> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.duckie.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Playground

> Interactive testing for real-time validation

The playground is an interactive chat interface for testing agents in real-time — your safe space to experiment and validate before deploying.

{/* Screenshot: Full playground interface showing chat, agent selector, and execution panel */}

## Using the Playground

<Steps>
  <Step title="Navigate to Playground">
    Go to **Test → Playground** in your dashboard.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select an Agent">
    Choose which agent you want to test from the dropdown.

    {/* Screenshot: Agent selection dropdown in playground */}
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start Chatting">
    Type messages as if you were a customer and press Enter.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review Responses">
    Read the agent's responses and check quality.
  </Step>

  <Step title="View Execution Details">
    Click on any response to see how the agent processed it.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Viewing Execution Details

The execution panel shows everything that happened:

{/* Screenshot: Execution details panel showing steps, knowledge, tools */}

### Steps Executed

See the sequence of actions:

1. Message received
2. Guardrails checked
3. Knowledge searched
4. Runbook/workflow executed
5. Response generated

### Knowledge Retrieved

See what the agent found:

* Which articles matched
* Relevance scores
* Content used in response

### Tool Calls

See what actions were taken:

* Tool name
* Input parameters
* Output/result
* Success or failure

### Reasoning

Understand why the agent made decisions:

* How it interpreted the question
* Why it chose certain knowledge
* How it formulated the response

## Testing Scenarios

### Happy Path Testing

Test common questions with clear answers:

```
"How do I reset my password?"
"What's your refund policy?"
"How do I upgrade my account?"
```

### Edge Case Testing

Test unusual or difficult scenarios:

```
"sdflkjsdf" (gibberish)
"I need help but I don't know with what"
"Can you help with X and also Y and also Z?"
```

### Guardrail Testing

Test messages that should trigger escalation:

```
"I want to cancel and talk to a manager"
"This is unacceptable, I'm contacting my lawyer"
"I've tried 5 times and nothing works"
```

Test restriction triggers:

```
"What discount can you give me?"
"How does [competitor] compare?"
"What's the internal pricing?"
```

### Knowledge Testing

Test for knowledge gaps:

```
Questions about features you haven't documented
Very specific or technical questions
Questions using unusual terminology
```

## Turning Playground Scenarios Into Batch Tests

Use successful playground conversations as source material for manual batch tickets:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Have a Conversation">
    Test a specific scenario in the playground.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open Batch Test">
    Go to **Test → Batch Test** and open or create a batch.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add a custom ticket">
    Open **Manage tickets**, click **Add custom ticket**, and recreate the customer and agent messages from the playground scenario.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Run the batch">
    Run the batch against the agent and score the result with a rubric.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Replay Real Conversations

Use [Replay Testing](/testing/replay-testing) when you want to start from existing support conversations instead of manually recreating a scenario. Replay testing fetches historical conversations from connected sources, splits them into turns, and lets you generate a new Duckie response for a selected turn.

## Rating Responses

Provide feedback on response quality:

{/* Screenshot: Rating buttons (thumbs up/down) on a response */}

* 👍 Good response
* 👎 Needs improvement
* Add comments for context

Ratings help track quality and identify improvement areas.

## Starting a New Conversation

To start fresh:

1. Click **New Conversation** or the refresh icon
2. Previous conversation is cleared
3. Context is reset

{/* Screenshot: New conversation button */}

## Tips for Effective Testing

### Test Like a Customer

Write messages the way customers actually write:

* Incomplete sentences
* Typos and informal language
* Multiple questions at once
* Vague descriptions

### Test Conversation Flow

Don't just test single messages — test multi-turn conversations:

1. Customer asks question
2. Agent responds
3. Customer asks follow-up
4. Agent maintains context

### Document Issues

When you find problems:

1. Note what you asked
2. Note what the agent did wrong
3. Check execution details for root cause
4. Update configuration to fix

### Test After Changes

After updating agent configuration:

1. Re-test affected scenarios
2. Verify the fix works
3. Check for regressions

## Playground vs Production

| Aspect     | Playground              | Production     |
| ---------- | ----------------------- | -------------- |
| Messages   | You send manually       | Real customers |
| Context    | Fresh each conversation | Full history   |
| Actions    | May be simulated        | Real execution |
| Visibility | Only you                | Customers see  |

<Info>
  Playground is for validation. Always follow up with testing mode on real traffic before going live.
</Info>

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Replay Testing" icon="history" href="/testing/replay-testing">
    Test against real conversations
  </Card>

  <Card title="Batch Testing" icon="list-check" href="/testing/batch-testing">
    Automate your tests
  </Card>
</CardGroup>