Test Mode
Use Test Mode on sources and destinations to validate campaign setup before going live. Test leads flow through the full distribution path, excluded from billing and Meta CAPI.
Last updated:
What is Test Mode?
Test Mode is a per-campaign toggle available on both sources and destinations. A source in Test Mode sends only test leads: every lead it posts is flagged as a test with no payload changes required (the optional test_lead: true payload flag still works for per-lead testing). A destination in Test Mode receives only test leads: real leads skip it, and test leads route only to destinations in Test Mode. Test leads flow through the full pipeline (campaign filters, destination filters, delivery webhooks) but carry $0 cost and are excluded from billing, P&L reports, and Meta CAPI conversion events.
Use it to validate field mappings, webhook delivery, buyer routing, and automation rules before going live with real traffic — without polluting your revenue numbers or sending false conversion signals to Meta.
What Test Mode Does (and Doesn't)
| Behavior | Test Mode lead | Live lead |
|---|---|---|
| Goes through campaign filters | Yes | Yes |
| Routes to destinations per distribution method | Yes (Test Mode destinations only) | Yes (skips Test Mode destinations) |
| Buyer's webhook fires | Yes (real POST, Test Mode destinations only) | Yes |
| Counts toward buyer's cap | No | Yes |
| Generates revenue in P&L | No | Yes |
| Generates cost in P&L | No | Yes |
| Fires Meta CAPI conversion event | No | Yes |
| Counts toward billing tier overage | No | Yes |
| Appears in dashboard reports | Yes (filtered to is_test=true) | Yes |
| Triggers buyer-side automations | Yes | Yes |
How to Enable Test Mode
- Open the campaign and find the source in the Sources table.
- Right-click the source and choose Test Mode (or open Edit and pick Test Mode in the Status dropdown).
- Give the test leads somewhere to land: right-click a destination, choose Duplicate, then set the duplicate to Test Mode. Your live destinations keep receiving real traffic and never see test leads.
- The change takes effect on the next lead the source posts. When the integration checks out, switch the source back to Active and remove the test destination.
When to Use Test Mode
- New supplier onboarding — validate the supplier's payload format, field mapping, and authentication before going live.
- New buyer integration — confirm webhook URL is reachable, field mapping lands correctly in the buyer's CRM, automations fire as expected.
- Schema changes — test a new custom field rollout before exposing it to production traffic.
- Distribution method changes — switch a campaign from Round Robin to Priority and verify the cascade works as expected.
- Compliance testing — confirm TCPA scrub rules catch the test phone numbers you've configured as known-litigators in a sandbox account.
Don't leave Test Mode on after onboarding — test leads still consume Lead Distro AI's processing capacity and bandwidth, just without generating revenue. Set a reminder to switch Test Mode off once the supplier is validated and ready for live traffic.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Test Mode prevent leads from reaching buyers?
Test leads reach only destinations that are in Test Mode, and real leads never reach a Test Mode destination. So your live buyers are fully protected: they never receive test traffic. To validate the entire path including delivery, put a destination (usually a duplicate of a real one) in Test Mode. That destination receives a real POST, so you can confirm the payload lands correctly without touching live buyers.
Are Test Mode leads counted in my plan's monthly lead volume?
No. Test Mode leads are excluded from billing-tier overage calculations. They consume Lead Distro AI's processing capacity but don't push you toward your plan's overage threshold. This is important for high-volume agencies running multi-supplier onboarding in parallel — test traffic can exceed normal daily volume without billing impact.
Do Test Mode leads fire Meta CAPI conversion events?
No. The CAPI integration explicitly excludes
is_test: true leads from sending conversion events to Meta. This prevents test traffic from polluting your Meta ad-optimization algorithm with false conversion signals — critical because Meta's algorithm learns from CAPI events; false positives would degrade ad performance for weeks.Can a buyer's automations fire on Test Mode leads?
Yes — automations on the buyer side fire on every lead.accepted event regardless of
is_test. This is intentional: you typically *want* to test that automations fire correctly during onboarding. If your buyer's automation has side effects (sends a real SMS to the lead, charges a payment), warn the buyer to handle is_test on their side or set up separate test endpoints.How do I see Test Mode leads in the dashboard?
Use the is_test filter in the dashboard. By default, dashboard reports include both live and test leads — toggle the filter to see only live, only test, or both. Most agencies default to live only for revenue reporting and switch to test only when debugging an onboarding pipeline.
Does Test Mode work with ping-post?
Yes. Test Mode pings go through the same eligibility checks as live pings — buyer availability, campaign filters, suppression — but the response is flagged
is_test: true. Buyers that opt into receiving test pings handle them as configured; buyers that ignore test pings see them as expected (no bid). The supplier sees the test ping response and can validate the ping-post flow end-to-end.Can I forget to turn Test Mode off and lose revenue?
Yes, that's the main risk. Test Mode is a manual toggle with no auto-expiry, and a source left in Test Mode keeps flagging every one of its leads as tests (no billing, no revenue). Lead Distro AI shows an amber TEST badge next to the source and the destination in the campaign's routing table while Test Mode is on. Double-check the badge is gone before declaring the source production-ready.
Related Articles
Campaign Basics
Create and configure lead distribution campaigns in Lead Distro AI. Choose your routing method, set daily caps, map custom fields, and assign buyers with priority rules for every pipeline.
Field Mapping
Configure the data fields each lead carries in a Lead Distro AI campaign — system fields, custom fields, sub IDs, vertical-specific patterns, field transforms (Phone Formatter, Date Formatter), and validation.
Supplier Basics
Configure lead suppliers in Lead Distro AI: API key generation, cost-per-lead tracking, source attribution, ingestion endpoints, and supplier-level reporting for every traffic source.
If you have any questions, send us an email at support@leaddistro.ai