Demo Mode

Explore Orphelix features with realistic mock data without connecting to a real cluster

Overview

Demo Mode lets you explore all Orphelix features using realistic mock data, without needing a Kubernetes cluster. Perfect for testing, presentations, training, or learning Kubernetes concepts.

What is Demo Mode?

Demo Mode provides:

Realistic Data

Mock deployments, pods, nodes, and events that simulate a production environment

Full Features

All Orphelix features work in demo mode - explore without limitations

No Cluster Needed

No Kubernetes cluster or kubectl required

Safe Exploration

Make changes safely - nothing affects real infrastructure

Enabling Demo Mode

Automatic Demo Mode

On first launch, Orphelix starts in Demo Mode automatically if no cluster is configured.

1. Start Orphelix

   npm run orphelix start
   # or
   npm run dev
   
2. Open Browser

   Navigate to http://localhost:3000

   Or http://orphelix.local:3000 if using CLI

3. Demo Mode Active

   Header shows “DEMO MODE” badge

   All data is mocked

Manual Switch to Demo Mode

If connected to a cluster, switch to demo mode:

1. Click Mode Badge

   Click “DEMO MODE” or cluster name badge in header

2. Select Demo Mode

   Toggle from “Real Cluster” to “Demo Mode”

3. Confirm

   Page reloads with demo data

Demo Data

Demo Mode provides realistic mock data for:

Resources

Deployments (15)

Mock deployments:

• nginx-deployment (3 replicas)
• api-gateway (5 replicas, some issues)
• user-service (2 replicas)
• order-service (3 replicas)
• payment-service (2 replicas)
• notification-service (1 replica)
• frontend (4 replicas)
• backend (3 replicas)
• database-proxy (1 replica)
• redis-cache (2 replicas)
• metrics-collector (1 replica)
• log-aggregator (2 replicas)
• monitoring-agent (3 replicas)
• backup-service (1 replica)
• cron-scheduler (1 replica)

Status mix:

• 12 healthy (all replicas available)
• 2 progressing (updating)
• 1 degraded (some replicas unavailable)

Pods (42)

Pod states:

• 35 Running (healthy)
• 3 Pending (starting)
• 2 CrashLoopBackOff (failing)
• 1 ImagePullBackOff (image issue)
• 1 OOMKilled (memory limit)

Features:

• Multiple containers per pod
• Restart counts (0-15)
• Resource requests/limits
• ConfigMap/Secret mounts
• Node assignments

Nodes (3)

Mock nodes:

• node-1 (Ready, 45% CPU, 60% memory)
• node-2 (Ready, 70% CPU, 75% memory)
• node-3 (Ready, 30% CPU, 40% memory)

Capacities:

• 8 CPU cores each
• 32 GB memory each
• 110 pod capacity each

Features:

• Resource allocation tracking
• Pod distribution
• Node conditions

ConfigMaps & Secrets (25)

ConfigMaps:

• app-config - Application configuration
• nginx-config - Nginx settings
• env-config - Environment variables
• logging-config - Log configuration
• database-config - DB connection settings

Secrets:

• db-credentials - Database passwords
• api-keys - API tokens
• tls-cert - TLS certificates
• github-token - GitHub access token
• docker-registry - Registry credentials

Features:

• Data key-value pairs
• Usage tracking (which deployments use them)
• Masked secret values

HPA (5)

Autoscalers:

• api-gateway-hpa (2-10 replicas, target: 80% CPU)
• frontend-hpa (3-15 replicas, target: 70% CPU)
• backend-hpa (2-8 replicas, target: 75% CPU)
• worker-hpa (1-20 replicas, target: 85% CPU)
• processor-hpa (2-12 replicas, target: 80% CPU)

Status:

• 4 operating normally
• 1 near max replicas (warning)

Events (150+)

Event types:

• Normal: Scheduled, Pulling, Started, Created (120 events)
• Warning: Failed, BackOff, FailedScheduling, Unhealthy (30 events)

Time range: Last 24 hours

Features:

• Multiple occurrences (count column)
• Age tracking
• Resource associations

Additional Resources

• Services: 10 services (ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer)
• Ingress: 3 ingress rules
• StatefulSets: 2 StatefulSets (databases)
• DaemonSets: 3 DaemonSets (logging, monitoring)
• Jobs: 5 completed jobs
• CronJobs: 2 scheduled jobs
• Namespaces: 4 namespaces (default, kube-system, production, staging)
• PersistentVolumes: 8 PVs
• PersistentVolumeClaims: 5 PVCs

Demo Mode Features

All Features Work

Demo Mode supports all Orphelix features:

Viewing

Full access to:

• Dashboard with stats
• Deployment list and details
• Pod list, details, and logs
• Node list and details
• ConfigMaps & Secrets
• HPA status
• Events timeline
• Topology visualization

Searching

Search functionality:

• Global search bar works
• Filter by status
• Sort tables
• Time range filters (events)
• Namespace selection

Actions

Safe actions:

• Restart deployment (simulated)
• View logs (mock log data)
• Edit YAML (opens editor)
• Create PR (demo repository)
• Switch namespaces

Actions don’t affect real infrastructure - they’re simulated

Integrations

GitHub Integration:

• Demo repository available
• YAML editor works
• PR creation simulated
• File tree browsing

AI Features:

• Issue explanations work (if OpenAI configured)
• File matching simulated

Mock Data Behavior

Demo data has realistic behavior:

Dynamic Updates

Data changes over time:

• Pod restarts increase
• Events accumulate
• Deployment status changes
• Resource usage fluctuates

Simulates real cluster activity

Failure Scenarios

Includes common issues:

• CrashLoopBackOff pods
• OOMKilled containers
• ImagePullBackOff errors
• Failed deployments
• Node pressure conditions

Perfect for troubleshooting practice

Realistic Metrics

Resource usage simulated:

• CPU utilization varies (20-85%)
• Memory usage fluctuates
• Pod restart counts increase
• HPA scales up/down

Shows realistic cluster patterns

Use Cases

1. Learning Kubernetes

Explore Kubernetes concepts safely:

1. Understand Resources

   Browse deployments, pods, services without fear of breaking anything

2. Practice Troubleshooting

   Use demo failures (CrashLoopBackOff, OOMKill) to practice debugging

3. Learn YAML

   View and edit deployment YAMLs to understand structure

4. Experiment

   Try features, search, filters without consequences

Example learning path:

1. Browse dashboard to understand resource types
2. Click deployment → View pods → Check logs
3. Investigate CrashLoopBackOff pod
4. View events to understand what happened
5. Edit deployment YAML to “fix” issue

2. Presentations & Demos

Show Orphelix features without cluster:

Product Demo

Scenario: Demonstrate Orphelix to potential users

Benefits:

• No cluster setup needed
• Consistent data (no surprises)
• All features available
• Works offline

Tips:

• Use demo issues to show troubleshooting features
• Demonstrate YAML editing with demo repo
• Show topology visualization

Training

Scenario: Train team on Orphelix

Benefits:

• Everyone sees same data
• Safe environment for learning
• Can demonstrate actions without risk

Tips:

• Walk through each page
• Show search and filtering
• Demonstrate GitHub integration
• Practice troubleshooting workflows

Screenshots

Scenario: Documentation, marketing, blog posts

Benefits:

• Clean, consistent data
• No sensitive information
• All features visible

Tips:

• Enable dark mode for modern look
• Show topology visualizations
• Capture dashboard with stats

3. Development & Testing

Test Orphelix features during development:

Feature Development

Develop new features without cluster:

• Test UI changes with realistic data
• Verify layouts with different resource counts
• Check error handling with failure scenarios

Faster dev loop (no cluster startup)

Testing

Test Orphelix behavior:

• E2E tests use demo mode
• Consistent test data
• No flaky cluster dependencies

More reliable CI/CD

Debugging

Debug issues without cluster:

• Reproduce bugs with demo data
• Test fixes without affecting real resources
• Iterate quickly

4. Offline Usage

Use Orphelix without internet:

• No cluster connection required
• Demo data built-in
• GitHub integration simulated (unless using real GitHub App)
• AI features require OpenAI (but not cluster)

Perfect for:

• Airplane coding
• Offline demos
• Network-restricted environments

Switching to Real Cluster

Ready to connect to a real cluster?

1. Click Demo Mode Badge

   Click “DEMO MODE” badge in header

2. Select Real Cluster

   Toggle to “Real Cluster”

3. Choose Context

   Select kubectl context from dropdown

   (Requires kubeconfig configured)

4. Select Namespace

   Choose namespace to monitor

   Default: “default”

5. Test Connection

   Click “Test Connection” to verify cluster access

6. Switch Mode

   Click “Switch to Real Cluster”

   Page reloads with live data

You can switch back to Demo Mode anytime by clicking the cluster name badge and selecting “Demo Mode”

Demo vs Real Cluster

Comparison:

Feature	Demo Mode	Real Cluster
Data Source	Mock data	Live Kubernetes API
Actions	Simulated	Real effects
Requirements	None	kubeconfig, cluster access
Performance	Fast (no API calls)	Depends on cluster
Safety	100% safe	Actions affect cluster
Learning	Perfect	Requires caution
Offline	Works offline	Requires connectivity
Auto-refresh	Simulated	Real-time updates

Customizing Demo Data

Advanced: Modify demo data for custom scenarios:

1. Find Demo Data

   Demo data in: app/lib/demo/mock-data.ts

2. Edit Mock Data

   Modify deployments, pods, events, etc:

   export const mockDeployments = [
     {
       name: "custom-app",
       namespace: "default",
       replicas: { desired: 3, available: 3 },
       status: "Available",
       // ... more fields
     },
     // Add more deployments
   ];
   
3. Rebuild

   npm run build
   npm run orphelix restart
   
4. View Changes

   Demo mode now shows your custom data

Use cases for custom demo data:

• Company-specific scenarios
• Training for specific architectures
• Testing with high resource counts
• Simulating specific failure modes

Best Practices

Start with Demo Mode

Always explore Orphelix in demo mode first:

• Learn UI without pressure
• Understand features before using on real clusters
• Practice workflows safely

Use for Presentations

Demo mode is perfect for demos:

• Predictable data
• No setup time
• Works anywhere
• No surprises during presentation

Practice Troubleshooting

Use demo failures to practice:

• Debug CrashLoopBackOff
• Investigate OOMKills
• Analyze events
• Find root causes

Build skills before encountering real issues

Test Features

Try all features in demo mode:

• YAML editing
• GitHub PRs
• Search and filters
• Topology visualization

Understand capabilities before using on production

Limitations

Demo Mode has some limitations:

Static Data

Demo data doesn’t fully simulate cluster:

• Changes don’t persist between reloads
• Resource creation not supported
• No real-time events (simulated only)

No Real Actions

Actions are simulated:

• Restart deployment doesn’t actually restart
• YAML changes don’t apply to anything
• PRs go to demo repository (or fail gracefully)

Limited Realism

Some behaviors simplified:

• Metrics don’t reflect real resource usage
• Events don’t follow real Kubernetes patterns exactly
• No actual pod scheduling

These limitations are intentional - demo mode prioritizes safety and ease of use over perfect simulation

Next Steps

Cluster Connection

Connect to a real Kubernetes cluster

Quickstart

Get started with Orphelix

Dashboard

Explore the dashboard

Settings

Configure Orphelix