Search
Browse docs

Publishing states

Preview, Local Production, and Live Site

A short reference for keeping draft, review, and live pages separate.

Last Updated: Jun 20, 2026 Publishing states
reference site-system quality

This site uses different review surfaces for different decisions.

Keeping them separate prevents a rough draft, a review build, and the public site from being treated as the same thing.

Preview

Preview is the working review surface.

Use it for drafts, layout changes, card-grid changes, screenshots, and content that still needs judgment. It can change while a page is being shaped.

Local Production

Local production is the comparison surface.

Use it to check what a production-shaped build would show without publishing the public site. It is useful for checking draft visibility, generated fragments, and differences from preview.

Live Site

The live site is public.

A page being visible in preview or local production does not mean it has been approved for public deployment. Public deployment is a separate decision.

Quick Rule

  • Use preview to work.
  • Use local production to compare.
  • Use the live site only when public release has been approved.

Use Starting a Quality Review to choose the right review pass. Use Homepage Quality Review for a full homepage example.