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emulate

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Local drop-in API emulator for Vercel, GitHub, Google, Slack, Apple, Microsoft, and AWS. Use when the user needs to start emulated services, configure seed data, write tests against local APIs, set up CI without network access, or work with the emulate CLI or programmatic API. Triggers include "start the emulator", "emulate services", "mock API locally", "create emulator config", "test against local API", "npx emulate", or any task requiring local service emulation.

Backend & APIs

What this skill does


# Service Emulation with emulate

Local drop-in replacement services for CI and no-network sandboxes. Fully stateful, production-fidelity API emulation, not mocks.

## Quick Start

```bash
npx emulate
```

All services start with sensible defaults:

| Service   | Default Port |
|-----------|-------------|
| Vercel    | 4000        |
| GitHub    | 4001        |
| Google    | 4002        |
| Slack     | 4003        |
| Apple     | 4004        |
| Microsoft | 4005        |
| AWS       | 4006        |

## CLI

```bash
# Start all services (zero-config)
npx emulate

# Start specific services
npx emulate --service vercel,github

# Custom base port (auto-increments per service)
npx emulate --port 3000

# Use a seed config file
npx emulate --seed config.yaml

# Generate a starter config
npx emulate init

# Generate config for a specific service
npx emulate init --service vercel

# List available services
npx emulate list
```

### Options

| Flag | Default | Description |
|------|---------|-------------|
| `-p, --port` | `4000` | Base port (auto-increments per service) |
| `-s, --service` | all | Comma-separated services to enable |
| `--seed` | auto-detect | Path to seed config (YAML or JSON) |
| `--base-url` | none | Override advertised base URL (supports `{service}` template) |
| `--portless` | off | Serve over HTTPS via portless (auto-registers aliases) |

The port can also be set via `EMULATE_PORT` or `PORT` environment variables.

The advertised base URL (used in OAuth redirects, webhook URLs, etc.) can be overridden via `--base-url`, the `EMULATE_BASE_URL` env var (supports `{service}` template), or per-service `baseUrl` in the seed config. When running under portless, the `PORTLESS_URL` env var is also detected automatically.

## Programmatic API

```bash
npm install emulate
```

Each call to `createEmulator` starts a single service:

```typescript
import { createEmulator } from 'emulate'

const github = await createEmulator({ service: 'github', port: 4001 })
const vercel = await createEmulator({ service: 'vercel', port: 4002 })

github.url   // 'http://localhost:4001'
vercel.url   // 'http://localhost:4002'

await github.close()
await vercel.close()
```

### Options

| Option | Default | Description |
|--------|---------|-------------|
| `service` | *(required)* | `'vercel'`, `'github'`, `'google'`, `'slack'`, `'apple'`, `'microsoft'`, or `'aws'` |
| `port` | `4000` | Port for the HTTP server |
| `seed` | none | Inline seed data (same shape as YAML config) |
| `baseUrl` | none | Override advertised base URL. Per-service `baseUrl` in seed config takes highest priority, then this option, then `EMULATE_BASE_URL` env var (supports `{service}`), then `PORTLESS_URL` (supports `{service}`, automatically set by the `portless` CLI wrapper), then `http://localhost:<port>`. |

### Instance Methods

| Method | Description |
|--------|-------------|
| `url` | Base URL of the running server |
| `reset()` | Wipe the store and replay seed data |
| `close()` | Shut down the HTTP server, returns a Promise |

## Vitest / Jest Setup

```typescript
import { createEmulator, type Emulator } from 'emulate'

let github: Emulator
let vercel: Emulator

beforeAll(async () => {
  ;[github, vercel] = await Promise.all([
    createEmulator({ service: 'github', port: 4001 }),
    createEmulator({ service: 'vercel', port: 4002 }),
  ])
  process.env.GITHUB_EMULATOR_URL = github.url
  process.env.VERCEL_EMULATOR_URL = vercel.url
})

afterEach(() => { github.reset(); vercel.reset() })
afterAll(() => Promise.all([github.close(), vercel.close()]))
```

## Configuration

Configuration is optional. The CLI auto-detects config files in this order:

1. `emulate.config.yaml` / `.yml`
2. `emulate.config.json`
3. `service-emulator.config.yaml` / `.yml`
4. `service-emulator.config.json`

Or pass `--seed <file>` explicitly. Run `npx emulate init` to generate a starter file.

### Config Structure

```yaml
tokens:
  my_token:
    login: admin
    scopes: [repo, user]

vercel:
  users:
    - username: developer
      name: Developer
      email: [email protected]
  teams:
    - slug: my-team
      name: My Team
  projects:
    - name: my-app
      team: my-team
      framework: nextjs
  integrations:
    - client_id: oac_abc123
      client_secret: secret_abc123
      name: My Vercel App
      redirect_uris:
        - http://localhost:3000/api/auth/callback/vercel

github:
  users:
    - login: octocat
      name: The Octocat
      email: [email protected]
  orgs:
    - login: my-org
      name: My Organization
  repos:
    - owner: octocat
      name: hello-world
      language: JavaScript
      auto_init: true
  oauth_apps:
    - client_id: Iv1.abc123
      client_secret: secret_abc123
      name: My Web App
      redirect_uris:
        - http://localhost:3000/api/auth/callback/github

google:
  users:
    - email: [email protected]
      name: Test User
  oauth_clients:
    - client_id: my-client-id.apps.googleusercontent.com
      client_secret: GOCSPX-secret
      redirect_uris:
        - http://localhost:3000/api/auth/callback/google

slack:
  team:
    name: My Workspace
    domain: my-workspace
  users:
    - name: developer
      real_name: Developer
      email: [email protected]
  channels:
    - name: general
      topic: General discussion
  bots:
    - name: my-bot
  oauth_apps:
    - client_id: "12345.67890"
      client_secret: example_client_secret
      name: My Slack App
      redirect_uris:
        - http://localhost:3000/api/auth/callback/slack

apple:
  users:
    - email: [email protected]
      name: Test User
  oauth_clients:
    - client_id: com.example.app
      team_id: TEAM001
      name: My Apple App
      redirect_uris:
        - http://localhost:3000/api/auth/callback/apple

microsoft:
  users:
    - email: [email protected]
      name: Test User
  oauth_clients:
    - client_id: example-client-id
      client_secret: example-client-secret
      name: My Microsoft App
      redirect_uris:
        - http://localhost:3000/api/auth/callback/microsoft-entra-id

aws:
  region: us-east-1
  s3:
    buckets:
      - name: my-app-bucket
  sqs:
    queues:
      - name: my-app-events
  iam:
    users:
      - user_name: developer
        create_access_key: true
    roles:
      - role_name: lambda-execution-role
```

### Auth

Tokens map to users. Pass them as `Authorization: Bearer <token>` or `Authorization: token <token>`. When no tokens are configured, a default `test_token_admin` is created for the `admin` user.

Each service also has a fallback user. If no token is provided, requests authenticate as the first seeded user.

## HTTPS with portless

[portless](https://github.com/vercel-labs/portless) gives emulators trusted HTTPS URLs with auto-generated certs. Use the `--portless` flag to auto-register each service as a portless alias:

```bash
npx emulate start --portless
# github  https://github.emulate.localhost
# google  https://google.emulate.localhost
# ...
```

This requires the portless proxy to be running (`portless proxy start`). If portless is not installed, emulate will prompt to install it.

The `--portless` flag overwrites any existing portless aliases matching `*.emulate`. Aliases are removed automatically when emulate shuts down.

For a single service behind portless:

```bash
portless github.emulate emulate start --service github
```

For a custom base URL without portless (any reverse proxy):

```bash
npx emulate start --base-url "https://{service}.myproxy.test"
# or
EMULATE_BASE_URL="https://{service}.myproxy.test" npx emulate start
```

The `PORTLESS_URL` env var is automatically set by the `portless` CLI wrapper when running a command through it (e.g. `portless github.emulate emulate start`), typically to a value like `https://{service}.emulate.localhost`. It supports `{service}` interpolation, just like `--base-url` and `EMULATE_BASE_URL`. When no explicit `baseUrl` is provided, it is used as a fallback.

Per-service overrides in the seed conf
Files: 1
Size: 10.9 KB
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Category: Backend & APIs

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