---
title: "Create a preview link"
description: "Publish a copy of your canvas's app that anyone with the link can open for 30 days, and refresh it when the code changes."
url: https://help.modeinspect.com/en/articles/45-create-a-preview-link
collection: "Share and review"
updated: 2026-10-29
language: en
---

# Create a preview link

Publish a copy of your canvas's app that anyone with the link can open for 30 days, and refresh it when the code changes.

A preview link opens a copy of your app, as it is on this canvas right now, for anyone who has the link. No Modeinspect account is needed. Use it when a stakeholder should click through a change before it becomes a pull request.

**Before you start**

-   A canvas whose Portal shows your app. The copy is made from the app the canvas runs, so it includes every change the agent has built here.
    

## Steps

1.  Click **Share** in the canvas header. The popover shows **Preview URL** and, on a canvas that was never published, "Not published".
    
    ![The Share popover under the Share button: Preview URL, Not published, and the Create Preview Link button](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/p6a1872808f187689a3937fa3/AF3PJCa60UYa1ItIkggxaPLrCuHA0uvh2bUJ3KKHu9zQqjhfW9QnqtsWZ8KSRo8Co5jVmPTXghK.png)
2.  Click **Create Preview Link**. The button spins for a few seconds, then the toast "Preview Link Created" appears and the popover reads "Published less than a minute ago".
    
3.  Click **Copy**. The toast reads "Copied Preview Link". **Open** opens the link in a new tab.
    
    ![The Share popover of a published canvas: Published 5 minutes ago, Everything up to date, and the Open and Copy buttons](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/p6a1872808f187689a3937fa3/274j5ci9pmaSwDzUKh4CEGHi8TuxgBIBfDmyuEqyyKL07UPuHUiBUiRjr5OQdqzi0Uooc9MIEcU.png)

Send the link. The viewer sees your app's start page in their browser, without signing in, and can click through it.

The link works for 30 days from the moment you copy it. To hand it out after that, open **Share** and click **Copy** again: the address is the same, with a fresh 30 days.

## Keep the link current

The copy is frozen: changes the agent builds after you publish do not reach it. Once the code on the canvas has changed, the popover shows **Update** in place of **Everything up to date**.

![The Share popover of a published canvas after a code change: Published 9 minutes ago and the Update button above Open and Copy](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/p6a1872808f187689a3937fa3/dIoX8ffBjyKuKXVMZrPxmQYFYNzEdNFM4MWudQg61ajXtxUKTYeEEhOOtOzeFAe1B1f30JgRlYd.png)

Click **Update**. The toast reads "Preview Link Updated", and people who already have the link see the new version the next time they open it.

## Preview link or page link

<table style="min-width: 75px;"><colgroup><col style="min-width: 25px;"><col style="min-width: 25px;"><col style="min-width: 25px;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><th colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p></p></th><th colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Preview link</p></th><th colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Page link</p></th></tr><tr><td colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Shows</p></td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>the app as it was when you published or updated</p></td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>the app as it is now, including what the agent builds later</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Opens on</p></td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>the app's start page</p></td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>the page you were on</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>Works for</p></td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>30 days from each copy</p></td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>7 days from each copy</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>You get it from</p></td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p><strong>Share</strong> in the canvas header</p></td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1"><p>the Build Mode address bar or a selected Portal</p></td></tr></tbody></table>

See [Share a link to the page you are on](https://help.modeinspect.com/en/articles/48-share-a-link-to-the-live-page.md) for the second kind.

## If it does not work

-   **The popover says "Preview links are disabled for this organization."**: your organization has preview links turned off. Contact support to have them turned on.
    
-   **The toast reads "Error Creating Preview Link" or "Error Updating Preview Link"**: the copy could not be made. Click the button again.
    
-   **The viewer sees a blank page that says "Unauthorized"**: the link is older than 30 days, or it was pasted without the long part after `preview_token=`. Copy it again from **Share** and send the whole address.
    

## Related

-   [Share a link to the page you are on](https://help.modeinspect.com/en/articles/48-share-a-link-to-the-live-page.md)
    
-   [Create a pull request](https://help.modeinspect.com/en/articles/46-create-a-pull-request.md)
    
-   [What is a Portal](https://help.modeinspect.com/en/articles/43-what-is-a-portal.md)

## Related

- [See the code the agent changed](https://help.modeinspect.com/en/articles/49-see-the-code-the-agent-changed.md)
- [Create a pull request](https://help.modeinspect.com/en/articles/46-create-a-pull-request.md)
- [How changes reach your pull request](https://help.modeinspect.com/en/articles/47-how-changes-reach-your-pull-request.md)
- [Keep working after your pull request is merged](https://help.modeinspect.com/en/articles/44-keep-working-after-your-pull-request-is-merged.md)
- [Share a link to the page you are on](https://help.modeinspect.com/en/articles/48-share-a-link-to-the-page-you-are-on.md)