👋 Hi there,

If you spend your days in Confluence, you know the mix: pages full of notes, updates, and ideas – but when it comes to the real numbers or external data, things often get tricky. Working with data in Confluence should feel easy. Pages are where teams align, make decisions, and share knowledge -so bringing the right numbers and data in shouldn’t be a struggle.

That’s exactly why we’ve been pushing PocketQuery forward. Because the less time you spend wrestling with data, the more time you can spend using it. And with our latest update, we’ve made that step even easier: previews that don’t just show you results, but give you confidence before you share.

The bigger picture

Every day, people work in Confluence surrounded by decisions, updates, and reports. And somewhere behind those pages sits the data: sales numbers, sprint metrics, customer activity, budgets. The problem is, getting that data into Confluence has always been harder than it should be. It meant exporting, copy-pasting, formatting, and hoping the numbers were still valid by the time the page went live.

That gap has been around for years, and many teams simply got used to it. Workarounds became the norm: screenshots of dashboards, stale Excel tables dropped into pages, or endless links that forced people out of context.

The result?

Confluence pages that were supposed to be the single source of truth turned into placeholders, missing the very information that should make decisions faster.

PocketQuery was built to change that: to make external data a natural part of Confluence. Instead of patching things together, it gives you a direct connection between the tools where your data lives and the place where your teams collaborate.

The small detail that changes the flow

Anyone who’s ever written a query knows the feeling: run it, wait, check the output, adjust, run it again. It works but it interrupts. The rhythm breaks, and the focus shifts from solving a problem to wrestling with the process.

That’s why the new preview in PocketQuery feels different. Instead of treating queries like guesswork, it lets you see the result instantly before you publish.

What makes this powerful is not just the time saved, but the confidence it creates. When your query is ready to go before it even reaches a Confluence page, sharing feels natural. You publish with confidence, and your team sees the right data the first time.

Where we’re headed‍

‍This is more than a feature. It’s part of a larger story about how tools should evolve. Atlassian is moving fast with Forge, and teams everywhere are in the middle of migrations. Our job at Lively Apps is to make sure the products you rely on don’t just keep up but get stronger along the way.

That means thinking beyond “does it work?” and moving toward “does it feel effortless?” PocketQuery is already helping teams connect SQL, REST, and external APIs into Confluence but the preview shows the direction: data that feels lighter, faster, and more reliable. We’re not building tools for static use; we’re building them for a cloud-first, Forge-ready future where flexibility and trust come standard.

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Atlassian’s decision to go cloud-only by 2029 makes this even more relevant. As teams migrate, the question isn’t just how to move pages, but how to keep the data inside them useful. PocketQuery helps make sure that external data doesn’t get lost in the process, it stays part of Confluence, clear and reliable.

Preview, but better‍

When we first introduced the Preview button, it was about giving you a quick look at your query results. Now, we’ve taken it further. The new Preview Box doesn’t just show data it also lets you refine and check how your templates, charts, and formatting will look before they hit a Confluence page.

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Whether it’s a simple SQL table or a weather chart for Munich, you can validate the full picture instantly. That means fewer surprises, fewer edits, and a lot more confidence every time you bring external data into Confluence. And because the preview supports both query outputs and templates, it works not only for data specialists but also for content creators who just want to make sure everything looks right before sharing it with the team.

What it means for you

At the end of the day, productivity isn’t about moving faster. It’s about trusting what you see and acting with confidence. By cutting out the guesswork, PocketQuery helps Confluence pages become places you can rely on for decisions, not just notes.

And as we continue to expand from preview improvements to Forge-ready builds, the goal is simple: give you less trial and error, and more knowing. Because in modern work, clarity is the real productivity boost. The fewer times you have to stop and second-guess, the more energy you can invest in what really matters: building, solving, deciding. That’s where the real impact lies, and that’s exactly what we want to deliver with PocketQuery.

👉 Curious to see how it feels in practice? Try PocketQuery today on the Atlassian Marketplace

Best,

Alice from Lively Apps