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Simulate User Navigation

The Simulate User Navigation feature allows administrators to view the application as another user would see it, without switching the server-side session. This is useful for debugging permission and navigation issues reported by users.

Unlike the Surrogate feature, which replaces the entire session across all tabs, the simulation only affects the current browser tab and does not change the admin's real session.

Requirements

The administrator must have the Become a different user (action.surrogate) permission assigned to their role.

Starting a Simulation

  1. Navigate to Admin > Security > Users.
  2. Find the user you want to simulate in the user list.
  3. Click the Actions dropdown menu for that user.
  4. Select Simulate Navigation.

Once the simulation starts, an amber banner appears at the top of the page showing which user is being simulated. The navigation menus, permissions, and data visible in the current tab will reflect what the simulated user would see.

Stopping a Simulation

Click the Stop Simulation button in the amber banner at the top of the page. The view will revert back to the administrator's normal session.

Behavior

  • The simulation is tab-scoped: other browser tabs remain unaffected and continue to use the admin's real session.
  • The simulation survives page refresh within the same tab.
  • Opening a new tab will not carry over the simulation.
  • All API requests made during the simulation run in the context of the simulated user, so the data displayed reflects what that user would actually see.
  • The admin's real server session is never modified.

Audit

When an administrator starts a simulation, the action is logged for audit purposes. The simulation does not create any new session or authentication event on the server.