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Preview and validation are local operations. They do not push or activate a Portal Definition.

Start the supported preview

This runs fluid portal dev, normally at http://localhost:5173. When portal/definition.json is missing, the command pulls the linked working definition before it starts. Use -- --skip-pull only when the missing local definition is intentional. Use the Fluid command so the preview matches the supported project configuration.

Understand preview limits

Local preview is lenient. Push is strict. A mistake that preview quietly works around makes push refuse the whole definition.
  • Preview skips a file that isn’t valid JSON, with no warning in the terminal. If a screen vanishes from the preview with no error, check the JSON you just edited.
  • Preview keeps a navigation item whose screen doesn’t match a screen file. The item stays in the menu without its screen. Push refuses it.
  • Preview doesn’t check the file schemas. Push checks every file first: a navigation needs its platform, a profile needs all four permissions arrays and its themes, and a theme needs a complete config. See Navigation, profiles, and themes.
  • Preview shows the default profile, or the first profile when none is the default. It doesn’t check profile permissions.
  • Localhost does not receive production member authentication. Authenticated screens can return HTTP 401 even when local JSON renders correctly.

Sample data in in-app previews

Some previews render a portal without calling the API: the desktop and mobile previews on the admin’s Portal Builder screen, and Mist’s in-app portal preview. In those, these built-in widgets show fixed sample data instead of the member’s real data:
  • RecentActivityWidget, CatchUpWidget, ToDoWidget, PointsWidget, CalendarWidget and MySiteWidget;
  • ShopWidget, which shows sample products.
The sample data proves layout only. Adding a to-do is turned off there too. Check real data in fluid portal dev with a signed-in session, or on the deployed portal. The builder canvas itself loads real data.

Run local checks

fluid portal doctor reports scaffold drift. JSON Schema validation and the build catch different classes of problems, so do not use either as a substitute for visual review.

Review the portal

Check:
  • every changed screen route;
  • navigation order and targets;
  • the intended profile and theme;
  • empty and malformed widget inputs;
  • keyboard focus and accessible names;
  • narrow and wide layouts;
  • all supported color modes.
Only push after the local files, checks, and diff match the intended working definition.