Manage preview blueprints

Preview blueprints create ephemeral environments for testing pull requests and branches. Manage active previews, manually create test environments, and configure automatic cleanup.

1. Navigate to Environments in your project

2. Preview environments appear in the Previews section

3. Each preview shows:

   • Available metadata (e.g. pull request ID, branch name)
   • Status (running, building, failed)
   • Created date

Click on any preview to view its resources and access URLs.

You can create a preview environment without waiting for a Git trigger:

1. Navigate to Environments

2. Click on a preview blueprint

3. Click Run

4. Select a commit or branch

5. Click Create

This is useful for testing branches before creating pull requests or setting up demo environments.

Each preview environment has unique URLs for accessing deployed services:

1. Click on a preview environment

2. View the Services section

3. Click on a service to see its URL

Preview URLs typically follow the pattern: service-name-pr-123.project.northflank.app

Previews automatically update when new commits are pushed to the pull request branch or watched branch.

To manually trigger an update:

1. Click on the preview environment

2. Click Run

3. Select the new commit

4. Click Create

The preview will rebuild and redeploy with the latest code.

You can temporarily stop automatic preview creation without deleting the preview blueprint:

1. Navigate to Environments

2. Click on a preview blueprint

3. Click Settings

4. Disable triggers or remove them

5. Click Save

Existing preview environments will remain active, but new ones will not be created automatically.

Previews are automatically deleted when pull requests are closed or merged (if configured). To manually delete a preview:

1. Click on the preview environment

2. Click Delete

3. Confirm the deletion

All resources created by the preview (services, databases, volumes) are permanently deleted.

Set policies for automatically deleting inactive previews:

1. Open a preview blueprint

2. Click Settings

3. Configure cleanup policies:

   • Delete on pull request close: Automatically delete when PR is closed
   • Delete on pull request merge: Automatically delete when PR is merged
   • Inactivity period: Delete previews after X days of no commits

4. Click Save

Automatic cleanup helps manage costs and keep your project organized.

Each preview environment can include:

• Services: Deployment services running your application code
• Databases: Addons like PostgreSQL, MongoDB, or Redis
• Jobs: Background tasks or one-time operations
• Volumes: Persistent storage
• Secret groups: Environment variables and configuration

All resources are isolated to the preview environment and deleted when the preview is deleted.

A default tag is automatically added to each preview environment. Secret groups scoped to this tag are made available only within the preview environment by default.

Preview environments consume resources and incur costs. To manage costs:

• Use smaller resource plans for previews than production
• Enable automatic cleanup for closed pull requests
• Set maximum concurrent preview limits
• Delete unused previews manually
• Review preview resource usage regularly

Preview failed to create:

Check the run logs for errors. Verify build configuration and resource availability.

Preview URL not accessible:

Check service port configuration, networking settings, and deployment status.

Preview not updating on new commits:

Verify Git trigger is configured correctly and webhook settings in your Git provider are active.

Preview environment costs too high:

Reduce resource plans, enable automatic cleanup, avoid running too many previews concurrently, or configure your Git triggers to watch fewer pull requests.