SIMULATION.md

Universal Simulation and Testing Layer — a unified protocol for agent testing environments, verification, and orchestration across providers.

Part of the protocols.md network

🧪 Draft v0.1 - Universal simulation and testing layer. This is exploratory speculation about how autonomous agents might coordinate simulation resources. RFC stage

1. Motivation

Autonomous agents require consistent, verifiable testing environments before deployment. Current solutions are fragmented across incompatible platforms, making comprehensive testing difficult and expensive.

This specification defines a protocol for:

Discovering available simulation environments
Orchestrating multi-stage test suites
Generating verifiable attestations of agent behavior
Establishing interoperability between simulation providers

2. Scope

2.1 Goals

Define a REST/gRPC API for simulation environment discovery
Specify a common schema for test orchestration
Establish verification output formats
Enable provider-agnostic simulation booking

2.2 Non-Goals

Mandate specific simulation implementations
Define payment or billing mechanisms
Specify agent behavior standards
Replace existing testing frameworks

3. Core API Specification

3.1 Environment Discovery

GET /environments

{
  "environments": [
    {
      "id": "env_web_automation_01",
      "type": "web_automation",
      "capabilities": ["browser", "mobile", "api"],
      "fidelity": "high",
      "pricing": {
        "model": "per_minute",
        "currency": "USD"
      }
    }
  ],
  "total": 847,
  "page": 1
}

3.2 Test Orchestration

POST /orchestrate
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "suite_id": "suite_2024_09_10",
  "stages": [
    {
      "name": "unit_tests",
      "environment_type": "mock_api",
      "parallel": true,
      "timeout_seconds": 300
    },
    {
      "name": "integration_tests",
      "environment_type": "sandbox_crm",
      "dependencies": ["unit_tests"]
    }
  ]
}

3.3 Minimal Schema (JSON Schema)

{
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
  "definitions": {
    "Environment": {
      "type": "object",
      "required": ["id", "type", "capabilities"],
      "properties": {
        "id": { "type": "string" },
        "type": { 
          "enum": ["web_automation", "api_mock", "sandbox", "synthetic"]
        },
        "capabilities": {
          "type": "array",
          "items": { "type": "string" }
        },
        "fidelity": {
          "enum": ["low", "medium", "high", "production_equivalent"]
        }
      }
    },
    "TestStage": {
      "type": "object",
      "required": ["name", "environment_type"],
      "properties": {
        "name": { "type": "string" },
        "environment_type": { "type": "string" },
        "timeout_seconds": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 1 },
        "parallel": { "type": "boolean" },
        "dependencies": {
          "type": "array",
          "items": { "type": "string" }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

4. Provider Archetypes

The following table illustrates provider categories. Actual implementations will vary.

Category	Environment Type	Use Cases	Fidelity
Web Automation	Browser, Mobile	UI testing, E2E flows	High
API Mocking	REST, GraphQL, gRPC	Integration testing	Medium
Enterprise Sandbox	CRM, ERP, Database	Business logic validation	High
Synthetic Users	Behavioral models	Load testing, UX validation	Variable
Chaos Engineering	Failure injection	Resilience testing	Production

5. Verification Methods

5.1 Output Formats

{
  "verification": {
    "test_id": "test_9k4h2m",
    "timestamp": "2025-09-10T16:30:00Z",
    "status": "passed",
    "metrics": {
      "total_tests": 1247,
      "passed": 1241,
      "failed": 6,
      "duration_ms": 8492
    },
    "attestation": {
      "type": "hash_commitment",
      "value": "sha256:a7f3d9e2c1b4f8a6...",
      "signed_by": "provider_key_id"
    }
  }
}

5.2 Verification Types

Deterministic: Exact output matching with hash commitments
Statistical: Distribution-based verification with confidence intervals
Behavioral: Pattern matching against defined constraints
Adversarial: Red team simulation with penetration testing

6. Future Extensions

Optional: Cryptographic Attestation

Future versions may support advanced attestation methods:

Zero-knowledge proofs for privacy-preserving verification
TEE-backed attestation for hardware-secured testing
Blockchain anchoring for immutable test records

These remain experimental and are not part of the core specification.

Optional: Compliance Frameworks

Providers may optionally support regulatory compliance testing:

Healthcare: HIPAA, FDA guidelines
Finance: SOC2, PCI-DSS
Privacy: GDPR, CCPA

Compliance claims are provider-specific and not validated by the protocol.

7. Implementation Notes

7.1 Transport

Primary: HTTPS/2 with JSON
Alternative: gRPC with Protobuf
Streaming: WebSocket for real-time logs
Discovery: DNS-SD or well-known URIs

7.2 Authentication

Required: Bearer tokens (OAuth 2.0)
Optional: DID-based authentication
Optional: mTLS for service-to-service

7.3 Error Handling

{
  "error": {
    "code": "ENVIRONMENT_UNAVAILABLE",
    "message": "Requested environment type not available",
    "details": {
      "requested": "sandbox_sap",
      "alternatives": ["sandbox_dynamics", "mock_erp"]
    }
  }
}

8. OpenAPI Definition (Partial)

openapi: 3.0.0
info:
  title: Simulation Protocol API
  version: 0.1.0
paths:
  /environments:
    get:
      summary: List available environments
      parameters:
        - name: type
          in: query
          schema:
            type: string
        - name: fidelity
          in: query
          schema:
            enum: [low, medium, high]
      responses:
        '200':
          description: List of environments
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/EnvironmentList'
  /orchestrate:
    post:
      summary: Create test orchestration
      requestBody:
        required: true
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/TestSuite'
      responses:
        '201':
          description: Orchestration created

spec_version: 0.1.0-draft

published: 2025-09-10T16:30:00Z

content_hash: sha256:a7f3d9e2c1b4f8a6c3d8e9f0a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e1f2a3b4c5d6e7f8a9b0

status: draft

maintainer: proofmdorg [at] gmail.com

simulation.md

References to third-party products or companies are for illustrative purposes only and do not imply endorsement.