Previews
A run can expose a service it started — a dev server, an API — at an address you can open in a browser. The service runs on the machine. Norn carries the request to it over a connection the machine opened outbound; nothing listens for inbound traffic on your computer.
Previews appear in the Previews section of the run.
Open one
Open opens the preview in a new tab. Signed-in members of the workspace can reach it directly.
When there is no address, the panel says why:
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
The machine running this preview is offline, so the address will not open. | Start the runner on that machine. |
This preview has been closed. | The run closed it, or the run is over. |
This server serves no preview domain, so there is no address that reaches anybody. | The instance has no preview domain configured. Previews work on Norn Cloud; self-hosted instances need a wildcard domain and the preview gateway. |
Share one outside the workspace
Share this preview mints a link anybody can open, without a Norn account.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Lasts | 1 hour, 8 hours, 1 day or 7 days. The link stops working when it expires. |
| Passcode, if you want one | At least six characters. Whoever opens the link is asked for it. |
Make the link creates it and shows the address once, with Copy. Norn keeps only a fingerprint of it — the address is answered once and never again, so copy it before you leave the page.
Manage links
Every link you have made for a preview is listed with:
- Live, Expired or Revoked
- when it expires
Nobody has opened itorOpened {n} times· passcodewhen it has one
Revoke kills a live link immediately.
With no links, the panel reads Nobody outside the workspace can reach this preview.
Norn caps how many links one preview may have at once. This preview already has as many share links as norn keeps. Revoke one first. means you have hit it.
How long a preview lasts
A preview lives as long as the run's workspace. While a run is waiting for review, the machine holds both, and the run says when it gives them back. Keep it an hour longer pushes that out. See Retention.
From inside a run
The coding agent opens previews itself, with commands available in the run's own environment:
norn preview expose --service web
norn preview list
norn preview close web
These need the run's own credentials, which exist only in the environment of that run's processes. A person at a terminal does not have them, and does not need them — everything above is on the run screen.