# Preview and interact with a draft

Preview renders the current unsaved definition using the same app component engine. Use it to check layout, bindings, component defaults, theme, and supported local interactions as you edit.

## Open Preview

Choose **Preview** in the builder toolbar to show or hide the panel. The panel can be docked or arranged using its available panel controls. Its open/closed preference is remembered for the particular app; closing one app's preview does not close every app's panel.

In Canvas, switch from **Edit** to **Interact** when you want to use rendered controls in the main surface. Edit mode is for selection and arrangement; Interact and the Preview panel use the rendered draft experience.

## What Preview can show

An unsaved workflow source can read permitted records with the draft's workflow, run, record-type, and step restrictions. This helps you check a binding before saving. The preview uses a bounded record sample, so a visible subset is not evidence that the full result set is that small.

Editing the definition refreshes the rendered preview. Temporary input or selection state can reset when the draft remounts; this is expected during authoring and differs from a saved app's continuous user session.

## What requires the saved app

Preview does not start real backend workflow runs. A trigger action that requires execution cannot validate the complete workflow path from the builder. Uploading, storage writes, document operations, table editing, and review capabilities depend on the host capabilities available to that view; an unavailable control does not prove the app definition is wrong.

Offline package preview likewise uses fixtures and local capabilities, not live connections or real backend execution.

## Read diagnostics

Preview lists error-severity problems that block saving, with the affected definition location and reason. Correct the source reference, value type, binding, or structural rule named by the diagnostic. An empty table alone is less informative than its source's loading/error state.

After the draft passes checks, Save, return to Overview, and run the intended user task in the real app. Verify permissions and the recipient experience separately when sharing it.

See [Saving](/docs/builder/saving-and-conflicts), [Workflow sources](/docs/builder/workflow-sources), and [Events](/docs/builder/events-and-actions).