What staging is
A staging environment is a full Odoo stack on your VPS with its own Git branch, URL, and database — typically cloned from production and neutralized (mail/cron scrubbed) so you do not email real customers.
You need at least the ADMIN project role.
Prerequisites
- Production is fully provisioned (stack exists on the server).
- Open Connect on production at least once so WayHost can capture the Odoo admin login used for clone/rebuild flows.
- Your GitHub token still has access to the project repo.
Create staging
- Open the project → Branches.
- Use Create staging (sidebar) and give it a name.
- WayHost creates a git branch, provisions a new stack, clones DB/filestore from production, and neutralizes mail-related settings.
Day-to-day
- Push to the staging branch (or Sync branch) to deploy code.
- Rebuild on staging reclones from production and neutralizes again.
- Admins can delete staging when finished.
Development branches
You can also create git-only development branches in the sidebar. Those do not get Connect/URL until you promote them to a staging environment. Merges onto Production/Staging are done from the branch UI (ADMIN+).
Pitfalls
- Staging is not “just a GitHub branch” — it needs a running stack and disk on the VPS.
- Always test restores and risky upgrades on staging before production.