Demo mode — sample data for screenshots, demos and training

What it does: a switch that swaps your real data for a realistic sample network, so you can show the app to someone without showing them your actual network. Turn it on in View ▸ Demo mode (sample data), then restart — the change applies at startup, because every store binds to its folder once when the app launches.

You'll know it's on: the title bar reads "DEMO DATA — your real data is untouched".

When you'd use it: screenshots, demos, training, or a dead network.

• Screenshots — for a store listing, a blog post, or documentation, without leaking your public IP, ISP, hostnames or device names.
• Demos — show a colleague or a customer what the tools do without exposing their network or yours.
• Training — let someone learn the tools against a network that can't be broken.
• A dead network — on a plane or a bare VM, the app has something to show instead of empty panels.

How your real data is protected: with demo mode on, your work — inventory, incidents, MAC history, runbooks, hosts, the Vault, the activity log — reads and writes a SEPARATE folder, so nothing in the real one can be changed, overwritten or lost. Two things are still READ from the real folder: your license (so a Pro owner stays Pro during a demo — demo mode never contacts the licensing service) and your look-and-feel preferences (theme, backdrop, console, alert sound, Home style), until you change one in demo mode — that change is saved to the demo copy, never the real one. Turn demo mode off and restart, and everything comes back exactly as it was. The real data stays in %APPDATA%\SubnetSlinger; demo mode uses the demo subfolder inside it (%APPDATA%\SubnetSlinger\demo).

The sample network: a small office on 192.0.2.0/24 — a core gateway, an access switch, a workstation, a lobby printer, a 2nd-floor AP and a VPN concentrator, plus open incidents, MAC history and a Deputy investigation. Every address comes from the ranges RFC 5737 reserves for documentation (192.0.2.x, 198.51.100.x, 203.0.113.x), so nothing in a demo screenshot can ever point at a real host on the internet. The data is re-seeded fresh on each launch, so a demo always looks the same and anything you did last time is gone.

It doesn't probe your network: in demo mode the tools show the sample network instead of sweeping, pinging, scanning or connecting to anything of yours. Local servers don't bind, captures don't start, and the Deputy and Posse call no AI provider — automated tests check that for the main tools and engines. Your Account stays offline too: sign-in and starting a trial are off in demo mode (see below).

Demo the AI too: the Deputy and the Posse offer 15 scripted investigations on the same sample network — pick one, run it, and watch the tool calls and findings. No AI provider is called. See the Deputy and Posse articles for the list.

Your account and license: in demo mode, Account sign-in and starting a trial are off (nothing is sent to the licensing service), and sign out and delete account are off too — your real account and license are unchanged. To sign in or start a trial, turn demo mode off and restart. Deleting the demo folder is always safe; it's rebuilt on the next demo launch.