---
title: Execution modes
description: >-
  Choose Fast, Standard, or Detailed execution mode to balance evidence
  collection against run speed for monitoring or debugging.
sidebarTitle: Execution modes
lastUpdated: "2026-09-23"
---

> **For AI agents:** the complete documentation index is at [llms.txt](/llms.txt). Append `.md` to any page URL for its markdown version.

Every run captures evidence: screenshots, video, logs, and metadata. Capturing more makes a failure easier to diagnose but slows the run down. The execution mode is the single dial that sets that trade-off, so you collect everything you need while debugging and stay fast in production.

![The Run queue Advanced options with the Execution mode dropdown open on Fast, Standard, and Detailed](/images/execution-modes.webp)

## The three modes

- **Fast**: minimal collection, no screenshots or video and reduced logs. The run finishes as quickly as possible. Best for production monitoring, where you check a journey often and only need to know whether it passed.
- **Standard** (default): balanced collection. Captures the media you need to understand a failure without slowing the run down much. The right choice for most runs.
- **Detailed**: takes a screenshot before and after every step, with detailed logs and full metadata. Best for debugging a flaky or failing test, since you can see exactly what the screen looked like at each step. It significantly slows execution, so reach for it when you're investigating, not for routine runs.

## Where to set it

**For a one-off run**, pick the mode in the **Run queue** panel under **Advanced options** before you launch. It applies to every test in that batch. See [Run a test](/executions/run).

**As a test's default**, set it in the builder under **Test settings > Advanced > Execution mode**. The test then runs in that mode wherever it's launched, unless a run overrides it.

![The test builder Test settings tab with the Advanced section expanded on the Execution mode dropdown](/images/execution-mode-test-settings.webp)

<Tip>
Monitors run on a schedule, often many times a day. Keep monitored tests on **Fast** or **Standard** so frequent runs stay cheap, and switch to **Detailed** only while you investigate a failure.
</Tip>

## What's next?

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Run a test" icon="play" href="/executions/run">

    Queue tests and pick an execution mode for the batch

</Card>
  <Card title="Test builder" icon="vial" href="/tests/builder">

    Set a test's default execution mode in its settings

</Card>
</Columns>