# Preview Manual Test

> Discover, wait for, sign in, create specific user data, and assert a PR preview deploy. Use on medium or high risk PRs, after pushing a ready-for-review PR, or when the user asks to test the preview URL.

- Skill: `kentcdodds/preview-manual-test` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add kentcdodds/preview-manual-test`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/kentcdodds/preview-manual-test/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: DevOps & Infra
- Author: kentcdodds (https://skillmd.com/u/kentcdodds)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/kentcdodds/preview-manual-test

---


# Manual preview testing

Read
[`docs/contributing/preview-manual-testing.md`](../../../docs/contributing/preview-manual-testing.md).
Do not improvise `gh` comment scraping, local E2E against the preview URL, or
raw D1 seeding of preview resources.

Prefer [`control-kody`](../control-kody/SKILL.md) when you also need `doctor`,
local login, Feature Map lookup, or a `/health` SHA check:

```bash
npm run control-kody -- preview -- --request 'GET /onboarding.json' --check /onboarding/step-2
```

## Command

```bash
npm run preview:manual-test
```

On **medium or high risk**, do not stop at the default health/login smoke. The
seed user (`me@kentcdodds.com` / `ilikecode`, username `user-me`) has **no**
secrets, packages, or jobs until you create them. Script that data and the
assertions as the same logged-in user:

```bash
npm run preview:manual-test -- \
  --request 'POST /onboarding/checklist-dismiss.json {}' \
  --request 'GET /onboarding.json' \
  --check /onboarding/step-2
```

`--request` spec: `METHOD /path [status] [json-body]` (default success: 2xx).
Use the JSON APIs the UI uses (`/account/*.json` in
`packages/worker/universal/routes.ts`). `--json` includes
`session.cookieHeader`; `--cookie-file` writes it for follow-up `curl`.

`--pr`, `--url`, `--no-wait`, `--skip-login`, `--help` as documented.

## When

After the PR is **ready for review** (drafts and forks have no preview) and you
have pushed the commits you want to exercise. Typical triggers: visual-recap
risk is **medium** (`extends`) or **high** (`adds`); auth, workers, or
deploy-path behavior changed; the user asked to try the preview.

This does not replace `npm run validate`.

## After the scripted session

1. Open the printed URL. On Cloud Agents, use the `computerUse` subagent.
2. Sign in at `/login` with the seed credentials. Button label is **Sign in**.
3. Confirm the data you created and exercise the UI this PR changes. Stay on the
   preview origin.
4. Record what you saw on the PR.

`GET /mcp` is 401 without OAuth; `/admin` is 403 (seed account is not admin).
Neither is a regression.