In This Article

Developer Tools

Wix provides different coding environments, management consoles, testing options, and supporting tools depending on what you're building.

Coding environments

Each development path comes with a primary coding environment suited to how you build and deploy code.

Project type	Coding environment
Editor and Studio sites	Built-in code editor or local IDE with the CLI for Sites
Wix-managed apps	Local IDE with the Wix CLI
Self-managed apps	Your own tooling
Wix-managed headless	Local IDE with the Wix CLI
Self-managed headless	Your own tooling
Blocks apps	Blocks editor

The Wix CLI

The Wix CLI is the command-line tool for Wix-managed apps and headless projects. It scaffolds new projects, generates extensions, runs a local dev server, and deploys code to Wix's cloud.

wix dev starts a local development environment with hot reloading. For apps, it installs your app on a development site and opens it in the browser. For headless projects, it starts a local Astro-based server with a link to your project's dashboard. The CLI uses a project structure built on Astro, TypeScript, React, and Node.js. The Wix Astro integration handles authentication and extension registration, so you can call JavaScript SDK methods without manually setting up a client or managing tokens.

The current Wix CLI replaces the legacy CLI for Apps. Existing legacy projects still work, but new apps should use the current CLI.

For the full command reference, see Wix CLI Command Reference.

Built-in code editor

A browser-based editor that runs alongside Wix's visual site editor, available on Editor and Studio sites. Code runs directly in the context of your site, with access to the full Wix JavaScript SDK.

Local IDE with CLI for Sites

For Editor and Studio sites, you can connect your own IDE through Git integration and the CLI for Sites. Your code lives in a GitHub repo, giving you version control, branching, and team collaboration. wix dev opens a Local Editor in the browser that syncs with your local changes in real time.

The CLI for Sites is a different tool from the Wix CLI used for apps and headless projects.

Blocks editor

A browser-based editor for building Blocks apps. The canvas lets you design widget layouts, configure properties and events, and write backend code. The Blocks editor is also where you preview, test, and release app versions. The Wix IDE can be used for writing code, but preview, testing, and releasing must be done in the Blocks editor.

Management dashboards

Wix provides two management consoles for different aspects of your work.

Project type	Management dashboard
Editor and Studio sites	Site Dashboard
Wix-managed apps	App Dashboard
Self-managed apps	App Dashboard
Wix-managed headless	Site Dashboard
Self-managed headless	Site Dashboard
Blocks apps	App Dashboard

App Dashboard

The App Dashboard is the management console for Wix apps. You register apps here, configure extensions, set up OAuth and permissions, and handle launch tasks like pricing, market listing, translations, and analytics.

How much you rely on the App Dashboard depends on your framework. Self-managed apps use it most: you register extensions and configure integrations here by pointing to your own hosted assets. With the Wix CLI, most of that setup happens in code, so you mainly use the App Dashboard for launch and management tasks.

Site Dashboard

The Site Dashboard is the admin console for managing a Wix site's business data and settings. It covers content (products, bookings, members), installed apps, and site configuration. Headless developers use it to manage the business data layer even when the frontend is fully custom. For site and headless developers, it also includes a Developer Tools section with tools for logging, monitoring, and debugging.

Testing and previewing

How you test and preview your work depends on your development path:

Editor/Studio sites (built-in code editor)
- Preview mode: runs the site as a visitor would
- Test sites: a separate published copy that doesn't affect your live site
- Functional testing: invoke backend functions directly from the code editor
Editor/Studio sites (local IDE + CLI for Sites)
- wix dev: opens the Local Editor with real-time sync from your local IDE
- wix preview: generates a shareable preview URL from a published branch
Wix-managed apps
- wix dev: installs your app on a dev site with hot reloading
- wix preview: shareable preview URL after wix build
- Unit tests via Vitest
Self-managed apps
- App Dashboard "Test App": installs the app on a dev site or shares a test link with collaborators
- ngrok for testing webhook handlers locally before deploying
Wix-managed headless
- wix dev: starts a local server (port 4321) with hot reloading
- wix preview: shareable preview URLs for both site and dashboard
- Unit tests via Vitest
Self-managed headless
- Your own local dev tooling
- npx wix preview if the project is connected via wix init
Blocks apps
- In-Blocks Preview: check layout, theme connections, and Widget API properties
- Test in editor: installs the app on a dev site for full testing including custom panels and business solution APIs

Two things apply across paths: development and test sites are separate from your production site, so nothing you do there affects live users. Some functionality (backend events, scheduled jobs) only runs on a published site and won't fire in preview modes.

Supporting tools

These tools are available across development paths to complement your primary environment.

AI assistance: The Wix MCP integrates with AI coding agents. Wix Skills are available in CLI projects. See AI on the Wix Platform for details.
Monitoring: Track backend code in production with Wix Logs and the monitoring dashboard.
Package management: Install and use npm packages in your Wix projects.

For platform capabilities like the CMS, Secrets Manager, Media Manager, and Automations, see Site Features and Tools.