Local Testing Guides

Validate Beacon endpoint telemetry locally before managed rollout or log forwarding

Overview

Use local testing to confirm Beacon is installed, writing endpoint events, and readable through local review tools before you move into managed deployment or log forwarding.

Beacon runs locally by default. These checks use the endpoint runtime JSONL log and local-only commands, so you can validate collection without a Beacon-hosted account or external network dependency.

Setup

Install Beacon and configure endpoint telemetry before testing:

Configure endpoint telemetry

beacon endpoint install
beacon endpoint status

Sample output

Sample output

$ beacon endpoint status

Collector: running
Runtime log: ~/.beacon/endpoint/logs/runtime.jsonl
Diagnostics: passing

Validation Workflow

1. Check endpoint health

   Run beacon endpoint status and beacon endpoint doctor to confirm the endpoint configuration, collector, runtime log, and local service state.

2. Write a validation event

   Use beacon endpoint test-event to append a known-good synthetic event to the runtime JSONL log.

3. Review the dashboard

   Start beacon endpoint dashboard --open and confirm the validation event appears in Log Search and summary views.

4. Validate MCP access

   Run beacon mcp doctor, then test an MCP query path against the same runtime log to confirm local assistants only receive the intended compact activity summaries.

5. Inspect local logs

   Confirm the runtime JSONL path, last-event freshness, and user or system mode paths match your test scope.

Guides In This Section

Validate Endpoint Telemetry

Confirm endpoint health, write validation events, and inspect the runtime JSONL log.

Test the Local Dashboard

Review Log Search, Security Overview, and runtime inventory from the local dashboard.

Test MCP Access

Test local MCP tools and connect Cursor or Claude Code to Beacon activity.

For ephemeral Claude Code telemetry in CI jobs, see CI Telemetry.

Key Features Demonstrated

• Verify local endpoint health before a rollout.
• Write a synthetic endpoint event to prove the runtime log is writable.
• Confirm the dashboard and MCP tools read the same local log.
• Separate user-mode, system-mode, and custom log-path checks.

When To Use Local Testing

Local testing is useful for developer evaluation, support triage, security review demos, and pilot preparation. For managed rollout guidance, see Security & IT Rollout Guide, MDM Deployment, and Log Forwarding.