[Bug]: Datasource Environment Selector Not Appearing in Deployed Version of App

[dzelemba]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues

Description

According to the docs -- https://docs.appsmith.com/connect-data/how-to-guides/setup-datasource-environments#switch-environments :

In addition, users with the necessary permissions can also switch to the Staging environment configuration when accessing the app in View mode. For more information on permissions, you can refer to the [Granular Access Control](https://docs.appsmith.com/advanced-concepts/granular-access-control).

However, I don't see any selector in the View mode for switching environments. I'm assuming that since I can Edit the app I should have the permissions to switch datasources.

Steps To Reproduce

1. Open any app that has multiple enviornments configured
2. Open that app in view mode
3. There is no selector to switch environments

Public Sample App

No response

Environment

Production

Issue video log

https://www.loom.com/share/89371ffff6de43859e4e0829a99f808d

Version

Self Hosted -- Appsmith v1.10

[riteshkew]

@dzelemba Thank you for raising this. Seems like a bug that was introduced with the recent changes. We will try to prioritize and resolve it as soon as possible.

[dzelemba]

Thanks all for taking a look here! Do you have any approximate ETA on the fix? We're just trying to decide how much work to invest in a workaround here.

[riteshkew]

Hey @dzelemba
I understand your concern. We have already started triaging this issue and will do our best to publish the fix by next week's release. If not, please anticipate its availability in the subsequent release.

[riteshkew]

@dzelemba Update on the fix you've been eagerly awaiting. In our latest round of internal testing, we discovered that the fix didn't meet our quality standards due to unforeseen complications arising from our code's complexity. We wanted to reach out proactively to let you know before this became a further concern for you.

We're dedicated to getting this right, which means it'll take a couple more releases to fully address the issue, but our focus is on quality and efficacy. We know this fix is important to you, so if there's anything specific we can do to help in the meantime, please let us know.

Your patience and feedback are invaluable to us as we work to make things right.

[dzelemba]

Hi @riteshkew any updates here?

[riteshkew]

@dzelemba We're still in development and actively working so that it reaches you as soon as possible. Please expect to hear back from us within the next two weeks with some good news. Truly appreciate the patience you have shown all this while here with us.

[dzelemba]

Hi @riteshkew checkingin again :)

[riteshkew]

Hello @dzelemba,

We apolgise for the delay in getting back to you. We genuinely appreciate your patience throughout this process. I understand how frustrating waiting can be, especially when you're looking forward to a resolution.

We have been carefully considering the best approach to handle your request, and unfortunately, we won’t be able to proceed as initially hoped. However, we are committed to finding the best alternative solution for you. To ensure we fully address your concerns and discuss the next steps, could we have a call at your convenience? We aim to resolve this matter to your satisfaction, and speaking directly might be the most effective way to do that. Please use this link for scheduling

Thank you for being so understanding, and I look forward to our conversation.

[mohamedgomran]

We have the same issue,

We always want to develop features, publish content, test the published content on staging before it's done on prod.
Some of the are not developers and we can't give them full access to edit the apps.

at least you could allow having it by an env variable/feature flag, but not removing it completely, couldn't you? @riteshkew @brayn003

[aminelaadhari]

I just wanted to highlight that switching env is almost a standard feature for similar tools.
We are really disappointed by the removal of the feature because it's was one of our main requirements when we switched from retool to appsmith.
All the suggested solutions defeat the main goal of this tool, which makes building internal apps easier and convenient to use.

[riteshkew]

@aminelaadhari @mohamedgomran

We truly appreciate your feedback and deeply apologize for any inconvenience this situation may have caused.

Back in February 2024, we observed limited usage of this feature and decided to retire it to reduce the maintenance overhead. Our assumption was that users could still rely on edit or preview mode in a single instance or utilize a multiple-instance strategy as a workaround. Unfortunately, we realize now that we misjudged the impact of this decision.

After carefully reviewing multiple user requests, we understand that this feature was valuable to the users who were leveraging it, and we should have considered an alternative solution for the specific use case you both mentioned before phasing it out. We did explore options like providing an admin setting to control its visibility, as mentioned by @mohamedgomran, but eventually ended up against it. We sincerely apologize for this oversight and any difficulties it may have caused.

Please be rest assured that we are actively working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. While a complete UI-based solution requires careful consideration and will take some time, we are committed to ensuring the URL-based switching is seamless in the interim, so that you remain unblocked and can use this feature as closely as possible to your needs.
We understand this is not the ideal experience, but we plan to address these inconveniences more comprehensively later in Q4, this year.

Thank you for your continued patience and support.

[aminelaadhari]

@riteshkew Thank you for your message and for taking our feedback into account. We look forward to seeing this feature reintegrated in the next releases.

[sonali-humanedge]

While a complete UI-based solution requires careful consideration and will take some time, we are committed to ensuring the URL-based switching is seamless in the interim, so that you remain unblocked and can use this feature as closely as possible to your needs.

@riteshkew can you please provide an understanding of the progress for the url based solution?

[riteshkew]

@sonali-humanedge We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work towards the solution. The team is actively working on refinfing the architecture for the URL-based switching solution that addresses your needs without introducing additional technical debt. Our goal is to provide a seamless experience, and we expect this improvement to be available in production by the end of this month.

Your feedback has been invaluable in guiding this process, and we remain committed to resolving user problems effectively and comprehensively. Thank you again for your support as we work to enhance your experience.

[abbudao]

We are paying for Appsmith Business, and the staging/production environment switch was critical for our organization. Its sudden removal—without a clear alternative or roadmap—reflects poorly on the platform’s maturity. This feature was a key factor in our decision to adopt Appsmith, and now we’re left scrambling to find workarounds for a product that no longer meets our business needs.
If this is not addressed promptly and transparently, we will have no choice but to explore alternative solutions that deliver a stable and predictable feature set. We expect better communication and stronger commitment to enterprise requirements when we invest at this level.

[riteshkew]

@abbudao Thank you for sharing your concerns. I want to sincerely apologize for the frustration this has caused your team. I completely understand how important the switcher is to your workflows and how its removal has disrupted your operations.

To provide some context, we removed the switcher from view mode due to design inconsistencies and because usage data at the time showed low activity for this flow. Based on the information available, it seemed like the right decision. However, since then, we’ve heard from several users like you, and it’s clear our initial hypothesis missed the mark. We’ve been working closely with affected users to provide the best possible workarounds and are now prioritizing efforts to address this issue. Due to internal constraints, we weren’t able to fast-track this fix earlier, but I want to assure you it’s on our radar, and we’re doing everything we can to release a solution as soon as possible.

In the meantime, our team is here to help you find workarounds or alternatives to minimize any disruption. If it would help, I’d be happy to set up a call to discuss your immediate needs and how we can better support you moving forward. You can use this to directly schedule a call with me.

I want to acknowledge your point about communication. We’ve already taken steps to improve our processes to ensure you’re never caught off guard by changes like this again. Lastly, I want to reiterate how sorry we are for the inconvenience this has caused. We’ll put our best foot forward to resolve this at the earliest for you and ensure your team has a workable solution in the interim.

[abbudao]

@riteshkew, is this fix included in the new release? The issue has been marked as completed, but I haven’t seen anything in the latest changelog indicating that it was included.

[riteshkew]

Hey @abbudao
We truly appreciate your patience while we worked on this. The issue has been fixed by enabling changing environments through the URL. You can switch environments by adding a query parameter: ?environment=production or ?environment=staging. This should help with your use case when testing environments in the deployed app’s view mode.

This change was undergoing internal testing, which is why it wasn’t immediately reflected in the changelog. However, it is now included in our latest release, v1.60, and you can find more details in the release notes.

Please give it a try and let us know if it fully resolves your use case. If you run into any issues, feel free to reopen this thread with your feedback, and we’ll be happy to revisit the solution to ensure it works effectively for all users.

cc @dzelemba @mohamedgomran @aminelaadhari @sonali-humanedge

[abbudao]

Thank you for the update, @riteshkew.

While I appreciate the effort to address this issue, I must express my disappointment with both the communication surrounding this matter and the solution provided.

On Communication:
The issue was marked as closed three weeks ago without any clear indication of when the fix would be available to clients. There was no update in the changelog, no communication about the release timeline, and the only way I obtained clarity was through direct support outreach. This is especially frustrating given the prior commitment to improve communication based on feedback from several users. Unfortunately, this experience doesn’t reflect the progress that was promised.

On the Solution:
The query parameter workaround is not equivalent to the environment switcher that was originally part of the UI. What was once a seamless, user-friendly feature has been reduced to a manual process that adds unnecessary friction—especially when all Appsmith apps in my organization used to rely on this switcher. After months of waiting, it’s disheartening to see that the solution doesn’t fully restore the original functionality.

This outcome undermines my confidence in Appsmith’s commitment to addressing enterprise needs. I hope this feedback is taken seriously, as it reflects the frustrations of paying customers who rely on these tools for critical workflows.