On this page: Learn how to run Quick simulation and Manual simulation with simulated users to validate journey paths and review results before you publish.
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To use Simulation, assign at least one permission from the Journeys capability: Simulate journeys, Publish journeys, or Approve and Publish journeys. The same permissions let you create and manage simulated users, Simulated Users permissions are not required. Learn more
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To manage simulated users without Simulation, assign Manage Simulated Users or View Simulated Users from the Simulated Users capability.
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For AI in simulation (Quick simulation, AI-generated users, Generate event values), assign Generate Content from the AI Assistant capability.
Use Simulation to validate your journey with simulated users before you publish. This page walks you through Quick simulation and Manual simulation, creating and sending simulated users, triggering unitary events when your journey needs them, and reviewing the Results log.
For an overview by journey type, see Get started with Journey simulation.
Simulation types simulation-types
After activation, batch journeys with read audience entry offer two ways to run a simulation:
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Quick simulation runs end-to-end with generated users, generated event values, and default test settings, powered by the Journey Agent. It is a quick way to simulate a journey end to end with minimal intervention. Quick simulation starts as soon as you select this option.
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Manual simulation lets you run a simulation step by step, manually. Create simulated users (manually or with the Journey Agent), trigger them into the journey, define event payloads (manually or with the Journey Agent), and override waits.
Quick simulation quick-simulation
On any journey in Simulation, Quick simulation runs the journey with generated users, event values and pre-filled settings.
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Select Quick simulation.
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Review the fields Adobe Journey Optimizer gathered for the run. Click Update values to change test settings and execution addresses, or continue without changes.
This step appears only if the journey uses Waits or Channels. You can adjust all Wait durations and execution addresses for simulated users, for example, use your own email so messages from the run go to your inbox.
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If you opened Update values, edit the settings, for example, the address used for message proofs, then confirm to start the simulation.
note NOTE Pre-filled execution email and phone fields come from values previously used in journey simulation and cached in your browser. 
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The Journey Agent generates a set of simulated users from the journey definition.
For journeys with an Email, SMS, or Push node, the Agent prompts you to confirm the email address, phone number, or push token to use. Simulated users are generated using those values. Once done, click Generate.
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When the run completes, click View results to review paths, errors, and uncovered branches. See View results.
Quick simulation also supports event-triggered journeys and journeys that include event activities. Event values are set and fired automatically for every generated simulated user. Once a user enters the journey, each event is triggered as soon as they reach the corresponding Wait.
Manual simulation manual-simulation
Choose Manual simulation when you need to pick each simulated user, control send order, configure event payloads, and override Wait durations for the run.
Continue with Create and manage simulated users, Trigger your events, and View results.
Create and manage simulated users test-users
Simulated users are temporary profile-like entities you define in Simulation settings. This section covers how to create them, save them for reuse, adjust or remove them from the list, and send them into the journey.
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Start by populating the Test users list:
accordion Generate users with AI Adobe Journey Optimizer generates a set of simulated users from the journey definition.
For journeys with an Email, Push or SMS node, the AI prompts you to confirm the email address or phone number to use. Simulated users will be generated using those defined values. Once done, click Generate.
Generated simulated users only show the attributes used in the current journey, for example in expressions or personalization.
note NOTE The email and phone fields are pre-filled from values previously used in journey simulation and cached in your browser. 
accordion Browse inventory Choose Browse inventory to add simulated users you already saved, for example, users you created from a form or JSON, or users you kept after an AI generation run.
Note that when you select a simulated user from the inventory, only the attributes used in the current journey are shown, even if the user has values for other attributes set in a different journey.
accordion Create from form -
Enter a Display name, Identity namespace and Description to identify this simulated user.
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Then, select the attributes from the Union schema that you want to populate for this user. Note that only the attributes used in the current journey, for example in expressions or personalization, are available here.
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Click Add audience membership to simulate segment memberships.
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In the Create Simulated Users window, click Add simulated user to define several simulated users in one session.
You can change how users are shown in the list, collapse every card in stacked view, or open a user’s attribute metadata.
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From your Simulated user menu, use Duplicate to copy a user, Apply all attributes to other users to copy one user’s attributes to every other user in the session, or Delete to remove a user.
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Click Save when you finish configuring users in this session.
accordion Create from JSON In Create Simulated Users, edit the JSON template to define users, then click Format JSON and Save.
Note that Create from JSON and Update from JSON give you access to every attribute, regardless of what the current journey uses.
To reuse attribute values from a profile or test profile in Adobe Experience Platform:
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Browse to the profile you want to use as a reference. On the profile detail page, click View JSON. Learn more
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Copy the JSON from the viewer.
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In the journey, open Simulation settings, start Create Simulated Users, and choose Create from JSON.
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Paste the JSON into the matching part of the simulated user template (for example, the attribute block for one user). Click Format JSON to validate the structure.
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Remove properties that exist on the Adobe Experience Platform profile only tied to the source profile, such as mergePolicyId or lastModifiedAt.
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Set the fields required by the simulated user template: Display name, Identity namespace, identity value, and channel execution addresses.
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Click Save. Use
note warning WARNING If you paste profile JSON, remove or replace all production identifiers and contact points (email, phone, ECID, push token, and similar). Simulation will send messages using the data you provide.
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The simulated users you created appear in the Test users list. For each entry, select one of the following:
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This option is not available for journeys starting with an Event, as the simulated user entrance is triggered by the event being sent. Learn more
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To change the list after your selection, click Manage users to add more simulated users, from the inventory or by creating new ones. To remove every user from the Test users list for this run, choose Clear all users.
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If your journey includes a Wait activity, open the Test settings tab to fine-tune how long that wait lasts during the simulation. For example, if the live Wait activity is configured for several days, you can override it to 10 seconds so the simulated user only spends that long on the node before moving to the next activity.
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Click Send all to send every simulated user in the list into the journey, or click
Simulated users have entered the journey successfully.confirmation message appears when the simulated users successfully enter the journey.
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If the journey includes unitary events, you need to select the event to trigger. See Trigger your events.
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Access the Results tab to open the execution log and review how each step ran. For more information, see View results.
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When you finish testing, open the Manage simulation menu:
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Close simulation to exit the current simulation session.
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Reset simulation to clear all data from the current run, selected simulated users, defined event values, and other test settings, so you can start a new simulation from scratch.
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After you validate the journey in Simulation, review the Results log. If errors appear, leave Simulation, apply the required changes to the journey, and run Simulation again until the run looks correct. You can then publish the journey. See Publish your journey.
Trigger your events firing-events
JOtestmode - <schema of your event>.If your journey includes one or more unitary events, you can trigger them while Simulation is active. For journeys not starting from an Event but containing one, this section will not be visible until a simulated user enters the journey.
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In Select event type, select the event to fire for this simulation.
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To apply the same change to every user in the list, use the Manage events option to:
- Generate event values to let the Journey Agent generate all payloads using AI. When values are generated, the user is marked Ready to send.
- Edit event data to change the payload for every simulated user in the list.
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Configure the event payload for each user by clicking the
- Generate event values to let the Journey Agent generate the payload using AI. When values are generated, the user is marked Ready to send.
- Edit event data to change the payload for that simulated user only.
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In Test events, either select Send all to send this event for all simulated users listed under Test users, or select
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After events are fired, the canvas updates to reflect each user’s progression.
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Access the Results tab to open the execution log and review how each step ran. For more information, see View results.
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When you finish testing, open the Manage simulation menu:
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Close simulation to exit the current simulation session.
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Reset simulation to clear all data from the current run, selected simulated users, defined event values, and other test settings, so you can start a new simulation from scratch.
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View results viewing-results
The Results tab allows you to view the test results. In the Test user drop-down, select the simulated user whose execution you want to inspect. When you select a single simulated user, the canvas highlights the exact path that user followed through the journey, so you can confirm they entered the branch you expected.
Select All to see results aggregated across every simulated user in the run. The canvas then shows every path covered by the run, which helps you compare coverage across profiles and scan the full simulation at a glance, including activities, outcomes, and errors, without picking a single simulated user first.
For each activity, the log can show whether the simulated user entered or exited the step, the timestamps and branch decisions for each step, and errors that occurred during the simulation.
For Wait activities, the log includes two duration-related values:
- Defined duration: The duration specified on the Wait activity for the published journey and applied once the journey is live. The log records whether Simulation applies an override from the test settings, for example 10 seconds, rather than relying solely on the value defined on the journey.
- Actual duration: The elapsed time the simulated user remained on the Wait activity. This value is set from the Test settings tab.
When errors appear in the log, leave Simulation, apply the required changes to the journey, and run Simulation again. After validation succeeds, publish the journey. See Publish your journey.
This section contains structured knowledge intended to support interpretation, retrieval, and question answering related to this topic.
For complete understanding, this information should be combined with the documentation on this page. Neither source is intended to stand alone; the page describes the feature, while this section provides additional context that helps disambiguate terminology, intent, applicability, and constraints.
- TL;DR: This page provides step-by-step instructions for running Quick simulation and Manual simulation in Adobe Journey Optimizer, including how to create and manage simulated users, trigger unitary events, override Wait durations, and interpret the Results log.
Intents:
- Run a Quick simulation to validate a journey end-to-end with minimal manual input
- Set up Manual simulation to control simulated user creation, event payloads, and wait overrides
- Create simulated users via AI generation, inventory browse, form entry, or JSON
- Trigger unitary events for simulated users during an active simulation session
- Review the Results log to identify errors and uncovered branches after a simulation run
- Reset or close a simulation session to start fresh or exit
Glossary:
- Quick simulation: An automated simulation mode that generates users and event values using the Journey Agent and runs the full journey with minimal manual steps (product-specific)
- Manual simulation: A step-by-step simulation mode where practitioners control user creation, event payloads, and timing individually (product-specific)
- Simulated users: Temporary profile-like entities used in Simulation that do not persist in Adobe Experience Platform (product-specific)
- Journey Agent: The AI component that generates simulated users and event payloads during AI-assisted simulation (product-specific)
- Test settings: The Simulation panel tab where Wait durations and execution addresses (email, phone, push token) can be overridden for the simulation run (product-specific)
- Results log: The execution log accessible from the Results tab showing per-activity outcomes, durations, and errors for each simulated user (product-specific)
Guardrails:
- Requires at least one of: Simulate journeys, Publish journeys, or Approve and Publish journeys permissions
- AI features (Quick simulation, Generate with AI, Generate event values) require the Generate Content permission from the AI Assistant capability
- For event-triggered journeys, the per-user Send icon is not available; entry is triggered through the Test events section
- Wait duration overrides and execution address settings are only shown if the journey includes Wait or Channel activities
- Channel proofs and custom actions or external data sources can execute real outbound calls during Simulation; use non-production contact points and avoid real customer PII in simulated users
- Errors in the Results log require leaving Simulation, fixing the journey, and re-running before publishing
Terminology:
- Canonical name: Quick simulation — Acronym: none — variants: none
- Canonical name: Manual simulation — Acronym: none — variants: none
- Canonical name: Simulated users — Acronym: none — variants: test users (UI label in Test users list)
- Synonyms: “Send all” = trigger all listed simulated users into the journey simultaneously
- Do not confuse: “Reset simulation” ≠ “Close simulation” — Reset clears all data and settings; Close merely exits the current session
FAQ:
- Q: What is the difference between Quick simulation and Manual simulation? — Quick simulation runs the entire journey automatically using AI-generated users and events; Manual simulation lets you create users and events step by step with full control over payloads and timing.
- Q: Can I reuse simulated users across simulation sessions? — Yes. Users saved to the inventory can be retrieved via Browse inventory in subsequent sessions.
- Q: How do I override Wait activity durations during simulation? — Open the Test settings tab and set a shorter duration, for example 10 seconds, so simulated users move through Wait nodes quickly.
- Q: How do I trigger a unitary event for a specific simulated user? — In the Test events section, click the edit icon next to the user to configure the event payload, then click the send icon on that row to trigger only that user’s event.
- Q: What do the Defined duration and Actual duration fields mean in the Results log for Wait activities? — Defined duration is the live journey’s configured wait time; Actual duration is the overridden test duration the simulated user actually spent on the Wait node.
- Q: What should I do when errors appear in the Results log? — Leave Simulation, apply the required fixes to the journey, then re-run Simulation until the run shows no errors before publishing.