This document details how to define each module simulation functions to be
integrated with the application SimulationManager
.
Every module that implements the Cosmos SDK simulator needs to have a x/<module>/simulation
package which contains the primary functions required by the fuzz tests: store
decoders, randomized genesis state and parameters, weighted operations and proposal
contents.
Registering the store decoders is required for the AppImportExport
. This allows
for the key-value pairs from the stores to be decoded (i.e unmarshalled)
to their corresponding types. In particular, it matches the key to a concrete type
and then unmarshals the value from the KVPair
to the type provided.
You can use the example here from the distribution module to implement your store decoders.
The simulator tests different scenarios and values for genesis parameters
in order to fully test the edge cases of specific modules. The simulator
package from each module must expose a RandomizedGenState
function to generate the initial random GenesisState
from a given seed.
Once the module genesis parameter are generated randomly (or with the key and
values defined in a params
file), they are marshaled to JSON format and added
to the app genesis JSON to use it on the simulations.
You can check an example on how to create the randomized genesis here.
The simulator is able to test parameter changes at random. The simulator package from each module must contain a RandomizedParams
func that will simulate parameter changes of the module throughout the simulations lifespan.
You can see how an example of what is needed to fully test parameter changes here
Operations are one of the crucial parts of the Cosmos SDK simulation. They are the transactions
(Msg
) that are simulated with random field values. The sender of the operation
is also assigned randomly.
Operations on the simulation are simulated using the full transaction cycle of a
ABCI
application that exposes the BaseApp
.
Shown below is how weights are set:
+++ https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/blob/v0.42.1/x/staking/simulation/operations.go#L18-L68
As you can see, the weights are predefined in this case. Options exist to override this behavior with different weights. One option is to use *rand.Rand
to define a random weight for the operation, or you can inject your own predefined weights.
Here is how one can override the above package simappparams
.
+++ https://github.com/cosmos/gaia/blob/main/sims.mk#L9-L22
For the last test a tool called runsim is used, this is used to parallelize go test instances, provide info to Github and slack integrations to provide information to your team on how the simulations are running.
Randomized governance proposals are also supported on the Cosmos SDK simulator. Each
module must define the governance proposal Content
s that they expose and register
them to be used on the parameters.
Now that all the required functions are defined, we need to integrate them into the module pattern within the module.go
:
+++ https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/blob/v0.42.0/x/distribution/module.go
The following step is setting up the SimulatorManager
at the app level. This
is required for the simulation test files on the next step.
type CustomApp struct {
...
sm *module.SimulationManager
}
Then at the instantiation of the application, we create the SimulationManager
instance in the same way we create the ModuleManager
but this time we only pass
the modules that implement the simulation functions from the AppModuleSimulation
interface described above.
func NewCustomApp(...) {
// create the simulation manager and define the order of the modules for deterministic simulations
app.sm = module.NewSimulationManager(
auth.NewAppModule(app.accountKeeper),
bank.NewAppModule(app.bankKeeper, app.accountKeeper),
supply.NewAppModule(app.supplyKeeper, app.accountKeeper),
ov.NewAppModule(app.govKeeper, app.accountKeeper, app.supplyKeeper),
mint.NewAppModule(app.mintKeeper),
distr.NewAppModule(app.distrKeeper, app.accountKeeper, app.supplyKeeper, app.stakingKeeper),
staking.NewAppModule(app.stakingKeeper, app.accountKeeper, app.supplyKeeper),
slashing.NewAppModule(app.slashingKeeper, app.accountKeeper, app.stakingKeeper),
)
// register the store decoders for simulation tests
app.sm.RegisterStoreDecoders()
...
}