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Test an automation before it goes live

Preview and send test messages to confirm an automation works before starting it, so subscribers only ever see a finished, correct journey.

Before you begin​

  • Finish building the automation: entry trigger, each step's Edition, wait times, and any branching conditions.
  • Have a small test list or a few test subscriber addresses you control (ideally yourself and a colleague).
  • Confirm every step's Edition is approved and its personalization tokens have fallback values.
  • Know which trigger starts the automation (a signup, a tag, an event) so you can reproduce it on purpose.

Steps​

  1. Open the automation and review the flow end to end. Check the order of steps, wait durations, and the condition on each branch.
  2. Preview each Edition in the automation. Send yourself a test of every message and confirm layout, links, images, and personalization tokens all render correctly. (confirm the exact steps in your account)
  3. Shorten long waits temporarily (for example, change a "3 day" wait to a few minutes) so you can watch the whole journey run quickly. Note anything you change so you can restore it.
  4. Trigger the automation for your test subscriber the same way a real subscriber would — add the tag, submit the form, or fire the event.
  5. Follow the run and confirm your test subscriber advances through each step, takes the branch you expect, and receives each message.
  6. Restore any waits you shortened and remove your test subscribers from the flow before going live.

Result​

Your test subscriber received every message in the correct order, took the expected branches, and all content rendered cleanly — so the automation is ready to start for real subscribers.

Canonical terms: Author, Edition, Folder (Project Folder), Broadcast. See the Glossary.