We study the general framework of quantum channel simulation, that is, the ability of a quantum channel to simulate another one using different classes of codes. First, we show that the minimum error of simulation and the one-shot quantum simulation cost under no-signalling assisted codes are given by semidefinite programs. Second, we introduce the channel’s smooth max-information, which can be seen as a one-shot generalization of the mutual information of a quantum channel. We provide an exact operational interpretation of the channel’s smooth max-information as the one-shot quantum simulation cost under no-signalling assisted codes, which significantly simplifies the study of channel simulation and provides insights and bounds for the case under entanglement-assisted codes. Third, we derive the asymptotic equipartition property of the channel’s smooth max-information; i.e., it converges to the quantum mutual information of the channel in the independent and identically distributed asymptotic limit. This implies the quantum reverse Shannon theorem in the presence of no-signalling correlations. Finally, we explore the simulation cost of various quantum channels.