Live testing

Live testing and demo environments

How users review or demonstrate finished work in a temporary environment before promotion.

Public draft for dev reviewLast verified 2026-05-22

Created from Phase 2 docs inventory and live-testing technology narrative.

What live testing is

Live testing gives users a temporary environment where a completed product or feature can be reviewed, tested, or demonstrated before it is promoted to a more permanent destination.

Why it exists

A user should be able to see and test the work in a realistic environment before accepting it. Live testing creates a clearer review moment than reading a summary alone.

When to use it

Use live testing when a feature, website, internal tool, or demo needs to be experienced directly by the customer, reviewer, or stakeholder.

What users should see

Users should see the temporary environment link, what version it represents, what should be tested, how long the environment will remain available, and what decision is needed next.

Demo use

A live test environment can also support demos. The important point is that demo viewers understand it is a temporary review environment, not the final production destination.

Capture acceptance evidence

During review, capture what was tested, who reviewed it, what worked, what failed, what needs changing, and whether the work is accepted, paused, or sent back for revision.

Promote or destroy

After review, the environment should either lead to an approved promotion path, a revision handoff, or cleanup. Temporary environments should not linger without an owner.

What can go wrong

Live testing becomes confusing when reviewers do not know what to test, the environment is treated as production, feedback is not recorded, or cleanup ownership is unclear.

Read next

Read Workbench for review gates and Cortex handoffs for evidence packages.

Website context

Connect this guide back to the product story

The technology docs map links this page to the public technology narrative and helps buyers move from a capability overview into the right operating guide.

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