App Preview
App Preview
Preview Before You Publish
The App Preview feature lets you see a live version of your application before making it publicly available. Every time the AI deploys code to your app, you can generate a preview URL to verify the changes look correct.
How It Works
The AI deploys code to your application using OBTO's MCP tools
You (or the AI) call
obto_generate_previewwith your app nameOBTO generates a temporary preview URL
Open the URL in your browser to see the live application
The preview renders exactly what the live app will look like — same backend, same frontend, same database. It's not a mock or a screenshot — it's your actual application running on the platform.
Generating a Preview
Through the AI
Ask your AI to generate a preview at any point during development:
"Show me a preview of the app"
"Generate a preview so I can check how it looks"
"Let me see what we've built so far"The AI will call obto_generate_preview and return the preview URL.
Through the Tool Directly
The tool takes a single parameter:
appName
string
✅
The name of the application to preview
Returns: A preview URL you can open in your browser.
Preview vs. Published
URL
Temporary preview URL
yourapp.obto.co
Who can access
Anyone with the URL
Public
Data
Live data from your environment
Live data from your environment
Purpose
Development testing
Production use
💡 Preview and published apps share the same backend and database. Changes made through the preview (e.g., form submissions) affect real data.
When to Preview
After deploying a new page — Verify the layout renders correctly
After changing styles — Check colors, spacing, and responsive behavior
After modifying routes — Test API endpoints return the correct data
Before publishing — Final sanity check before going live
Iterating with Preview
The typical development cycle with OBTO is:
Describe what you want → AI deploys it
Preview → Check the result
Iterate → "Change the header to blue," "Add a footer," "Fix the contact form"
Preview again → Verify
Publish → Go live
The AI can generate previews automatically after each deployment step, or you can request them manually when you're ready to check.
Next Steps
Publish App — Go live with a public URL
Dev Zone — Manage your applications
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