Live updates — edit a page without changing the URL

[kobzevvv]

Problem

You published a report. Shared the link. Then found a typo. Or the data changed. Or the client asked for a revision.

With PDF: re-export, re-upload, re-send, hope everyone opens the new version.
With instant-publish today: deploy again with the same slug — but there's no version history, no way to see what changed.

Solution

First-class support for updating published pages with version tracking.

npx instant-publish deploy report-v2.html --slug quarterly-report --update
# Updated: https://chillai.space/p/quarterly-report (v2, previous version saved)

npx instant-publish history quarterly-report
#   v2  Feb 23, 2026 10:00  (current)
#   v1  Feb 22, 2026 14:30

The URL never changes. Everyone who has the link automatically sees the latest version. Previous versions are kept for reference.

Why this matters

This is the killer advantage over PDF and email attachments:

	PDF	instant-publish
Fix a typo	Re-export, re-send to everyone	deploy --update, everyone sees the fix
Client requests changes	New file, new email thread	Same link, updated content
Version history	"report_v3_FINAL_v2.pdf"	instant-publish history
Recipient action needed	Must re-download	None — just refresh

The link is the single source of truth. Always current, always accessible.

Implementation ideas

• On --update: move current R2 object to pages/{slug}/v{n}.html, upload new as pages/{slug}.html
• KV metadata tracks version array: [{ version: 1, created, size }, ...]
• CLI: instant-publish history <slug> shows all versions
• Optional: instant-publish rollback <slug> restores previous version
• API: POST /api/publish with existing slug + update: true flag