evolve-simulator

name	evolve-simulator
description	Use the Evolve deterministic simulator for testing with controlled time, storage, and randomness. Use when creating simulations, seed-based testing, fault injection, stress testing, or deterministic test reproduction. Use when this capability is needed.
metadata	{"author":"evstack"}

Evolve Simulator

The evolve_simulator crate provides a deterministic simulation engine for testing Evolve SDK applications with controlled time, storage, and randomness.

Key Features

1. Seed-based reproducibility: Every simulation can be exactly reproduced by providing the same seed
2. Time acceleration: Simulate hours of blockchain operation in seconds
3. Fault injection: Test error handling with configurable storage failures
4. Performance tracking: Collect detailed metrics about block/tx execution

Basic Usage

use evolve_simulator::{Simulator, SimConfig, SimulatorBuilder};

// Create a simulator with default config
let mut sim = Simulator::new(12345, SimConfig::default());

// Run simulation for 100 blocks
sim.run_blocks(100).unwrap();

// Get performance report
let report = sim.generate_report();
println!("{}", report.to_string_pretty());

// Print reproduction command
println!("Reproduce with seed: {}", sim.seed());

Configuration

use evolve_simulator::{SimConfig, StorageConfig, TimeConfig, MetricsConfig};

let config = SimConfig {
    time: TimeConfig {
        ticks_per_block: 10,
        tick_ms: 100,           // 100ms per tick
        initial_timestamp_ms: 0,
    },
    storage: StorageConfig {
        read_fault_prob: 0.01,  // 1% read failures
        write_fault_prob: 0.01, // 1% write failures
        log_operations: true,   // Log all operations
    },
    metrics: MetricsConfig::default(),
    max_blocks: 1000,
    max_txs_per_block: 100,
    stop_on_error: false,
};

Using the Builder

let (sim, seed) = SimulatorBuilder::new()
    .seed(42)                          // Optional: use specific seed
    .max_blocks(500)
    .stop_on_error()
    .storage_config(StorageConfig::with_faults(0.01, 0.01))
    .with_state(b"key".to_vec(), b"value".to_vec())  // Initial state
    .build_with_seed();

println!("Running with seed: {seed}");

Time Control

// Advance by ticks
sim.tick();
sim.advance_ticks(100);

// Advance by blocks
sim.advance_block();
sim.set_block_height(50);

// Query time
let height = sim.time().block_height();
let timestamp = sim.time().now_ms();

Storage Operations

use evolve_server_core::StateChange;

// Apply state changes
let changes = vec![
    StateChange::Set { key: b"key1".to_vec(), value: b"value1".to_vec() },
    StateChange::Delete { key: b"key2".to_vec() },
];
sim.apply_state_changes(changes).unwrap();

// Read storage
let value = sim.storage().get(b"key1").unwrap();

Snapshots and Restore

// Create checkpoint
let snapshot = sim.snapshot();

// Do some work...
sim.run_blocks(10).unwrap();

// Restore to checkpoint
sim.restore(snapshot);

Metrics and Reporting

let report = sim.generate_report();

println!("Total blocks: {}", report.total_blocks);
println!("Total txs: {}", report.total_txs);
println!("Success rate: {:.2}%", report.success_rate * 100.0);
println!("Avg gas/tx: {:.2}", report.avg_gas_per_tx);
println!("P99 block time: {:.2}ms", report.p99_block_time_ms);
println!("Time acceleration: {:.1}x", report.time_acceleration);

Stress Testing

// Use pre-configured stress test settings
let config = SimConfig::stress_test();
let mut sim = Simulator::new(seed, config);

sim.run_until(|s| s.metrics().total_errors > 0).unwrap();

if let Some(reason) = sim.abort_reason() {
    println!("Simulation aborted: {reason}");
}

Reproduction Pattern

When a test fails, capture the seed for exact reproduction:

#[test]
fn property_test() {
    let (mut sim, seed) = Simulator::with_random_seed(SimConfig::default());

    // ... run test ...

    if test_failed {
        eprintln!("FAILURE! Reproduce with seed: {seed}");
        panic!("Test failed");
    }
}

SimStorageAdapter

Bridge simulator storage to STF's ReadonlyKV interface:

use evolve_simulator::SimStorageAdapter;

let adapter = SimStorageAdapter::new(sim.storage());
let (result, state) = stf.apply_block(&adapter, &codes, &block);

// Apply changes back to simulator
sim.apply_state_changes(state.into_changes()?)?;

Preset Configurations

// Normal operation (default)
let config = SimConfig::default();

// Stress testing with fault injection
let config = SimConfig::stress_test();
// - read_fault_prob: 0.05
// - write_fault_prob: 0.05
// - stop_on_error: false

// Replay mode (deterministic, no faults)
let config = SimConfig::replay();
// - read_fault_prob: 0.0
// - write_fault_prob: 0.0

Storage Statistics

let stats = sim.storage().stats();
println!("Reads: {}", stats.reads);
println!("Writes: {}", stats.writes);
println!("Read faults: {}", stats.read_faults);
println!("Write faults: {}", stats.write_faults);
println!("Bytes read: {}", stats.bytes_read);
println!("Bytes written: {}", stats.bytes_written);

Integration with SimTestApp

The recommended way to use the simulator is through SimTestApp:

use testapp::SimTestApp;
use evolve_simulator::SimConfig;

let mut app = SimTestApp::with_config(SimConfig::default(), 42);

// Access simulator directly when needed
let height = app.simulator().time().block_height();
let random = app.simulator_mut().rng().gen_range(0..100);

// Run blocks with generated transactions
let results = app.run_blocks_with(100, |height, sim| {
    vec![generate_tx(height, sim)]
});

Files

• crates/testing/simulator/src/lib.rs - Main Simulator struct
• crates/testing/simulator/src/seed.rs - Deterministic RNG
• crates/testing/simulator/src/time.rs - Simulated time
• crates/testing/simulator/src/storage.rs - Storage with fault injection
• crates/testing/simulator/src/metrics.rs - Performance tracking

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