> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.rubica.au/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.rubica.au/workflow-automation/testing-and-previewing.md).

# Testing & Previewing

Checking an action or trigger does what you expect before it touches a real client.

Two safeguards, worth knowing before you configure anything real.

## Preview with a real client

On any message-based [Stage Action](/workflow-automation/stage-actions-overview.md) (Email or Text Message, compose mode), hit **Preview** and pick any real Account. You'll see the fully rendered message — [merge fields](/workflow-automation/merge-fields.md) filled in with that Account's real data — for zero cost: **no Job is created, nothing is sent, nothing is saved.** This is the fastest way to sanity-check wording and merge fields before turning an action on for real.

## One-time actions never double-fire

A one-time action counts *every* prior attempt against a given Job — sent, skipped, or failed all count — so if something goes wrong and evaluation re-runs, a misconfigured action doesn't silently retry forever once you've noticed and fixed it.

## A gotcha worth knowing

Stage actions live on the **stage/template**, not on one specific Job — so if you have several test Jobs sitting on the same stage when a new action becomes due for the first time, **all of them fire together**. If you're testing in an org with a lot of leftover test data on the same stage, clean up duplicate test Jobs first, or expect a burst of sends/tasks all at once.

## Testing a Workflow Trigger's Conditions

See [Setting Conditions on a Workflow Trigger](/workflow-automation/setting-conditions-on-a-workflow-trigger.md) for the trigger-level equivalent — conditions there were verified against real client data (not just synthetic test records) before being switched on for any org.