# Best Ways to Generate or Obtain Test Data for Discourse?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/best-ways-to-generate-or-obtain-test-data-for-discourse/400205
**Category:** Development
**Created:** [April 8, 2026, 8:06am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/best-ways-to-generate-or-obtain-test-data-for-discourse/400205 "2026-04-08T08:06:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@hanoith2022](https://meta.discourse.org/u/hanoith2022)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2026, 8:06am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/best-ways-to-generate-or-obtain-test-data-for-discourse/400205/1 "2026-04-08T08:06:21Z")
Hi everyone 👋
I’m currently working with Discourse and trying to better understand how to test features and workflows effectively. One challenge I’m facing is how to get realistic and useful test data for a Discourse instance.
Are there built-in ways to seed or generate sample data in Discourse?
---
### Author:  [@merefield](https://meta.discourse.org/u/merefield)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2026, 8:06am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/best-ways-to-generate-or-obtain-test-data-for-discourse/400205/2 "2026-04-08T08:06:58Z")
Yes from the console at discourse root you can run:
```plaintext
rake dev:populate
```
---
### Author:  [@hanoith2022](https://meta.discourse.org/u/hanoith2022)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2026, 8:14am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/best-ways-to-generate-or-obtain-test-data-for-discourse/400205/3 "2026-04-08T08:14:25Z")
> [@merefield](#):
>
> `rake dev:populate`
Thanks for the suggestion! I just wanted to clarify — I’m not looking to populate users or topics. What I’m really interested in is **creating different types of test files** (like `.mov`, `.mp4`, `.mp3`, etc.) that can be uploaded as attachments in posts
Do you know if there’s a recommended way to generate or prepare **various media files** for testing purposes
---
### Author:  [@merefield](https://meta.discourse.org/u/merefield)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2026, 8:15am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/best-ways-to-generate-or-obtain-test-data-for-discourse/400205/4 "2026-04-08T08:15:19Z")
yes, connect a web cam and record away! 🙂
why not use generative AI?
---
### Author:  [@hanoith2022](https://meta.discourse.org/u/hanoith2022)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2026, 8:19am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/best-ways-to-generate-or-obtain-test-data-for-discourse/400205/5 "2026-04-08T08:19:02Z")
> [@merefield](#):
>
> yes, connect a web cam and record away
Thanks for the tip! I can record for .mov or .mp4 files.
For the other file like mp3, genAI is ok, i think, thank you so much for your advice !
---
### Author:  [@system](https://meta.discourse.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2026, 8:19am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/best-ways-to-generate-or-obtain-test-data-for-discourse/400205/6 "2026-04-10T08:19:55Z")
This topic was automatically closed 2 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.