Testing Actions

Before using actions in production deployments, test them to ensure they work correctly.

Testing Approaches

Actions can be deployed directly on their own, as part of a sequence, or as part of a solution. Deploying an action directly is the fastest way to test it in isolation — create a deployment targeting a low-risk environment and specify the action ID as the deployment source.

1. Test Environment Deployment

Create a dedicated testing environment:

Environment	Purpose	Targets
Test	Action validation	1-2 test machines
Development	Integration testing	Dev infrastructure

Deploy the action directly (or add it to a sequence and deploy that) to a test environment first, before promoting it toward production. Scope the deployment to one or two test targets (see Target Selection) to limit blast radius while validating.

2. Dry Run Mode

Some script actions support a dry-run mode. Script content is not variable-substituted, so the script reads resolved variables from their MANTIS_* environment variables:

#!/bin/bash
DRY_RUN="${DRY_RUN:-false}"

if [ "$DRY_RUN" = "true" ]; then
    echo "[DRY RUN] Would execute: docker pull $MANTIS_IMAGE"
else
    docker pull "$MANTIS_IMAGE"
fi

Add DRY_RUN as an environment variable and set to true for testing. The image solution variable is injected as MANTIS_IMAGE.

What to Test

Functionality

Test	How to Verify
Script executes	Check exit code is 0
Expected output	Review stdout
Side effects	Verify changes on target
Arguments work	Test with different values

Error Handling

Test	How to Verify
Missing arguments	Should fail gracefully
Invalid input	Should show clear error
Network failure	Should timeout appropriately
Permission denied	Should report access issue

Edge Cases

Test	Example
Empty strings	Argument with no value
Special characters	Paths with spaces
Large files	Big downloads or uploads
Long runtime	Operations near timeout

Viewing Test Results

Execution Output

After running, view the execution details:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Execution Results                                      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                         │
│  Status:    ✓ Completed                                 │
│  Duration:  12.3 seconds                                │
│  Exit Code: 0                                           │
│                                                         │
│  ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────  │
│                                                         │
│  Output:                                                │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │ Deploying version 1.0.0 to development            │  │
│  │ Pulling docker image...                           │  │
│  │ Image pulled successfully                         │  │
│  │ Starting container...                             │  │
│  │ Container started on port 8080                    │  │
│  │ Health check passed                               │  │
│  │ Deployment complete!                              │  │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│                                                         │
│                                           [Close]       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Error Output

When execution fails:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Execution Results                                      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                         │
│  Status:    ✗ Failed                                    │
│  Duration:  3.1 seconds                                 │
│  Exit Code: 1                                           │
│                                                         │
│  ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────  │
│                                                         │
│  Error:                                                 │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │ Error: Cannot connect to Docker daemon            │  │
│  │ Is docker running?                                │  │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│                                                         │
│  Output:                                                │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │ Deploying version 1.0.0 to development            │  │
│  │ Pulling docker image...                           │  │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│                                                         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Testing Strategies

Progressive Testing

Test in stages from lowest to highest risk:

Version Testing

When creating new action versions:

1. Create the new version
2. Deploy the action directly (or update a test sequence to use the new version and deploy that)
3. Deploy to a test environment
4. Monitor for issues
5. Update production sequences or direct-action deployments

Regression Testing

When modifying actions:

Test	Verify
Existing functionality	Still works
New functionality	Works as expected
Backward compatibility	Old arguments still work
Error cases	Still handled properly

Writing Testable Actions

Include Verbose Output

Inside a script, read resolved variables from their MANTIS_* environment variables (script content is not {{...}}-substituted):

#!/bin/bash
set -e

echo "=== Deploy Action v$MANTIS_VERSION ==="
echo "Target: $(hostname)"
echo "Date: $(date)"
echo "Arguments: image=$MANTIS_IMAGE, tag=$MANTIS_TAG"

# ... rest of script

Add Validation Steps

#!/bin/bash
set -e

# Validate arguments
if [ -z "$MANTIS_IMAGE" ]; then
    echo "ERROR: image variable is required"
    exit 1
fi

# Validate environment
if ! command -v docker &> /dev/null; then
    echo "ERROR: docker is not installed"
    exit 1
fi

# Proceed with deployment
echo "Validation passed, proceeding..."

Return Meaningful Exit Codes

#!/bin/bash

# Exit codes:
# 0 - Success
# 1 - General error
# 2 - Invalid arguments
# 3 - Environment issue
# 4 - Deployment failed

if [ -z "$MANTIS_VERSION" ]; then
    echo "ERROR: version is required"
    exit 2
fi

if ! docker info &> /dev/null; then
    echo "ERROR: Cannot connect to Docker"
    exit 3
fi

if ! docker pull "myimage:$MANTIS_VERSION"; then
    echo "ERROR: Failed to pull image"
    exit 4
fi

echo "Success!"
exit 0

Common Testing Issues

Action Works Locally, Fails on Target

Possible Cause	Solution
Different OS	Check executor compatibility
Missing dependencies	Add prerequisite checks
Permission differences	Verify agent permissions
Network differences	Check firewall rules

Timeout During Test

Possible Cause	Solution
Slow network	Increase timeout setting
Large download	Add progress output
Hanging command	Add timeout to commands
Infinite loop	Add loop limits

Arguments Not Substituted

Possible Cause	Solution
Typo in variable name	Check spelling
Missing variable definition	Add to solution / action
Expecting substitution inside script content	Script content is not substituted — read MANTIS_* env vars
Wrong placeholder syntax	Use {{var}} or ${var} in arguments

Test Checklist

Before promoting to production:

• Action executes successfully on test target
• All required arguments are validated
• Error cases return non-zero exit codes
• Output is clear and informative
• Timeout is set appropriately
• No secrets are logged
• Rollback/cleanup is possible

Next Steps

• Versioning - Publish tested versions
• Creating Sequences - Use actions in sequences
• Overview - Return to actions overview