---
title: "Academy Article"
canonical_url: "https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/understanding-main-dev-and-stage-environments"
locale: en
meta:
"og:title": "Academy Article"
---
[Go to home](https://academy.laioutr.com/en)
- [Hosting and operations](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/bereiche/hosting-and-operations)
- [Deployment](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/leitfaeden/deployment)
- [Understanding the main, dev and stage environments](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/understanding-main-dev-and-stage-environments)
# Understanding the main, dev and stage environments
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.
## Before you start
- Plan
- Any plan; the number of environments per project depends on the plan
- Role
- Organisation role allowed to create and copy environments
- Duration
- 5 min
### Prerequisites
- A project created in Cockpit
Last reviewed on October 15, 2026
An **environment** is a self-contained copy of a project. **main** is production and therefore the live storefront. A **stage** is used to rehearse a release, a **dev** to try things out. The plan sets how many environments a project can have, and main counts towards that number.
### What each environment owns
- Address, pages and sections
- Markets, languages and redirects
- Apps at their own versions, app settings and the platform version
- Deployments with their own history and build logs
CMS entries, media, the project secret key and the content preview token belong to the project instead and are the same in every environment.
A new environment takes over the app settings of its source, including the connection to the shop. Orders, carts or customer accounts created there reach the connected shop. Search engines do not index any environment other than main. Changes reach a storefront only with the next deployment of that environment.
## Step by step
1. 1 ### Step 1: Create a stage Under **Environments**, click **Create environment**, enter a name and choose main as the source. The name becomes part of the address and stays there even after a rename.
2. 2 ### Step 2: Work and check in stage Change pages, apps or versions in stage, select **Deploy** on the environment card and check the storefront via **Open**.
3. 3 ### Step 3: Promote to main In main, select **Copy into this environment**, pick stage as the source and choose what travels. For production, Cockpit asks for the project name as confirmation; then deploy main.
## Frequently asked questions
Does a stage use the live shop?
Yes. A new environment takes over the source's app settings, including the shop connection. Test orders, carts and customer accounts from stage reach the connected shop. The environment page shows a warning for as long as the settings are identical.
Can a promotion be undone?
Every copy writes a restore point first. Under **History**, **Undo** restores the pages and sections. Markets, languages, redirects and versions stay as the copy left them.
Why does a dev environment load slowly on the first request?
Environments other than main sleep after five minutes without a request. The next request starts them again, which takes about four seconds.
Can an environment be renamed?
Yes, via **Appearance**. The address stays unchanged. main cannot be renamed, because a deployment uses the name to know it is building the live site.
## Related
- [Create projects and dev and stage environments](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/create-projects-and-dev-and-stage-environments)6 min
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.
- [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.
- [Compare and roll back deployments](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/compare-and-roll-back-deployments)5 min
Every deployment has its own address, so two versions can be compared side by side. A rollback puts an already built earlier production deployment live again within seconds, without a new build.
- [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.
- [Preview and publish changes in Studio](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/preview-and-publish-changes-in-studio)5 min
Studio saves changes as a draft and shows them instantly in the live preview. Publish in the top bar takes the saved state to the storefront through a deployment of the environment.
## Learn it in a lesson
- [Organisation, project and environments](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/lektionen/foundations-organisation-project-environments)10 min
- [Environments and deployment](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/lektionen/developer-environments-and-deployment)12 min
- [Environments: main, dev and stage](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/lektionen/go-live-environments-main-dev-stage)6 min
## [Deployment](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/leitfaeden/deployment)
Search this guide
1. [Understanding the main, dev and stage environments](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/understanding-main-dev-and-stage-environments)5 min
2. [Start and check a deployment](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/start-and-check-a-deployment)5 min
3. [Compare and roll back deployments](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/compare-and-roll-back-deployments)5 min
4. [Read storefront logs](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/read-storefront-logs)6 min
5. [Bring Your Own Server: host the storefront in-house](https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/bring-your-own-server-host-the-storefront-in-house)7 min In preparation
## Structured Data
```json
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@graph": [
{
"@id": "https://academy.laioutr.com/#website",
"@type": "WebSite",
"inLanguage": "en",
"name": "Default",
"url": "https://academy.laioutr.com/",
"translationOfWork": {
"@id": "https://academy.laioutr.com/#website"
}
},
{
"@id": "https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/understanding-main-dev-and-stage-environments#webpage",
"name": "Academy Article",
"url": "https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/understanding-main-dev-and-stage-environments",
"@type": [
"WebPage",
"FAQPage"
],
"breadcrumb": {
"@id": "https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/understanding-main-dev-and-stage-environments#breadcrumb"
},
"isPartOf": {
"@id": "https://academy.laioutr.com/#website"
},
"mainEntity": [
{
"@id": "https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/understanding-main-dev-and-stage-environments#/schema/question/1"
},
{
"@id": "https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/understanding-main-dev-and-stage-environments#/schema/question/2"
},
{
"@id": "https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/understanding-main-dev-and-stage-environments#/schema/question/3"
},
{
"@id": "https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/understanding-main-dev-and-stage-environments#/schema/question/4"
}
],
"potentialAction": [
{
"@type": "ReadAction",
"target": [
"https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/understanding-main-dev-and-stage-environments"
]
}
]
},
{
"@id": "https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/understanding-main-dev-and-stage-environments#breadcrumb",
"@type": "BreadcrumbList",
"itemListElement": [
{
"@type": "ListItem",
"name": "Home",
"item": "https://academy.laioutr.com/en",
"position": 1
},
{
"@type": "ListItem",
"name": "Hosting and operations",
"item": "https://academy.laioutr.com/en/bereiche/hosting-and-operations",
"position": 2
},
{
"@type": "ListItem",
"name": "Deployment",
"item": "https://academy.laioutr.com/en/leitfaeden/deployment",
"position": 3
},
{
"@type": "ListItem",
"name": "Understanding the main, dev and stage environments",
"item": "https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/understanding-main-dev-and-stage-environments",
"position": 4
}
]
},
{
"@id": "https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/understanding-main-dev-and-stage-environments#/schema/question/1",
"@type": "Question",
"inLanguage": "en",
"name": "Does a stage use the live shop?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Yes. A new environment takes over the source's app settings, including the shop connection. Test orders, carts and customer accounts from stage reach the connected shop. The environment page shows a warning for as long as the settings are identical.
"
}
},
{
"@id": "https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/understanding-main-dev-and-stage-environments#/schema/question/2",
"@type": "Question",
"inLanguage": "en",
"name": "Can a promotion be undone?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Every copy writes a restore point first. Under History, Undo restores the pages and sections. Markets, languages, redirects and versions stay as the copy left them.
"
}
},
{
"@id": "https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/understanding-main-dev-and-stage-environments#/schema/question/3",
"@type": "Question",
"inLanguage": "en",
"name": "Why does a dev environment load slowly on the first request?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Environments other than main sleep after five minutes without a request. The next request starts them again, which takes about four seconds.
"
}
},
{
"@id": "https://academy.laioutr.com/en/artikel/understanding-main-dev-and-stage-environments#/schema/question/4",
"@type": "Question",
"inLanguage": "en",
"name": "Can an environment be renamed?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Yes, via Appearance. The address stays unchanged. main cannot be renamed, because a deployment uses the name to know it is building the live site.
"
}
}
]
}
```