The Studio

The Studio is your authoring workspace for building and testing scenarios. It provides a live environment where you can design, configure, and validate your labs.

Accessing the Studio

From Tracks & Scenarios, you can:

• Click Open Studio to create a new scenario
• Click Open in Studio on an existing scenario

Studio Overview

The Studio interface is organized in three areas:

• Header: Scenario name (click to rename), Run/Stop buttons, user menu
• Left sidebar: Navigation between views (Canvas, Interfaces, Instructions, Variables, Secrets, Post-Deploy, Start Order, Details). Available views depend on the selected skill level (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced).
• Main content area: Changes based on the selected view
• Status bar (bottom): Total resource usage and component count

Header Controls

Element	Description
Scenario Name	Click to rename the scenario
Run	Start the studio environment to test
Stop	Stop the running environment
User Menu	Account settings, logout

Studio Views

Canvas

The visual designer for your scenario's infrastructure.

Features:

• Drag and drop components
• Draw connections between components
• Select and configure components
• Pan and zoom the canvas

Canvas Toolbar:

Button	Action
+ Add	Open component catalog
Fit	Fit all components in view
Reset	Reset zoom and position

Component Interactions:

• Click: Select component
• Double-click: Open configuration modal
• Drag: Move component
• Edge drag: Create connection

Interfaces

Access your running components' terminals and web UIs.

When the studio is running:

• Tabs appear for each component's configured interfaces
• Terminal tabs provide shell access
• Web UI tabs show HTTP interfaces

Instructions

Write and manage step-by-step guidance for participants.

Features:

• Add, edit, delete instructions
• Drag to reorder
• Markdown preview with syntax highlighting
• Tab navigation link testing

See Writing Instructions for details.

Post-Deploy

Configure scripts that run after components deploy.

Use Cases:

• Database initialization
• Sample data loading
• Configuration setup

Format:

#!/bin/bash
# Wait for service
until pg_isready; do sleep 1; done

# Initialize
psql -f /scripts/init.sql

Variables

Define variables that can be used in instructions, environment variables, files, and Helm values.

Features:

• Create named variables
• Values resolved at runtime
• Reference using {{variable_name}} syntax

Built-in Runtime Variables:

Variable	Description
{{$namespace}}	Kubernetes namespace for this run
{{$runId}}	Unique run identifier
{{$scenarioId}}	Scenario identifier
{{$self}}	Current component's service name
{{$self:fqdn}}	Current component's internal FQDN
{{$self:public}}	Current component's public hostname

Component References:

Pattern	Description	Example
{{kafka}}	Internal service name	kafka
{{kafka:fqdn}}	Internal FQDN	kafka.ns.svc.cluster.local
{{kafka:public}}	Public hostname (ingress)	kafka-abc12345.snapbench.io
{{kafka:public:9092}}	Public hostname (validates port)	kafka-abc12345.snapbench.io

Secret References:

Reference secret values stored in the Secrets view:

Pattern	Description
{{secret:my-license:key}}	Value of key key from secret my-license
{{secret:db-creds:password}}	Value of key password from secret db-creds

Helm Service References:

For Helm components with multiple services:

Pattern	Description
{{kafka:broker}}	Service name from Helm metadata
{{kafka:broker:fqdn}}	Service FQDN
{{kafka:broker:public}}	Service public hostname

Use Cases:

Variable	Value	Use
db_host	{{postgres}}	Internal connection
public_url	{{$self:public}}	Kafka advertised listeners
LICENSE_KEY	{{secret:license:key}}	Inject license from secret

Start Order

Control the sequence in which components deploy.

Why Order Matters:

• Databases should start before apps
• Message brokers before producers
• Dependencies before dependents

Interface:

• Drag components to reorder
• Components with same order start in parallel

Secrets

Manage sensitive data for your scenario. Secrets are stored encrypted and can be referenced in environment variables, Helm values, and files.

Creating Secrets:

1. Go to the Secrets view
2. Click Add Secret
3. Choose secret type:
   • Opaque: Key-value pairs for generic secrets
   • Docker Registry: Credentials for private container registries
   • TLS: Certificate and private key
   • Basic Auth: Username and password

Referencing Secrets in Templates:

Use the {{secret:name:key}} syntax to inject secret values:

# In environment variables
env:
  LICENSE_KEY: "{{secret:my-license:key}}"
  DB_PASSWORD: "{{secret:db-creds:password}}"

# In Helm values
auth:
  password: "{{secret:postgres-auth:password}}"

Examples:

Secret Name	Key	Template	Use Case
my-license	key	{{secret:my-license:key}}	Software license
db-creds	password	{{secret:db-creds:password}}	Database password
api-keys	stripe	{{secret:api-keys:stripe}}	API key

TIP

Secret values are resolved at runtime when the component starts. The actual values are never exposed in the UI or logs.

Details

Edit scenario metadata:

Field	Description
Name	Scenario display name
Description	What this scenario teaches
Default TTL	How long runs last

Adding Components

From the Catalog

1. Click + Add in the Canvas toolbar
2. Browse or search components
3. Click to add to canvas
4. Position on canvas

Component Configuration

Double-click a component to configure:

General Tab:

• Label (identifier for tab links)
• Description

Resources Tab:

• CPU (millicores)
• Memory (MiB)

Environment Tab:

• Environment variables
• Format: KEY=value

Secrets Tab:

• Sensitive values
• Stored encrypted

Tabs Tab:

• Configure terminal access
• Configure web UI access

Helm Values Tab: (Helm components)

• Override default values.yaml

Compose Tab: (Compose components)

• Edit docker-compose.yaml

Creating Connections

Connections visualize relationships between components.

To Create:

1. Hover over a component edge
2. Drag to another component
3. Release to create connection

To Delete:

1. Click on the connection line
2. Press Delete or use context menu

INFO

Connections are purely visual -they don't affect deployment or networking.

Testing Your Scenario

Starting the Environment

1. Click Run in the header
2. Wait for components to provision
3. Status bar shows progress

Using Interfaces

Once running:

1. Switch to Interfaces view
2. Click component tabs to access
3. Test your instructions step-by-step

Verifying Instructions

1. Go to Instructions view
2. Click tab navigation links
3. Verify they switch to correct tabs
4. Copy code blocks and test commands

Stopping the Environment

Click Stop when finished. Resources are cleaned up automatically.

Auto-Save

The Studio auto-saves your work:

• Changes saved automatically
• No manual save required
• Status shown in header

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Delete	Delete selected component
Escape	Deselect / Close modal
Ctrl/Cmd + Z	Undo (canvas changes)

Workflow Tips

Build Incrementally

1. Add one component
2. Configure and test
3. Add next component
4. Repeat

Test Early, Test Often

Don't wait until everything is built to test. Run the environment frequently to catch issues early.

Use Labels Consistently

Component labels appear in:

• Tab links in instructions
• Interface tabs
• Logs and debugging

Good labels: kafka, postgres, api Bad labels: component1, my-thing

Troubleshooting

Component Won't Start

Symptom	Cause	Solution
Pending forever	Not enough resources	Reduce CPU/memory
ImagePullBackOff	Image not found	Check image name
CrashLoopBackOff	App crash	Check logs in terminal

Terminal Won't Connect

Issue	Check
"Pod not found"	Pod selector matches actual labels
"Container not found"	Container name is correct
Connection timeout	Pod is in Running state

Web UI Shows Error

Issue	Check
Blank page	Service is ready
Connection refused	Port number is correct
404 error	Path is correct

Instructions Don't Render

Issue	Check
Raw markdown shown	Syntax is correct
Tab link not working	Component label matches
Code not highlighted	Language specified

Next Steps

• Writing Instructions - Create engaging guidance
• Best Practices - Tips for effective scenarios