Staging mode is a configuration where XPoster will bypass the action of sending updates, but will return messages as if it had successfully posted updates.

It is enabled automatically in any environment where the core function wp_get_environment_type() returns as ‘staging’, but can also be enabled manually by setting the constant WPT_STAGING_MODE to true:

define( 'WPT_STAGING_MODE', true );
Banner with text "XPoster is in staging mode. Status updates will be reported as if successfully sent, but will not be posted."

While in staging mode, there will be a banner displayed in the XPoster settings pages indicating that the plugin is in staging mode.

This mode is useful for testing configuration changes, template rendering, and posting behavior without sending actual messages to your services.