Your Pull Request is Now a Website: A Guide to Preview Deployments

You’ve just opened a pull request for a new UI feature. Your project manager asks, “Can I see it?” You reply, “Sure, just pull down my branch, run npm install, fix the dependencies, start the server, and…” By the time you’ve finished the sentence, they’ve lost interest and moved on. There has to be a better way.

There is. It’s called Preview Deployments. The concept is simple but revolutionary: for every single pull request, a full, live, publicly accessible version of your application is automatically built and deployed to a unique URL. It transforms the code review process from a theoretical exercise into a tangible, interactive experience.

The End of “It Works on My Machine”

The Preview Deployment workflow finally solves the oldest problem in software development. Now, anyone—product managers, designers, QA testers, even clients—can click a single link and interact with the real, working feature in an isolated, production-like environment. No local setup, no special commands, no excuses.

This allows for a new level of collaboration:

• Designers can perform visual reviews to ensure pixel-perfect implementation.
• Product Managers can validate that the feature meets the business requirements before it’s merged.
• QA Testers can start testing much earlier in the development cycle.

How It Works: The CI/CD Magic

This workflow is powered by the magic of modern CI/CD and hosting platforms.

1. The Trigger: A developer opens a new pull request in GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket.
2. The Pipeline: A CI/CD service like [Travis CI] or GitHub Actions detects the new PR. It checks out the code, runs all the automated tests (unit, integration, and E2E), and builds the application.
3. The Deployment: If the build is successful, the pipeline automatically deploys the application to a temporary, isolated environment on a hosting platform like [Heroku] or Vercel.
4. The Feedback Loop: The CI/CD service then posts a comment back to the pull request with a link to the live preview URL (e.g., smone-pr-123.herokuapp.com). The team can now click, test, and provide feedback on a living, breathing version of the feature.

Conclusion

Preview Deployments are a game-changer for team velocity and confidence. They shorten feedback loops from days to minutes, break down silos between developers and other stakeholders, and ensure that what gets merged into the main branch has been seen, touched, and validated by real humans. It’s a key practice of high-performing engineering teams in 2025.

Implementing a modern Preview Deployment workflow requires a robust set of interconnected tools. From a powerful CI/CD pipeline managed by [Travis CI] to reliable hosting on [Heroku] and a clear Git workflow using [GitKraken], your toolchain is the engine of collaboration. SMONE provides the essential tools to build a high-velocity, modern development process. Explore our collection and revolutionize your team’s workflow.