Walrus Sites Preview

Preview Walrus Sites already deployed on testnet or mainnet through a familiar npm → localhost workflow.

Walrus Sites Preview is a small CLI for opening a current deployment locally during design review, QA, planning review, or stakeholder feedback. It is meant to sit alongside existing Walrus portal and deployment workflows, not replace them.

A developer can share one command, and teammates can review the deployed site on localhost using the same kind of browser workflow they use for regular web projects.

Demo Video

A short demo showing how to preview a deployed Walrus Site locally:

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c28c033a-92c5-4ee9-82e0-1406319842c7

Quickstart (one-liner)

Preview a deployed Walrus Site in a single command:

npx @zktx.io/walrus-sites-preview -testnet -id 0xYOUR_SITE_OBJECT_ID

Then open:

http://localhost:3000

You can also add --open to open the browser automatically:

npx @zktx.io/walrus-sites-preview -testnet -id 0xYOUR_SITE_OBJECT_ID --open

Why this exists

Walrus portals remain the right place for production access, integration testing, and portal-specific behavior. This CLI covers a narrower case: quickly checking an already deployed site during an internal review cycle.

In that situation, teams often need a simple browser URL for the current deployment while keeping the existing deployment pipeline unchanged. Provide a site object ID, and this CLI fetches the resources and serves a local preview.

The goal is to make review handoff simpler while preserving the established Walrus workflow.

What it does

• Loads a Walrus Site using a site object ID
• Fetches resources via Sui RPC and the Walrus aggregator
• Serves the site locally (for example, http://localhost:3000)
• Provides a local review path that can sit alongside portal-based workflows
• Supports preview, debugging, QA, and review workflows

This is not a production hosting solution and does not replace Walrus portals.

Who this is for

• Developers who want a quick local preview of an already deployed Walrus Site
• Web designers reviewing visual changes from a testnet deployment
• Planners, PMs, and QA reviewers checking an in-progress site before release
• Teams that want a lightweight local review command for deployed Walrus Sites

For many internal review sessions, a reviewer can start with the command and the site object ID. Wallets and deployment keys are not part of the preview flow.

Requirements

• Node.js 18 or later

Install

npm i -D @zktx.io/walrus-sites-preview

Note: This package is published as a scoped npm package: @zktx.io/walrus-sites-preview

Quick Start (npm scripts)

Add an npm script to your project so teammates can run a familiar command:

{
	"scripts": {
		"preview:testnet": "preview -testnet -id 0xYOUR_SITE_OBJECT_ID -port 3000",
		"preview:mainnet": "preview -mainnet -id 0xYOUR_SITE_OBJECT_ID -port 3000"
	}
}

Run:

npm run preview:testnet

Then open:

http://localhost:3000

You can inspect the resolved configuration at:

http://localhost:3000/__config

How to get a Site Object ID

walrus-sites-preview requires a Walrus Site Object ID.

When a site is deployed to Walrus Sites — whether via the official site-builder CLI or a CI workflow — the Site Object ID is printed in the deployment output.

Look for a line similar to:

Site object ID: 0x...

or:

"site_obj_id": "0x..."

Copy this value and pass it to the preview command.

For detailed deployment guides, see:

• Publishing a Walrus Site (official docs): https://docs.wal.app/docs/sites/getting-started/publishing-your-first-site
• Deploying via GitHub Actions (walrus-sites-provenance): https://github.com/marketplace/actions/walrus-sites-provenance

This tool does not deploy or update sites. It only previews already deployed Walrus Sites.

Configuration

You may optionally create a config.json next to your package.json.

CLI flags always override file-based configuration.

When using -testnet or -mainnet, the following values are filled automatically:

• rpcUrlList
• aggregatorUrl
• sitePackage

Supported fields

• siteObjectId (required)
• rpcUrlList (required unless using -testnet / -mainnet)
• aggregatorUrl (required unless using -testnet / -mainnet)
• sitePackage (required unless using -testnet / -mainnet)
• network (optional, informational)
• host, port (via CLI flags)

Example

{
	"network": "testnet",
	"rpcUrlList": ["https://fullnode.testnet.sui.io"],
	"aggregatorUrl": "https://aggregator.walrus-testnet.walrus.space",
	"sitePackage": "0x...",
	"siteObjectId": "0x..."
}

Passing arguments dynamically

Install the package:

npm i -D @zktx.io/walrus-sites-preview

Add a pass-through script:

{
	"scripts": {
		"preview": "preview"
	}
}

Then run:

npm run preview -- -testnet -id 0xYOUR_SITE_OBJECT_ID -port 3000

Source attribution

This package vendors and adapts parts of the Walrus Sites portal source code.

The vendored portal worker code is currently aligned with the upstream portal/worker package version 2.9.0.

Origin of the bundled dist assets (portal build):

• Source repository: https://github.com/MystenLabs/walrus-sites/tree/main/portal
• portal/worker → ./portal-worker
• portal/common → ./portal-common
• Included sources:
  • ./portal-worker/src (service worker TypeScript)
  • ./portal-worker/static (static assets)

License

MIT