Building automations is one of the most powerful ways to streamline your processes in Aptly. To help you confidently publish automations, Aptly now includes a Test Mode feature. Test Mode lets you safely test an automation before publishing it—so you can confirm that the conditions, triggers, and actions work exactly as intended.

Test Mode prevents automations from running on the wrong card, sending emails or SMS messages to real customers, or performing actions you didn’t expect.

What Test Mode Does

When Test Mode is enabled:

Actions will run only on your selected Test Card

Emails go to your Test Mode Email instead of the real contact

SMS messages go to your Test Mode Phone Number

The automation will not affect any real data or real customers

You’ll see detailed results after each test run

This gives you a safe sandbox to experiment with your conditions and actions before going live.

Step 1: Open Test Mode Settings

Open the board where your automation lives.

Click the Automations icon on the far right of the board.

From the top right, click Test Mode Settings.

In the Test Mode Settings window, you’ll set up:

1. Test Email Address

This email replaces any real contact email during testing.

If your automation would normally send an email to a resident, owner, or vendor, the message will instead go to this test email.

2. Test Phone Number

Used for testing SMS automations.

SMS messages will go to this number instead of the recipient on the card.

3. Test Card

Choose a card on the current board to use for all automation tests.

You can:

Select an existing card, or

Create a brand new test card

Once these fields are completed, click Save.

Step 2: Enable Test Mode on an Automation

Once your test settings are saved, go back to the Automations List on the same board.

To test an automation:

Open the automation.

Ensure the automation is in Draft status. (Only Draft automations can be tested.)

At the top right of the automation editor, turn on the Test Mode toggle.

After enabling Test Mode, return to your automation list. You’ll now see a yellow “Test” label next to any automation where Test Mode is activated.

This label helps you quickly identify which automations are being tested and which are not yet live.

Step 3: Run an Automation Test

To test the automation:

In the automation list, click the Test button (located just left of “Publish”).

This opens the Test Mode Screen.

On this screen you will see:

The Test Card selected at the top

A button to Update Test Mode Settings (if needed)

A list of all automations currently set to Test Mode

A Test button for each automation

Click Test for the automation you want to evaluate.

You’ll see:

The trigger being used

The conditions being checked

The action that will run

The result once the action completes

The last time the automation was tested

Whether the test met the conditions successfully

Examples:

If your action is “Add a task,” the task will appear on the Test Card.

If your action is “Send an email,” the email will be sent to the Test Mode Email.

If your action is “Send SMS,” the message will be sent to the Test Mode Phone Number.

Confirm the test when prompted.

Step 4: Mark the Automation as Verified

Once the test runs successfully, you can mark the automation as verified:

Click the checkbox labeled “Verified.”

Confirm the verification.

When verified, a new icon will appear next to the automation in your list. This helps you quickly identify which automations have already been successfully tested.