This article covers the Test Preview page, which is part of Kentik’s Tests page.
The Test Preview page approximates the results of a test of same type.
The Test Preview page, visible only to Admin users while adding or editing a test, allows you to check various protocols and configurations before saving a new test.
Important: Once a new test has been saved, many settings are locked and can't be modified.
To open a Test Preview, click the Preview button at the top of an Add/Edit Test Settings page. The preview opens in a new browser tab, allowing you to tweak settings in the original tab and generate new previews as needed.
Key Differences from Standard Tests
While the Test Preview page shares the same core UI as a standard Test Details page, it behaves differently in several key ways:
No Credit Usage: Running a Test Preview does not consume any of your monthly test credits.
Instant Results: While a newly saved test takes a few minutes to start returning data, a Test Preview returns results almost immediately.
Point-in-Time Snapshot: A preview only records data for the exact moment it was created. Results that depend on sustained testing over time (such as rolling averages) are not included.
No Alerts: Previews do not trigger notifications or impact the Incident List on the Synthetics Dashboard.
Note: Test Previews are not available for Autonomous tests. For BGP Monitor tests, clicking Preview opens the BGP Route Viewer instead.
Test Preview UI
Because previews do not track historical data, the Time Range selector and Alert Timeline found on standard test pages are excluded. Instead, the top of the page features preview-specific controls:
Run Preview Again: Executes the test preview again within the same browser tab to fetch a fresh snapshot.Save Test: Saves the configuration and officially starts the test.
Credit Usage Estimate: Located just below the Save button, this indicates exactly how many monthly credits the test will consume if saved with its current settings.
Data Section
The core results of the preview are presented in a unified Data section. Depending on the test type, you can toggle between inline views such as:
Mesh: A matrix displaying instantaneous latency, jitter, and packet loss across agent combinations.
Agents: A detailed table listing the performance metrics of the agents for this specific snapshot.
Traceroute: A graphical representation of the hop-by-hop path taken from source to destination during the preview.
Map: A geographic visualization of the agents and targets involved.
Test Timestamp: An indicator directly above the Data section displaying the exact UTC time the preview was executed.
Test Config Summary
Located below the Data section, the Test Config panel provides a quick-reference summary of the proposed test's settings, including Test Type, Status, Frequency, IP Family, and Alert/Health configurations.