The workbench
Live preview
The workbench · 2 min read
See a web page you are building in a floating window over your code, updating as you type.
When you would want it
Saving, switching to a browser, and refreshing is three steps too many when you are adjusting a layout.
Where to find it
- All Features → Live preview
- Open
- Reload
- Maximise or restore
- Switch project or files
- Another screen size
- Inspect element size and spacing
What you get out of it
- Save-and-switch-to-browser becomes a thing you used to do.
- Layout experiments iterate at the speed of typing.
- Box-model numbers live where the page is, so fixing spacing means no devtools detour.
How to use it, step by step
- Open any HTML file and start the live preview.
- Edit - the preview reloads itself on save.
- To see another page, click the address in the preview's bar, type its path - /about.html or #pricing - and press Enter. The address follows the links you click, and when the assistant opens a page for you, the preview goes there too.
- Switch device sizes from the preview toolbar to check layouts: one click for Phone, Tablet, or Desktop, labelled W and H boxes with minus and plus steppers, a preset list, or drag the frame's visible edges. The page reshapes in place without reloading, and Fit scales it to fit so you never scroll to see it.
- Turn on Inspect, then right-click anything in the preview to see its width, height, padding, margin, and highlighted markup for restyling. If it grabs an inner piece instead of the card you meant, walk up the breadcrumb to the parent — the page flashes each level as you pick it. Choose List all to see every element's spacing with a filter.
- The preview floats over your work instead of taking a column: drag it by its bar, resize it from any edge, and double-click the bar (or press Maximise) to fill the window.
- To change something you can see, pick it with Inspect and press Change this with AI. New task opens with that element attached - page, selector, size and markup - so you only type what should change, like Make this button bigger and green.
Why this beats the usual way
External live-reload setups mean installing a server and managing a port per project. A built-in preview pointed at the open file makes the loop part of the editor, not an assembly project.
Find it in Universal Search
Live preview · The workbench · browser · website · screen size · responsive · inspect element · box model · padding margin · width height