> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.neuraltrust.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Playground

> Chat through a consumer in the console with policies, routing, and model selection enforced — the fastest way to validate a gateway config.

**Playground** (`Agent Gateway` → **Playground**) sends chat traffic through a real
[consumer](/trustgate/concepts/consumers) on the selected gateway. Policies, routing, and
auth behave like production — without leaving the console.

## Use the Playground

1. Open **TrustGate** → **Playground**.
2. Choose a **consumer** (LLM consumers; the picker focuses apps that can chat).
3. Optionally pick a **model** — use **Auto** when the consumer uses load balancing or
   [smart routing](/trustgate/routing/smart-routing).
4. Send messages. Streaming responses appear in the thread.
5. Open the info panel for the last turn: **Status**, **Model**, **Provider**, **Latency**,
   **Tokens**, and the **policy chain**.

Use **New session** to clear conversation context. **Change consumer** switches which app
identity you are testing as.

## What it validates

| Area         | What you verify                                                                    |
| ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Routing**  | Correct registry/model, `auto` vs explicit model, fallback behavior.               |
| **Policies** | Rate limits, budgets, guardrails (e.g. TrustGuard jailbreak/PII), tool rules.      |
| **Auth**     | The consumer’s credentials are used for the playground session path.               |
| **Errors**   | Provider failures, blocks, and throttle messages surface in the thread/info panel. |

## When to use Connect instead

Playground is for interactive checks. For application integration, open the consumer →
**Connect** and copy production snippets (base URL, headers, model field). See
[Consumers](/trustgate/concepts/consumers#connect-tab) and the
[Quickstart](/trustgate/getting-started/quickstart#call-from-your-application).

## Related

* [Activity](/trustgate/console/activity) — inspect historical requests after traffic flows.
* [Getting started](/trustgate/getting-started/quickstart) — first-request wizard (uses an
  internal path; still create a real consumer for apps).