> Part of the walkerOS documentation. Project overview and full index: <https://www.walkeros.io/llms.txt>

# First critical checks

Evaluating walkerOS? These five checks each take a few minutes, run on your own machine, and need no account. Together they test the claims everything else builds on: your tracking is code you can see, prove, and take with you.

## 1. See a live event, end to end[​](#1-see-a-live-event-end-to-end "Direct link to 1. See a live event, end to end")

Send one event and watch it arrive. The [quickstart](https://www.walkeros.io/docs/getting-started/quickstart.md) prints your first event from Node in under five minutes. Or run the [Docker demo](https://www.walkeros.io/docs/getting-started/quickstart/docker.md) and POST an event to `/collect`: it appears in the runner log of a container on your machine.

## 2. Read your tracking as code[​](#2-read-your-tracking-as-code "Direct link to 2. Read your tracking as code")

Every pipeline is one `flow.json`: sources, transformers, destinations, and mapping as plain JSON you can diff in a pull request and roll back in git. Open any [example](https://www.walkeros.io/docs/getting-started/examples/bot-detection.md) and read the whole setup in one block. No UI state, nothing hidden.

## 3. Let an agent build a flow[​](#3-let-an-agent-build-a-flow "Direct link to 3. Let an agent build a flow")

The [walkerOS MCP](https://www.walkeros.io/docs/apps/mcp.md) runs locally without an account. Ask your AI assistant for a flow; it generates the `flow.json`, validates it against the schema, and simulates an event through it before you ever deploy. The output is a machine-checked artifact, not a demo.

## 4. Break it on purpose[​](#4-break-it-on-purpose "Direct link to 4. Break it on purpose")

Define a [contract](https://www.walkeros.io/docs/getting-started/flow/contract.md), then violate it and watch validation fail loudly with the exact path and message, at design time, before anything ships. See [validate](https://www.walkeros.io/docs/getting-started/flow/validate.md). Compare that with a tag manager silently dropping fields in production.

## 5. Prove you can leave[​](#5-prove-you-can-leave "Direct link to 5. Prove you can leave")

Bundle the same `flow.json` and run it anywhere: Docker, Node, your own infrastructure. [Deploy](https://www.walkeros.io/docs/getting-started/deploy.md) shows all three paths. Your events land in destinations you configured, so there is nothing to export and nothing to migrate away from.

## Next steps[​](#next-steps "Direct link to Next steps")

* [Quickstart](https://www.walkeros.io/docs/getting-started/quickstart.md): send your first event now
* [GA4 ecommerce](https://www.walkeros.io/docs/getting-started/ga4-ecommerce.md): a real destination with mapping, verified in DebugView