$ account fwouts
Preview.js is a developer tool for live component previews integrated into IDEs (VS Code, IntelliJ) and available as a CLI. It analyzes source code to detect UI components and Storybook stories, extracts their props via a custom TypeScript type analyzer, and renders them in an isolated iframe powered by Vite with Hot Module Replacement. The system consists of a core server library (`@previewjs/core`), framework-specific plugins (React, Preact, Solid, Svelte, Vue 2/3), a virtual file system abstraction, and a type analysis engine. It targets frontend developers who want instant visual feedback on component changes without leaving their editor. The project is explicitly **no longer maintained** per the README, and the codebase shows signs of technical drift with outdated test apps and potential dependency stagnation. Despite its abandonment, the architecture is well-structured: a monorepo with clear separation of concerns (loader/worker pattern for isolate Vite servers, iframe controller, screenshot generator, serializable value handling). The type analyzer and virtual filesystem are reusable components that demonstrate non-obvious skill with TypeScript compiler API and abstract file access patterns.