Dummy Run: letting fictional users try your app first

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 22:00:00 +0100

“Dummy run” is British English for a trial run. In my new project the dummies literally do the running.

Dummy Run is an open-source tool that lets AI play your users and try your app before your customers do. It’s on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 licence.

The idea #

Most teams now get a preview build for every pull request. Someone’s meant to have a poke around it before it’s merged. In practice they’re flat out, they click through the happy path, and nobody logs in as the awkward customer, the read-only auditor or the person on their phone on the bus.

Dummy Run on Joel Merrick

Dummy Run: letting fictional users try your app first

The idea #