simulator

The simulator command provides complete control over your API mock services, including lifecycle management, monitoring, code generation, and import/export capabilities.

Subcommands

start

Start the API simulator and load service definitions.

apicentric simulator start [flags]

--services-dir

string

required

Directory containing service definition YAML files

--force

boolean

default:"false"

Force stop any existing simulator before starting

--template

string

Install and start a service template from the marketplace

Example:

apicentric simulator start --services-dir ./services

Example with template:

apicentric simulator start --services-dir ./services --template ecommerce

The simulator runs until you press Ctrl+C. All services are started on the ports defined in their YAML files.

stop

Stop the running API simulator.

apicentric simulator stop [flags]

--force

boolean

default:"false"

Force stop even if services are active

Example:

apicentric simulator stop

status

Display the current status of the simulator and all services.

apicentric simulator status [flags]

--detailed

boolean

default:"false"

Show detailed information about each service

Example:

apicentric simulator status --detailed

Sample output:

📊 API Simulator Status
   Status: 🟢 Running
   Services: 3 total
   Active Services: 3

📋 Service Details:
   - users (port 9001 base /) endpoints:5 running:yes
   - orders (port 9002 base /api) endpoints:8 running:yes
   - products (port 9003 base /) endpoints:12 running:yes

validate

Validate service definition files for syntax and structure errors.

apicentric simulator validate --file <path> [flags]

--file

string

required

Path to a service file or directory to validate

--recursive

boolean

default:"false"

Recursively validate all YAML files in subdirectories

--verbose

boolean

default:"false"

Show validation details for each file

Example:

apicentric simulator validate --file ./services --recursive --verbose

logs

Retrieve and filter request logs from a running service.

apicentric simulator logs --service <name> [flags]

--service

string

required

Name of the service to fetch logs from

--limit

number

default:"100"

Maximum number of log entries to retrieve

--method

string

Filter by HTTP method (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc.)

--route

string

Filter by request route/path

--status

number

Filter by HTTP status code

--output

string

Write logs to a JSON file instead of stdout

Example:

apicentric simulator logs --service users --limit 50 --method POST

Example with output file:

apicentric simulator logs --service orders --status 500 --output errors.json

monitor

Continuously monitor simulator status and live request logs.

apicentric simulator monitor [flags]

--service

string

Monitor a specific service (monitors all services if omitted)

--json

boolean

default:"false"

Output in JSON format for programmatic processing

--interval

number

Refresh interval in seconds (monitors continuously if omitted)

Example:

apicentric simulator monitor --service users --interval 5

Press Ctrl+C to stop monitoring.

set-scenario

Activate a specific scenario across all services.

apicentric simulator set-scenario --scenario <name>

--scenario

string

required

Name of the scenario to activate

Example:

apicentric simulator set-scenario --scenario high-latency

import

Import API definitions from other formats into apicentric service definitions.

apicentric simulator import --file <input> --output <output>

--file

string

required

Path to the input file (OpenAPI, Postman, WireMock, or Mockoon)

--output

string

required

Path where the converted service definition will be saved

Supported formats:

OpenAPI 3.0 / Swagger 2.0 (JSON or YAML)
Postman collections
WireMock mappings
Mockoon environments

Example:

apicentric simulator import --file openapi.json --output services/api.yaml

The command auto-detects the input format. If detection fails, it attempts to parse as OpenAPI.

export

Export service definitions to other formats.

apicentric simulator export --file <input> --output <output> --format <format>

--file

string

required

Path to the apicentric service definition file

--output

string

required

Path where the exported file will be saved

--format

string

required

Export format: openapi or postman

Example:

apicentric simulator export --file services/users.yaml --output users.json --format openapi

generate-types

Generate TypeScript type definitions from a service definition.

apicentric simulator generate-types --file <input> --output <output>

--file

string

required

Path to the service definition YAML file

--output

string

required

Path where the TypeScript file will be saved

Example:

apicentric simulator generate-types --file services/users.yaml --output src/types/users.ts

generate-query

Generate React Query hooks from a service definition.

apicentric simulator generate-query --file <input> --output <output>

--file

string

required

Path to the service definition YAML file

--output

string

required

Path where the hooks file will be saved

Example:

apicentric simulator generate-query --file services/users.yaml --output src/hooks/useUsers.ts

generate-view

Generate a React component view from a service definition.

apicentric simulator generate-view --file <input> --output <output>

--file

string

required

Path to the service definition YAML file

--output

string

required

Path where the React component will be saved

Example:

apicentric simulator generate-view --file services/users.yaml --output src/views/UsersView.tsx

new

Requires the tui feature to be enabled.

Create a new service definition interactively.

apicentric simulator new --output <directory>

--output

string

required

Directory where the service definition will be created

Example:

apicentric simulator new --output ./services

new-graphql

Create a new GraphQL service definition with schema and mock files.

apicentric simulator new-graphql --name <name> --output <directory>

--name

string

required

Name of the GraphQL service

--output

string

required

Directory where the service files will be created

Example:

apicentric simulator new-graphql --name myapi --output ./services

Generated files:

myapi.yaml - Service definition
myapi.gql - GraphQL schema
helloQuery.json - Example mock response

edit

Requires the tui feature to be enabled.

Add an endpoint to an existing service definition interactively.

apicentric simulator edit --file <path>

--file

string

required

Path to the service definition file

Example:

apicentric simulator edit --file ./services/users.yaml

record

Record live API traffic and generate a service definition.

apicentric simulator record --output <path> [flags]

--output

string

required

Path where the recorded service definition will be saved

--url

string

default:"http://localhost:8080"

Target API URL to record traffic from

Example:

apicentric simulator record --output recorded-api.yaml --url https://api.example.com

dockerize

Generate a Docker image for your service definitions.

apicentric simulator dockerize --file <paths...> --output <directory>

--file

string[]

required

One or more service definition files to include

--output

string

required

Output directory for the Dockerfile and related files

Example:

apicentric simulator dockerize --file services/users.yaml --file services/orders.yaml --output ./docker

Generated files:

Dockerfile - Multi-stage build with apicentric
.dockerignore - Ignore patterns
services/ - Copied service definitions

test

Requires the contract-testing feature to be enabled.

Run contract tests against a real API.

apicentric simulator test --path <contract> --url <api-url> --env <environment> [flags]

--path

string

required

Path to the contract/service definition file

--url

string

required

URL of the real API to test against

--env

string

required

Environment name for the test run

--quiet

boolean

default:"false"

Minimal output, only show pass/fail summary

Example:

apicentric simulator test --path services/users.yaml --url https://api.production.com --env production

Example output:

🚀 Running contract tests...
   Contract: services/users.yaml
   API URL:  https://api.production.com
   Env:      production

🔬 Found 12 test scenarios.

🏁 Contract Test Results:
   ID:         services/users.yaml
   Compatible: ✅
   Score:      98.50%
   Summary:    11 Passed, 1 Failed

✅ All scenarios passed!

Commands

Simulator Commands

Configuration

Subcommands

start

stop

status

validate

logs

monitor

set-scenario

import

export

generate-types

generate-query

generate-view

new

new-graphql

edit

record

dockerize

test

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Commands

Simulator Commands

Configuration

​Subcommands

​start

​stop

​status

​validate

​logs

​monitor

​set-scenario

​import

​export

​generate-types

​generate-query

​generate-view

​new

​new-graphql

​edit

​record

​dockerize

​test

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Subcommands

start

stop

status

validate

logs

monitor

set-scenario

import

export

generate-types

generate-query

generate-view

new

new-graphql

edit

record

dockerize

test