Use the Console

Test functions, triggers, state, and queues interactively from the iii Console.

The iii Console provides interactive tools for testing and debugging your iii engine in real time. This guide covers common tasks you can perform from the console UI.

For a complete overview of all console pages and their features, see the Console Reference.

Start the Console

The console comes preinstalled with iii. Start it with:

iii console

Then open your browser to http://127.0.0.1:3113.

The console connects to a running iii engine instance. Make sure your engine is started before launching the console. By default it expects the engine at 127.0.0.1:3111.

Invoke a Function

You can invoke any registered function directly from the console without wiring up a trigger.

1. Open the Functions page from the sidebar
2. Click on a function to open its detail panel
3. Enter a JSON payload in the input editor
4. Click Invoke
5. View the result or error in real time

For example, to invoke users::getProfile:

{
  "user_id": "user-123"
}

The console sends the payload to the engine via POST /_console/invoke and displays the JSON response inline.

This is useful for:

• Testing a function during development without wiring up a trigger
• Debugging by sending specific payloads to reproduce an issue
• Ad-hoc operations like running a migration function manually

Test an HTTP Trigger

The console provides a built-in request builder for HTTP-type triggers.

1. Open the Triggers page from the sidebar
2. Select an HTTP trigger from the list
3. Select the HTTP method (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH)
4. The path is pre-filled from the trigger configuration
5. Add query parameters as key-value pairs
6. Enter a request body (for POST/PUT/PATCH) as JSON
7. Click Send to execute the request

The response is displayed inline with status code, headers, and body.

For example, for a trigger registered at POST /api/users:

{
  "name": "Alice",
  "email": "[e-mail]"
}

Test a Cron Trigger

You can manually fire a cron job without waiting for its next scheduled run.

1. Open the Triggers page from the sidebar
2. Select a cron trigger from the list
3. View the configured schedule expression (e.g. 0 */5 * * * * *)
4. Click Trigger Now to fire the cron job immediately

Test an Event Trigger

The console provides an event emitter for event-type triggers.

1. Open the Triggers page from the sidebar
2. Select an event trigger from the list
3. The event name is pre-filled from the trigger configuration
4. Enter a JSON payload
5. Click Emit to publish the event

Manage State Entries

The States page lets you create, edit, and delete key-value state entries.

Add a State Entry

1. Open the States page from the sidebar
2. Click Add Item
3. Enter the scope, key, and JSON value
4. Click Save

The entry is persisted via state::set.

Edit a State Entry

1. Select a group from the left panel
2. Click an existing item
3. Modify the JSON value in the detail panel
4. Click Save

If you have state:updated triggers registered, they will fire automatically.

Delete a State Entry

1. Select a group from the left panel
2. Click the delete icon on the item
3. Confirm the deletion

If you have state:deleted triggers registered, they will fire automatically.

Inspect a Trace

The Traces page provides multiple visualization modes for understanding distributed operations.

1. Open the Traces page from the sidebar
2. Use filters to find a specific trace (by ID, service, span name, status, or duration)
3. Click on a trace to open the detail view
4. Select a visualization mode:
   • Waterfall Chart — Timeline view of spans by start time and duration
   • Flame Graph — Stack-based view where wider bars indicate longer duration
   • Service Breakdown — Aggregate stats grouped by service
   • Trace Map — Topology graph of service communication
   • Flow — Node-based parent-child span relationships

View Span Details

1. Click on any span in the trace visualization
2. The detail panel shows:
   • Info — Span name, service, duration, status, IDs
   • Tags — Span attributes as key-value pairs
   • Logs — Events attached to the span
   • Errors — Error messages and stack traces
   • Baggage — Trace context baggage

Navigate the Flow Graph

The Flow page shows an interactive graph of your system architecture.

Enable the Flow page by starting the console with --enable-flow or setting III_ENABLE_FLOW=true.

1. Open the Flow page from the sidebar
2. Pan — drag to move the viewport
3. Zoom — scroll to zoom in/out
4. Inspect — click a node to view its details (function ID, trigger config, etc.)

The layout is auto-arranged using a directed-graph algorithm (Dagre) and saved to the engine’s state store.

Send a Test Message to a Queue

The Queues page includes a JSON publisher for testing.

1. Open the Queues page from the sidebar
2. Click a topic to open the detail panel
3. In the Overview tab, enter a JSON payload
4. Click Publish to send the message

Manage Dead Letters

Failed messages that exhausted retry handling appear in the Dead Letters tab.

1. Open the Queues page from the sidebar
2. Click a topic to open the detail panel
3. Select the Dead Letters tab
4. For each failed message, you can:
   • Retry — redrive the message back to the queue
   • Delete — discard the message permanently