# Dev → Live: Pushing & Pulling Updates

> Build safely in a dev app, push changes to your live app, and connect a custom domain.

Source: https://llamapress.ai/wiki/pushing-and-pulling-updates | Updated: 2026-07-31

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Build safely, then ship to your users — without breaking what's live.

Once real users depend on your app, you don't want to experiment directly on the version they're using. The answer is a **two-app setup**: a **development site** where you build and test, and a **live site** where your users live. When a change is ready, you push it from dev to live.

Prerequisites

- You must be **signed in to your GitHub account** and have your GitHub username configured with us.
- A **GitHub repository** must already be set up for your app.

Not there yet? See [Getting Your Source Code](https://llamapress.ai/wiki/getting-your-source-code) to connect your GitHub account and set up a repository.

The two-app (dev + live) setup is included on the **Business** plan. See [Plans & Pricing](https://llamapress.ai/wiki/plans-and-pricing). On other plans you can still keep your own copies via [GitHub](https://llamapress.ai/wiki/getting-your-source-code) — reach out and we'll help you set up the right flow.

## The idea

- **Development site** — your safe sandbox. Build features, try ideas, let Leo make big changes. If something breaks here, your users never see it.
- **Live site** — the stable version your users are on. It only changes when *you* decide to push an update to it.

## The flow

1. **Build & test in dev.** Make your changes with Leo in the development workspace and confirm everything works.
2. **Save a checkpoint.** In the History panel (clock icon), save your work and push it to GitHub (the cloud button). This is the "source of truth" for the update. See [Saving Your Work](https://llamapress.ai/wiki/sleeping-waking-and-saving-your-work).
3. **Push to live.** Promote the tested changes to your live site so your users get the update. We help coordinate this step — just let us know when a change is ready to go live.

**Keep dev and live in sync.** Always make changes in *dev* and flow them toward live — not the other way around. Editing the live app directly can cause the two to drift apart and make the next update messy. If you're unsure where a change should happen, ask us.

## Custom domains

Want your live app on your own web address (like `app.yourcompany.com`) instead of a `llamapress.ai` URL? We can point a custom domain at your live site. Email [support@llamapress.ai](mailto:support@llamapress.ai) with the domain you own and we'll walk you through the DNS step.

We can also **rename your app's URL** to something tidier (this involves a short migration, so the app may be briefly unavailable while it switches), or set you up on a **dedicated server** as you scale.

Related: [You Own Your App](https://llamapress.ai/wiki/you-own-your-app) (export, self-host) and [Getting Your Source Code](https://llamapress.ai/wiki/getting-your-source-code).