Preview docs locally

Before you push, you can see your docs folder in the wiki exactly as GitHub Sync will show it. A bench command syncs the folder from your disk into a space on your development site. The sidebar config, front matter, links and images work as they do after a push.

Preview a folder

Open a terminal in the folder that holds your docs, or in a parent folder.
Run the command with the path to the docs folder and a route for the preview space:
```
bench --site wiki.localhost wiki preview-docs docs --route docs-preview
```
Open the route in your browser, for example http://wiki.localhost:8000/docs-preview.

The command prints the time and the space when the sync is done. If the sync fails, it prints the error.

Keep the preview up to date

Add --watch to sync again each time you save a file in the folder:

bench --site wiki.localhost wiki preview-docs docs --route docs-preview --watch

The command checks the folder once a second. Refresh the page in your browser to see the change. Press Ctrl+C to stop.

The preview space

If no space uses the route, the command creates a git-synced space. Use --name to give it a name. Otherwise the name comes from the route.
If a git-synced space already uses the route, the command syncs into it again.
If a space that is not git-synced uses the route, the command stops. It never replaces pages that people wrote in the wiki.

A new preview space has no read roles, so only Wiki Managers can see it. To share it with other people, add roles in Space settings. See Who can read and write.

What the preview includes

Only the files that a push would sync: the pages in your .wiki.yml, or every Markdown file when there is no sidebar config. See Folder structure and .wiki.yml.
Images that your pages use, from Markdown image links and from <img> and <source> tags. See Images and links.
Hidden folders such as .git are skipped.

An image keeps the same ID as it has on GitHub. After you push, the sync reuses the images that the preview already imported.

Each preview sync shows in the sync history of the space with the trigger Local. See Sync a space.