Test a task before it messages people

When a scheduled task in a cloud workspace asks people for something, such as "message John Smith on Teams and get his approval", you can run it as a test first. Nobody is contacted. Every message Harriet would send appears in a test console instead, and you reply as each person to see exactly what Harriet does next.

Start a test

• Test one run: open the task and select Test run next to Run now.
• Test every run: turn on Test mode in the task's settings. Scheduled runs and runs started by tickets are then tests too, until you turn it off.

Open the run's conversation to see the test console in a tab of the side panel beside it, so you can watch what Harriet is doing and answer for the people it contacts at the same time. Test runs are marked Test in the task's list of runs.

Harriet isn't told it's a test

The task runs exactly as it would live. Harriet asks, waits and reads replies the way it normally does, and treats what you answer in the console as the person's own reply. An approval you give there counts as an approval, so the test shows you what a real one would do.

Reply as each person

The console lists a conversation for each person and channel Harriet would contact, marked with the Slack, Teams or email logo. A person appears with their full name and their email address or ID, for example John Smith with john@example.com on Teams, and a Slack channel appears by its channel ID. Hover over a name to see every identifier Harriet has for them. The conversations are grouped into Waiting for you, In progress and Done, so you can see at a glance who needs an answer. Use All messages to see everything Harriet sent, to everyone, in order.

• Each message looks the way it would on that channel, including long Slack messages split into a thread and any form Harriet attaches. Quoted text is shown as a quote, and formatting is drawn the way Slack, Teams or email draws it.
• Under each message, Harriet says whether it could actually reach that person, for example "Would reach John Smith on Slack". Hover over it to see what it means and which IDs a real message would use. A Teams message can only reach people who have already used Harriet in Teams.
• Type in the reply box to answer as that person. Harriet treats your answer as theirs and carries on.
• Use buttons and forms the way the person would. On Slack, select Fill in form to open the form as Slack would show it. Required fields are checked as Slack checks them, and once you submit, the button is replaced by a record of your answers, as it is in Slack. A form too big for a Slack window opens on a web page instead, as it does for the person. Harriet sends forms on Slack only: on Teams and email the same questions arrive as text.
• Cards and buttons are drawn as Slack or Teams draws them, and a link opens in your browser. If Harriet has no action for a button, the console says nothing happened, because a real click wouldn't do anything either. Images aren't loaded in the console.
• Files Harriet would send appear with the message they go with. Select a file's name to save a copy and check it is the right one.
• To reply with files, as someone sending a spreadsheet back, select Attach files beside the reply box. A reply can be files alone, on Slack, Teams or email, and can carry up to five files of up to 10 MB each.
• You can answer several people in any order. Each reply shows whether Harriet is still to read it, is working on it, or has read it.
• Messages that don't expect an answer, such as a notice or a thank-you, are marked No reply expected.

Try silence and reminders

A test has one clock, shown at the top of the console with the next follow-up Harriet has planned. Use Skip ahead to move it forward an hour, a day, to the next follow-up, or by a custom amount. Time moves for everyone in the test at once, so you can check that Harriet follows up, chases someone on another channel, or tells you when nobody answered, without waiting. Times in the console are on the test clock, not real time.

To act as someone who never answers, choose Don't reply in their conversation. To end a request early, choose Stop asking: Harriet stops that request for everyone it was asking.

When a test is waiting for you

A test run that's waiting for your reply appears under Needs attention, and the workspace owner gets an email. This matters most with Test mode turned on, when scheduled or ticket-triggered tests can start while you're away. Closing the console never loses anything: open the run again, or select the test console button above the conversation to bring its tab back.

Who can test

Anyone who can edit or run a workspace's tasks can start a test and reply in the console. People the workspace is shared with for viewing can read the console but not reply.