Adds link to beta docs

[bmuenzenmeyer]

Description

Good feedback within nodejs/node#62045 has mentioned that despite social media posts and github issues, most users may have not yet seen the beta docs. To expand an ever-increasing feedback gathering campaign, I think we should publicize the beta docs on par with the official docs.

Unsure if this has been proposed before - apologies if I missed it.

Large Light/Dark

Mobile

Validation

• View docs next to current.
• Should open in new tab

Related Issues

nodejs/node#62045

Check List

• I have read the Contributing Guidelines and made commit messages that follow the guideline.
• I have run pnpm format to ensure the code follows the style guide.
• I have run pnpm test to check if all tests are passing.
• I have run pnpm build to check if the website builds without errors.
• I've covered new added functionality with unit tests if necessary.

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Project	Deployment	Actions	Updated (UTC)
nodejs-org	Ready	Preview	Jul 5, 2026 2:11am

[cursor]

PR Summary

Low Risk
Navigation and presentation-only changes with no auth, data, or security impact.

Overview
Adds a Beta Docs item to the main navbar (next to official Docs), linking to https://beta.docs.nodejs.org/ in a new tab to surface the beta documentation site.

Introduces an optional accent flag on nav entries and wires it through site navigation → NavBar → NavItem, with new light/dark brand highlight styles so the Beta Docs link stands out. English copy "Beta Docs" is added; e2e locale checks skip this link when verifying translated nav labels because it stays English on non-English locales.

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[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
✅ Project coverage is 75.43%. Comparing base (a5b11b7) to head (9ce9781).
✅ All tests successful. No failed tests found.

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##             main    #8998      +/-   ##
==========================================
+ Coverage   75.39%   75.43%   +0.04%     
==========================================
  Files          98       98              
  Lines        8636     8642       +6     
  Branches      318      318              
==========================================
+ Hits         6511     6519       +8     
+ Misses       2121     2119       -2     
  Partials        4        4              

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[bmuenzenmeyer]

if we dont like the accent approach and how much it drills through the schema and makes file changes - we could try to key the styling entirely off of the URL value - which would be less intrusive long-term, but sorta brittle

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Adds a new “Beta Docs” entry to the site’s top navigation and introduces an “accent” styling option so the beta docs link can be visually highlighted alongside existing nav items.

Changes:

• Add a new betaDocs navigation entry (label + URL + _blank target) and wire it through the site navigation mapping/types.
• Add an accent boolean prop to NavItem/NavBar and implement the corresponding CSS module styling.
• Update Storybook to showcase the new “Beta Docs” nav item.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
packages/ui-components/src/Containers/NavBar/NavItem/index.tsx	Adds accent prop support when rendering nav links.
packages/ui-components/src/Containers/NavBar/NavItem/index.module.css	Introduces the .accent visual style for highlighted nav items.
packages/ui-components/src/Containers/NavBar/index.tsx	Threads accent through NavBar → NavItem rendering.
packages/ui-components/src/Containers/NavBar/index.stories.tsx	Demonstrates the new “Beta Docs” item and accent styling in Storybook.
packages/i18n/src/locales/en.json	Adds the betaDocs navbar link label for English.
apps/site/types/navigation.ts	Extends navigation types to include betaDocs and optional accent.
apps/site/navigation.json	Adds the betaDocs top navigation entry (external link, _blank, accented).
apps/site/hooks/useSiteNavigation.ts	Maps the new accent field through the navigation hook.
apps/site/components/withNavBar.tsx	Passes accent through when constructing NavBar items.

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[bmuenzenmeyer]

both AI bots are too ill-informed to know how we translate based on en.json only - i'd be game to turn off cursor entirely

[bmuenzenmeyer]

lol those functional tests are really banking on this being up to date in crowdin. brittle

[cursor]

Cursor Bugbot has reviewed your changes using default effort and found 1 potential issue.

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[AugustinMauroy]

okay 2l point:

• we should add small blog post to say "hey we are working on this ... it's beta so link will disapear"
• on the beta doc we didn't say where to report issue

So in overall I think most user will not get what happened

[AugustinMauroy]

about accent I found that cool but with current style it's confusing with active

so In my opinion we play with an hover effect

[AugustinMauroy]

we should add small transition because now on hover it's pass from something transparent to solid instantly

[avivkeller]

I'm not sure how i feel about this. The beta docs aren't 1:1 with the new docs, and only serve as a visual preview of the latest main changes from node, and this gives the impression that they are 1:1, no?

[araujogui]

maybe should we start with a announcement banner only first?

[bjohansebas]

I'm not sure how i feel about this. The beta docs aren't 1:1 with the new docs, and only serve as a visual preview of the latest main changes from node, and this gives the impression that they are 1:1, no?

At the very least, it should be updated to the latest version, which is Node.js 26, right? The preview is still on Node.js 24.

maybe should we start with a announcement banner only first?

I think that's the best approach for now

[avivkeller]

At the very least, it should be updated to the latest version, which is Node.js 26, right? The preview is still on Node.js 24.

The preview is purely visual (at the moment), and isn't populated with the correct data, for example, it's generated with the doc files of the main branch of nodejs/node, but claims it was generated for Node.js v24.x, since we set the version value as the latest LTS.

At the very least, the beta docs should be updated to generate with the latest tag on the nodejs/node repo, and correctly use that tag name (e.g. v26.0.0) as the version, rather than using process.version.

That being said, none of this is an 'issue' with doc-kit, it's just that our preview was set up in a way to showcase the visuals, and not in a way to make them accurate to readers.

[bmuenzenmeyer]

all good points - i am trying to nudge us toward more exposure here. it helps us get more feedback from those not following along. i think its the right pathway, after 2+years

• resolve beta.docs.nodejs.org deployment
• iterate on nav design vs banner
• banner? it cannot happen before render (that one is active). i want something in place prior to that
• blog post
  • publicize feedback mechanisms

The preview is purely visual

I'd disagree - the design is the user experience