
  • Check file permissions
  • Ensure preset path is correct
  • Review server logs for import errors