Manta handbook · 4 of 10
How to Test a Staging or Private Environment with the Manta Runner
Your staging environment doesn't have to be public to be tested. Run the Manta Runner inside your own network and Manta tests it from there — nothing exposed.
By the end of this guide, Manta will be testing an environment that never leaves your network — a staging server behind a VPN, a preview deploy on a private subnet, an app behind IP allowlisting. The Manta Runner does the work from inside; nothing gets exposed to the internet.
When you need the Runner
Use the Runner when the environment you want to test isn't reachable from the public internet:
- Staging or QA behind a VPN or corporate network.
- An app behind IP allowlisting or a private load balancer.
- A local or on-prem deployment.
If your target has a public URL (even one behind a login), you don't need the Runner — point Manta straight at it.
Step 1 — Get the Runner
From your project, choose to add a Runner. You'll get a small agent to run on a machine that can reach the target environment — a CI runner, a bastion host, a container in the same network, or a developer machine on the VPN.
[Screenshot: the "add a Runner" screen with the install command]
Step 2 — Start it inside your network
Run the agent on that machine with the token from the previous step. It connects outward to Manta over a secure channel and registers itself with your project. Your environment never needs an inbound hole.
[Screenshot: terminal showing the Runner started and reporting "connected"]
Step 3 — Start a run against the internal URL
Start a run as normal, but choose the Runner as the execution location and use the environment's internal URL — the address that works from inside your network (https://staging.internal, http://10.0.x.x, etc.). Add a test account if the app needs login.
[Screenshot: run configuration with the Runner selected and an internal URL entered]
Step 4 — Review results
Results come back to the Manta dashboard exactly as they would for a public run — the bug list with screenshots and reproduction steps, and the navigation map. The exploration ran inside your network; only the findings left it.
[Screenshot: a completed run in the dashboard, sourced from a Runner]
Tips and common mistakes
- Put the Runner where it can actually reach the target. The most common failure is a Runner on a machine that can't resolve or route to the internal URL.
- Keep it running for repeat runs, or start it as part of your pipeline before a run.
- Use a dedicated test account and a resettable environment — the Runner tests with the same thoroughness as a public run, including destructive actions.
- One Runner can serve multiple environments on the same network; use the internal URL to pick the target per run.
What to try next
- How to Test Authentication Flows.
- Testing staging & pre-production environments — where this fits in a release process.
- Release testing & pre-release QA.
Start free and add a Runner to test your internal environments.
Try it on your own app
Point Manta at a URL and see what it finds — no scripts, no setup. Free, no credit card.