Use Preview URLs

Lapdev lets you create Preview URLs for your environments so you can securely access and share running services — without setting up DNS, ingress, or TLS certificates manually.

Each Preview URL points to a specific service inside your environment (for example, your frontend, api-gateway, or admin service). You can create multiple Preview URLs per environment, each targeting a different service.

Read Preview URL to understand what they are and why they're useful.

Prerequisites

Before you begin:

• You must have at least one active environment in Lapdev (personal, shared, or branch).

• The environment must show a status of Active in the Lapdev dashboard.

• Your app must expose at least one Service in Kubernetes.

Create a Preview URL

1. Open the Lapdev dashboard: https://app.lap.dev

2. Go to the Environments tab.

3. Select the environment you want to create a preview for.

4. In the environment details page, scroll to the Preview URLs section.

5. Click Create Preview URL.

   Example screenshot:\

6. In the Create Preview URL dialog:

   • Choose the Service you want this URL to point to (for example, frontend, api-gateway, or admin).

   • Optionally, enter a Description (e.g., “Frontend QA demo”).

   • Select the Access Level (Organization by default, or Public).

7. Click Create.

Lapdev will:

• Automatically generate a unique HTTPS domain for the selected service

• Handle routing, DNS, and TLS certificates for that URL

• Route traffic directly to the selected service inside your environment

View and Open Preview URLs

Once created:

• All Preview URLs for the environment appear in the Preview URLs section.

• Each entry lists:

  • The Service name it targets

  • The URL itself

  • The Access level (Organization or Public)

Click the URL to open it in your browser.

Share the Preview URL

You can safely share a Preview URL with:

• Teammates or QA engineers for quick testing

• PMs or designers for feature reviews

• Automated test systems for integration runs

Just copy and share the link — no VPN, firewall, or cluster access needed.

💡 Tip: You can create multiple Preview URLs in the same environment if your app exposes multiple services (e.g., frontend, admin, gateway).

Manage Access Control

Each Preview URL has its own access policy.

To update it:

1. In the Preview URLs section, click the settings icon next to a URL.

2. Choose who can access it:

   • Organization (recommended, default): Only authenticated Lapdev users can view.

   • Public: Anyone with the link can view.

   • (Coming soon) Custom rules for organization-level access.

3. Click Save.

🔒 Use organization access for internal branches or unreleased features.

Delete a Preview URL

To remove a Preview URL:

1. Go to the Preview URLs section of your environment.

2. Click the Delete icon next to the URL.

3. Confirm deletion.

Deleting a Preview URL does not affect the environment or its workloads — it only removes that specific public endpoint.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Possible Cause	Solution
Service not listed	The service has no exposed port	Check that the Kubernetes Service defines a valid port
Preview URL doesn’t open	Service not ready or endpoint unreachable	Verify pods and services are running
HTTPS warning	Certificate still propagating	Wait 30–60 seconds; Lapdev handles TLS automatically

Next Steps

• Learn more about Preview URLs and how they work internally

• Use Devbox for real-time debugging connected to your environment

• Explore App Catalogs to define which workloads appear in your environments