Omaship
Documentation Menu ▼

Preview Changes

Every pull request gets its own preview URL. Test changes before they go live.

How It Works

  1. Create a pull request in your GitHub repository
  2. Comment /deploy on the PR
  3. Wait for the deployment (watch for emoji reactions)
  4. Visit pr-123.preview.yourdomain.com

The preview URL uses the PR number. PR #42 deploys to pr-42.preview.yourdomain.com.

Deployment Status

Watch for emoji reactions on your /deploy comment:

👀 Deployment started — we're on it
🚀 Success — preview is live
😕 Failed — check workflow logs

The comment itself is also updated with the preview URL or error details.

Automatic Cleanup

When you merge or close the PR, the preview deployment is automatically removed. No manual cleanup needed.

Requirements

Preview deployments require the wildcard DNS record: 

CNAME *.preview → yourdomain.com

See DNS Setup if you haven't configured this.

Use Cases

  • Design review — Share preview URL with stakeholders for feedback
  • QA testing — Test features before merging to production
  • Client approval — Let clients see changes before they go live
  • A/B testing — Compare different implementations side by side

For Developers

Preview environments use a separate database with seed data. They don't share data with production.

To customize preview behavior, see the Engine Reference for omaship_preview.