Policies overview

Softprobe Testing uses declarative YAML policies (apiVersion: softprobe.ai/v1), merged by metadata.priority and applied by sp-boot at runtime.

Separate how to run each phase from policy configuration:

Phase	Operations	Policy config
1 · Record	How to record	RecordingPolicy below
2 · Replay	Replay and diff	MockPolicy, CompareRulePolicy below

Field reference and full examples: Policy YAML guide · CLI policies index

CLI quick reference

sp policy recording validate -f recording.yaml --json
sp policy recording apply -f recording.yaml --json
sp policy mock apply -f mock.yaml --json
sp policy compare apply -f compare.yaml --json

Higher metadata.priority wins on conflicts. Built-in priority-0 globals exist; use priority > 0 on app policies.

Lifecycle phases

Phase	Kind	When to configure	CLI
1 · Record	RecordingPolicy	Before traffic	sp policy recording
2 · Replay	MockPolicy	Before sp replay run	sp policy mock
2 · Replay	CompareRulePolicy	Before sp replay run	sp policy compare

Full lifecycle: Getting started

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RecordingPolicy

Phase 1 · Before traffic

Controls what the agent records: sampling, time window, operation include/exclude, serialize skip, record-time time mock.

• Sampling — ratePerHundredSeconds (0 = no record), optional machineCountLimit (omit = unlimited)
• Time window — daysOfWeek, from / to (agent JVM local timezone)
• Operations — exclude globs; non-empty include switches to whitelist mode
• Serialize skip — serializeSkip by class and field names
• timeMock — fix java.time.* at record time

Operational steps: How to record

YAML fields and examples: Policy YAML guide · RecordingPolicy

Notes

• spec.sensitiveData is not applied on the agent record path yet; use matchTolerance for mock-key noise and SensitivePolicy for view-time masking (see YAML guide).
• Changing operations include/exclude updates replay schedule operation scope without a separate schedule edit.

sp policy recording validate -f my-recording.yaml --json

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MockPolicy

Phase 2 · Before replay

Controls whether dependencies are mocked at replay, mock-key tolerance, cross-app dependencies, and fallback when no mock matches.

• mockByDefault — mock all deps by default (skipMock exceptions), or the inverse with forceMock
• Category:operationGlob — e.g. HttpClient:/payment/** (not entry types like Servlet)
• matchTolerance — ignore volatile headers, query params, body paths
• multiServiceDependencies — mock downstream apps from the same session
• fallback — FAIL (default), PASS_THROUGH, RETURN_DEFAULT

Global defaults force-mock DynamicClass:SystemTime.** and RandomSource.**; user skipMock has no effect.

YAML fields and examples: Policy YAML guide · MockPolicy

Full dependency category list

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CompareRulePolicy

Phase 2 · Before replay

Controls diff noise during replay comparison (not mock behavior).

• excludePaths / includePaths — JSON Pointer (with globs)
• defaults.timeToleranceMs and CEL validations — drop diffs by rule (including per-category rules)
• operationSpecs — per-entry-operation overlays (do not put operation names on selector)

YAML fields and examples: Policy YAML guide · CompareRulePolicy

Use sp replay diff after replay, then tighten policy rather than changing application code.

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Dynamic classes (not RecordingPolicy)

Register methods in dynamic class configuration (dashboard/API), not in RecordingPolicy. Control replay mocking via MockPolicy UserDynamic / DynamicClass rules. See Policy YAML guide · Related configuration.

Related

• How to record
• Replay and diff
• Policy YAML guide
• CLI: policy command