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devalog merged 3 commits into from
Mar 19, 2026
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docs: document --force flag #4382

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2fc1837
document --force
devalog Mar 19, 2026
e64766b
move to callout
devalog Mar 19, 2026
3663515
update image
devalog Mar 19, 2026
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10 changes: 9 additions & 1 deletion fern/products/cli-api-reference/pages/commands.mdx
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Expand Up @@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ hideOnThisPage: true

<CodeBlock title="terminal">
```bash
fern generate --docs [instance <instance-url>] [--preview] [--id <name>]
fern generate --docs [instance <instance-url>] [--preview] [--id <name>] [--force]
```
</CodeBlock>

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -391,6 +391,14 @@ hideOnThisPage: true

This is useful in CI workflows where you want one preview URL per pull request. See [Preview changes](/learn/docs/preview-publish/preview-changes#preview-links) for details.

### force

When reusing an `--id` that already exists, Fern prompts you to confirm the overwrite. Use `--force` to skip the confirmation. This is detected automatically in GitHub Actions, but is needed for other CI environments like Azure Pipelines.

```bash
fern generate --docs --preview --id my-feature --force
```

</Accordion>

<Accordion title="fern docs preview list">
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Binary file modified fern/products/docs/pages/getting-started/images/markdown-links-preview.png
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9 changes: 8 additions & 1 deletion fern/products/docs/pages/getting-started/preview-changes-locally.mdx
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Expand Up @@ -58,6 +58,13 @@ fern generate --docs --preview --id my-feature
# With --id my-feature (stable URL)
[docs]: Published docs to https://fern-preview-my-feature.docs.buildwithfern.com/learn
```
<Info>
When a preview with the same `--id` already exists, Fern prompts you to confirm the overwrite. This is skipped automatically in GitHub Actions, but for other CI environments (e.g., Azure Pipelines), use `--force` to skip the confirmation.

```bash
fern generate --docs --preview --id my-feature --force
```
</Info>

You can [delete a preview deployment](/learn/cli-api-reference/cli-reference/commands#fern-docs-preview-delete) when it's no longer needed:

Expand All @@ -72,7 +79,7 @@ You can use a GitHub Actions workflow to automatically generate a preview URL wh
<Frame>
<img
src="./images/markdown-links-preview.png"
alt="GitHub Actions bot comment on a pull request showing a preview URL and direct links to changed documentation pages"
alt="GitHub Actions bot comment on a pull request showing a named preview URL and direct links to changed documentation pages"
/>
</Frame>

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