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[Go to home](https://academy.laioutr.com/en)
- [Cockpit](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/bereiche/cockpit)
- [Organisation and account](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/leitfaeden/organisation-and-account)
- [Create projects and dev and stage environments](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/create-projects-and-dev-and-stage-environments)
# Create projects and dev and stage environments
A project is created in the organisation settings under Projects and starts with the live environment main. Further environments such as stage or dev are created in the project under Environments as a copy of an existing one.
## Before you start
- Plan
- All plans; number of environments depends on the plan
- Role
- Project Manager or higher
- Duration
- 6 min
### Prerequisites
- Organisation in Cockpit
- For environments: an existing project
Last reviewed on October 15, 2026
A **project** stands for one storefront or website, for example a brand or a shop. It lives in an organisation and has its own pages, markets, apps and deployments.
Every project starts with the **main** environment, the live site. Copies can run beside it: **stage** to rehearse a release, or **dev** to try something out. A new environment takes over the source's content, markets, languages, redirects, apps and app settings and then runs on its own, with its own address, platform version and deployments.
CMS entries, media, the project secret key and the preview token belong to the project and are shared by all environments.
**Important:** a new environment also copies the shop connection. Orders, customers and carts created there reach the live shop. Search engines only index production.
The plan decides how many environments a project may have. The overview shows how many are in use.
## Step by step
1. 1 ### Step 1: Create a project
In the organisation settings, open the **Projects** tab, click **Create project** and follow the flow.
2. 2 ### Step 2: Open environments
Open the project and choose **Environments** in the sidebar. Each environment appears as a card.
3. 3 ### Step 3: Create an environment
Click **Add an environment**, enter a **name** such as stage and choose which environment to copy from.
4. 4 ### Step 4: Check the shop connection warning
Read the warning on the environment page. As long as the apps are configured like production, tests write into the live shop.
5. 5 ### Step 5: Set a colour
Choose a colour under **Appearance**. It tints Cockpit for this environment so a copy never looks like the live site.
6. 6 ### Step 6: Deploy and open
Click **Deploy** on the card to build the environment, then use **Open** to visit its storefront.
## Check the result
The new environment appears as a card with its own address. In Studio, the top bar shows which environment is being edited; the live one is marked distinctly. After deployment, the storefront answers at the environment's address.
## Frequently asked questions
How many environments are possible?
The plan decides, production included. The overview shows how many are in use. More environments require a different plan.
Does a test environment write into the live shop?
Yes. The environment copies the source's app settings, including the shop connection. Orders and customer data from the environment reach the live shop.
Can an environment be renamed?
Yes, under Appearance. The address stays the one assigned at creation. Production can neither be renamed nor deleted on its own.
## Related
- [Understanding the main, dev and stage environments](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/understanding-main-dev-and-stage-environments)5 min
Every project starts with the main environment, which is the live storefront. Further environments such as stage or dev run beside it as separate copies with their own address, pages, apps and deployments until their work is promoted to main.
- [Start and check a deployment](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/start-and-check-a-deployment)5 min
A deployment rebuilds the storefront of an environment and puts changes to apps, versions and configuration live. It is started in Cockpit under Deployments with Deploy; the status and build log show whether it worked.
- [Give access to a single project or environment](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/give-access-to-one-project-or-environment)5 min
A role can be granted on a single project or a single environment instead of the whole organisation. The member then sees and reaches only that project or environment: project list, environment switcher, Studio and deployments.
- [Create the first project](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/create-the-first-project)5 min
In the organisation settings, use Create project in the Projects tab, choose a starting point and open the project; markets, apps and Studio follow.
- [Set up markets, currencies and domains](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/set-up-markets-currencies-and-domains)7 min
A market bundles name, currency, flag and the domains visitors use to reach a storefront. Markets are created in the project under Markets, and each domain gets a language from Translations.
## Learn it in a lesson
- [Organisation, project and environments](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/lektionen/foundations-organisation-project-environments)10 min
- [Environments: main, dev and stage](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/lektionen/go-live-environments-main-dev-stage)6 min
## [Organisation and account](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/leitfaeden/organisation-and-account)
Search this guide
1. [Manage an organisation in Cockpit](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/manage-an-organisation-in-cockpit)5 min
2. [Account settings: profile, language and security](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/account-settings-profile-language-security)4 min
3. [Set up notifications](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/set-up-notifications)3 min
4. [Create projects and dev and stage environments](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/create-projects-and-dev-and-stage-environments)6 min
5. [Set up markets, currencies and domains](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/set-up-markets-currencies-and-domains)7 min
6. [Import and export translations](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/import-and-export-translations)6 min
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