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Testing the kill-switch

Testing the Kill Switch and Re-enabling Billing

This guide explains how to test the kill switch functionality in Flame Shield, which simulates a billing limit being reached, and how to subsequently re-enable the billing connection to restore services.

Testing the Kill Switch

  1. Navigate to Service Running Card:
  2. Ensure you are on the main Dashboard for your project.
  3. Locate the Service running card. Initially, it should indicate that the Kill-switch is NOT active.
  4. Initiate Kill Switch Test:
  5. Click the Test kill-switch button within the Service running card.
  1. Confirm Test Action:
  2. A confirmation pop-up window will appear with the message: "Are you sure you want to test the kill switch? This will stop your project from working on any services except free tiers until you re-connect."
  3. Click OK to proceed with the test.
  4. Monitor Kill Switch Activation:
  5. The Service running card will momentarily display Loading Kill Switch.
  6. After a short period, the card will update to show a KILLED status with a red 'X' icon, indicating Emergency shutdown activated. The timestamp of the shutdown will be displayed.
  7. The buttons on the card will change; the Test kill-switch button may become inactive, and a red Re-connect button will appear.

Re-enabling Billing Account

  1. Billing Account Detached Alert:
  2. Immediately after the kill switch activates, you will likely be redirected to a full-screen CRITICAL ALERT.
  3. This alert displays the message Billing Account Detached, explaining that the project has been automatically suspended, services are inactive (except potentially free tiers), and billing needs to be restored.
  4. Initiate Re-connection:
  5. Click the red Re-enable Billing Account button at the bottom of the alert screen.
  6. Monitor Re-connection Progress:
  7. The button text will change to Reconnecting... and display a loading spinner.
  8. Return to Dashboard:
  9. Once the billing account is successfully re-enabled, the alert screen will disappear, and you will be returned to the project Dashboard.
  10. The dashboard cards (Current Spend, Operational, Service running, Setup Notifications) will briefly show loading indicators as the system refreshes the connection and status.
  11. Confirm Restoration:
  12. The dashboard will reload, showing the previous state:
    • Billing Protection card displays the previously set limit.
    • Service running card shows Kill-switch is NOT active again.
    • Operational card shows All checks successful.
  13. (Optional: The video shows the user clicking Re-scan on the Operational card again, which briefly shows "Checking Connection" before returning to "All checks successful", confirming the connection is fully restored.)

This process simulates the automatic shutdown triggered by reaching a billing limit and demonstrates the steps required to bring the project back online by re-enabling the billing connection through Flame Shield.