stx dev

Deploy a preview build of your documentation to Syntext. Creates a dev-- prefixed preview URL that updates as you save files.

Usage

stx dev [options]

Options

Flag	Alias	Type	Default	Description
`--open`	`-o`	boolean	`false`	Open browser on start
`--no-watch`		boolean	`false`	Disable file watching
`--verbose`		boolean	`false`	Show detailed build output

Examples

Start Preview

stx dev

Deploys to your preview URL (e.g., https://dev--my-docs.syntext.dev).

Open Browser Automatically

stx dev --open

Opens the preview URL in your default browser after deployment.

Features

File Watching

The CLI watches for file changes and redeploys automatically:

MDX content — Preview updates with new content
Configuration — Navigation and theme update live
Static assets — Images and files refresh automatically
Syntax errors — Displayed in terminal with line numbers

Error Reporting

When there's a syntax or build error, the terminal shows:

Error message
File path and line number
Code snippet with the error highlighted
Suggestions for fixing common issues

Draft Pages

Pages with draft: true in frontmatter are visible in dev mode but hidden in production:

---
title: Work in Progress
draft: true
---

Output

  ╭─────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
  │                                                 │
  │   Syntext Dev                                   │
  │                                                 │
  │   Preview: https://dev--my-docs.syntext.dev    │
  │                                                 │
  │   Watching for changes...                       │
  │                                                 │
  ╰─────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

12:34:56 [syntext] docs/index.mdx changed
12:34:57 [syntext] ✓ Deployed in 1.2s

Performance

Preview deployments are optimized for speed:

Initial deploy: ~2-3 seconds for typical projects
Incremental update: ~1-2 seconds per file change

For large projects (1000+ pages), the first deploy may take a few seconds longer. Subsequent changes are fast due to incremental builds.

Troubleshooting

Not Authenticated

Error: Not authenticated. Run `stx login` first.

Run stx login to authenticate with your Syntext account.

Project Not Found

Error: Project not found. Run `stx init --create` first.

Ensure your syntext.json is linked to a Syntext project.

File Changes Not Detected

If file watching stops working:

Check your file system supports inotify/FSEvents
Restart stx dev

On Linux, you may need to increase the watch limit:

echo fs.inotify.max_user_watches=524288 | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf