Behaviour settings

These settings shape how a universe behaves. In the dashboard they are under Settings: AI writing, pace, who exists, Spam & Junk and links on Realism, faults on Chaos, retention on Data.

AI writing

With AI writing on, people write their own replies in their own voice, and the AI settles close calls, such as whether someone clicks a link. Each AI call uses one of your plan’s AI credits.

With it off, people reply from templates and the rules decide everything. Replies still arrive on schedule, threaded and in each person’s temperament, so most tests behave the same, but they are instant, repeatable and use no credits. It suits CI and trying out the API. The World’s new senders and their emails come from templates too, and attachments are not read.

GET /api/ai

{ "mode": "on" }

PUT /api/ai

Body: {"mode": "off"}. mode is on or off. Changing it needs the member role.

Pace

Pace scales how long every person takes to reply. It is separate from the clock.

Call	Body
GET /api/pace
PUT /api/pace	{"factor": 0.1, "ignore_hours": true}

Field	Meaning
factor	1 is as configured, 0.1 ten times faster, 2 twice as slow. 0 means 1.
ignore_hours	true: people reply at any hour, any day.

Changing pace needs the member role.

Recipients

Recipient rules decide what is on the other side of addresses: which exist, which are dead, full or blocking, and who (if anyone) is behind a never-seen address. Changing them needs the admin role.

Call
GET /api/recipients	The rules.
PUT /api/recipients	Replaces them.
PUT /api/mailboxes/{address}/status	Sets one address’s status (member role).

{
  "default": { "create": true, "bad_rate": 0.05, "stranger": "ai" },
  "domains": {
    "yourcompany.test": { "create": true, "stranger": "off" },
    "closed.test": { "create": false }
  },
  "status": { "[email protected]": "disabled" },
  "seed": ""
}

Field	Meaning
default	The rule for addresses simmail has not seen.
domains	Rules for particular domains, which win over default.
status	Fixed outcomes for single addresses: unknown, domain, full, disabled or blocked.
seed	Change it to pick a different set of “bad” addresses.

A rule:

Field	Meaning
create	true: make a mailbox and deliver. false: refuse never-seen addresses at RCPT with 550 5.1.1.
bad_rate	Share (0 to 1) of never-seen addresses that are bad. The same address is always the same.
bad_kinds	Which kinds bad addresses are. Default: mostly unknown, some domain, full and blocked.
fail_at	dsn (default): accept, then send a bounce notice a little later, as many providers do. rcpt: refuse in the SMTP conversation.
stranger	Who is behind a never-seen address: off, basic or ai. See strangers.
silent	true: accept and discard.

An address with a fixed status is bad even if its mailbox already exists. Otherwise, mailboxes that already exist always receive.

What each bad kind sends back:

Kind	Reply
unknown	550 5.1.1 User unknown
domain	550 5.1.2 Domain not found
full	552 5.2.2 Mailbox full
disabled	550 5.2.1 Mailbox disabled
blocked	554 5.7.1 Rejected under policy

Links

The rules for people opening links. See Links and sender look-up. Changing them needs the admin role and the lifelike behaviour feature of your plan.

Call
GET /api/links	{"policy": {…}, "habits": [...], "default_user_agent": "…"}
PUT /api/links	Replaces the policy. Send every field.

Field	Default	Meaning
enabled	true	Whether people open links at all.
allow_private	false; can’t be switched on	Whether links to localhost and private networks may be opened.
allow		If set, only these hosts (exact, or *.example.com).
deny		Never these hosts.
max_links	3	Links opened per email.
unsubscribe	false	Whether people may follow unsubscribe links.
user_agent	simmail’s	What the requests say they are.
sender_check	0.35	How often (0 to 1) people look up a sender they do not know.
missing_site	imagine	When the sender’s site does not exist: imagine or notice.
local_links	ignore	Links to the sender’s own machine: ignore them as testing links, or click and find them broken.

Only http and https links are opened, and mail ports are always refused.

Retention

How long mail and the activity log are kept, in simulated days. Changing it needs the admin role.

Call
GET /api/retention	{"mail_days": 0, "event_days": 0}
PUT /api/retention	{"mail_days": 30, "event_days": 90}. 0 keeps forever.
POST /api/retention/prune	Applies it now. Answers with how many messages, events and jobs were removed.

Old mail is also pruned every hour. Your plan’s retention limit caps both values. People keep their notes on each other when old mail goes.