# Testing & Previewing

Learn how to test and preview your themes during development.

## Local development (recommended)

The recommended way to develop and preview Liquid themes locally is the [Theme Development Kit](/apis-and-tools/theme-dev/overview). It runs a local server that renders your theme with real store data and supports hot reload, so you can edit templates, assets, and config and see changes immediately without deploying.

1. [Install the Theme Development Kit](/apis-and-tools/theme-dev/installation).
2. Follow [Getting started](/apis-and-tools/theme-dev/getting-started) to authenticate and run `finqu-theme-dev serve` (or use [finqu theme dev](/apis-and-tools/cli/theme#finqu-theme-dev) from the CLI).
3. Open the local URL in your browser and iterate on your theme; the kit uses live data from your Finqu store.

Using the kit gives you a production-like preview, full Liquid and asset support, and avoids repeated uploads during development. When you're ready, deploy your theme with the CLI (`finqu theme deploy`) or through the Finqu admin.

## Preview mode

How to use the platform's preview functionality in the Finqu admin.

## Testing tools

Tools and utilities to help test your themes.

## Testing strategies

Recommended approaches for thorough theme testing.

## Common issues

Frequently encountered problems and their solutions.