GitPeeks

Product Introduction

1. GitPeeks is a platform that automates the creation of preview environments for web applications, enabling real-time collaboration across development teams. It integrates directly with Git repositories to generate isolated, shareable previews for every code change, including pull requests, branches, and tags. The platform supports both managed cloud hosting and self-hosted deployments, ensuring flexibility for diverse infrastructure needs.
2. The core value of GitPeeks lies in accelerating feedback loops and reducing manual DevOps work during the development lifecycle. By automating preview environment provisioning, it allows developers, designers, and QA teams to test and review changes in realistic, isolated environments without disrupting production systems. This ensures faster iteration and higher confidence in code quality before deployment.

Main Features

1. GitPeeks automatically generates ephemeral preview environments for every Git event, such as pull requests, branches, or tags, using Docker containers. Each environment is provisioned with HTTPS support, subdomain isolation, and configurable runtime settings defined in a .gitpeeks/config.yml file. Previews are linked directly to Git workflows, appearing as status checks or comments in pull requests.
2. The platform integrates seamlessly with GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket, synchronizing preview environments with repository events. It supports custom configurations for web servers, worker processes, databases (e.g., PostgreSQL), and volumes, enabling full-stack testing. Previews remain active until the associated Git event is closed or merged, after which they are automatically torn down.
3. Collaboration tools within GitPeeks allow stakeholders to view previews, leave contextual feedback, and track design or functional changes without requiring local setups. Comments and annotations are tied to specific preview URLs, streamlining communication between developers, designers, and non-technical teams.

Problems Solved

1. GitPeeks eliminates the manual effort of setting up and managing temporary environments for code reviews, which often delays feedback and introduces configuration drift. Traditional workflows require developers to share local builds or maintain staging servers, leading to bottlenecks and inconsistent testing conditions.
2. The product targets software development teams, including frontend/backend developers, QA engineers, and product managers, who need to validate changes in realistic environments. It is particularly useful for distributed teams requiring asynchronous collaboration on feature branches or bug fixes.
3. Typical use cases include testing UI/UX changes in isolation, validating database migrations, and debugging cross-service interactions in microservices architectures. For example, a designer can review a pull request’s preview to verify CSS adjustments, while a backend developer tests API endpoints against a temporary PostgreSQL instance.

Unique Advantages

1. Unlike static staging environments, GitPeeks creates dynamic, per-feature previews that mirror production settings, including dependencies like databases and message queues. Competitors often lack support for multi-service configurations or require complex CI/CD pipelines to achieve similar results.
2. The platform’s declarative configuration model (via YAML) allows teams to define infrastructure-as-code without DevOps expertise. Unique features include subdomain isolation for security, automatic HTTPS provisioning, and integration with third-party secrets management tools.
3. GitPeeks differentiates itself through its self-hosted option, which provides full control over infrastructure while retaining managed service benefits. Competitors typically lock users into proprietary cloud hosting, limiting customization for compliance or performance needs.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What Git providers do you support? GitPeeks supports GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket, with automatic preview creation for pull requests, merge requests, and branches. Custom Git providers are not natively supported but can be discussed via email for enterprise plans.
2. What languages and frameworks are compatible? GitPeeks works with any web application that runs in a Docker container, including Node.js, Python, Ruby on Rails, and Java. The platform does not enforce language-specific restrictions, as long as the application adheres to Docker best practices.
3. Can we self-host GitPeeks? Yes, GitPeeks offers a self-hosted plan where users deploy the platform on their own servers. While this requires manual setup for networking and storage, the team provides configuration guides and support to simplify the process.