# Should I pin the slot version in fetchContent or is leaving it off fine?

Asked by marco.ln on 2026-10-29. Tags: nextjs, slots, versioning.

Some examples use a slot id like `home-hero@2` and others just the bare
`home-hero`. What is the practical difference between the two?

We publish content changes pretty often and I want to know which is safer for
a team like ours. If I leave the version off does something change under me
without a deploy, or is it fine to skip it.

## 2 answers

### Answer from Aisha Bello (2026-10-30)

On production routes I pin, every time. A bare id like `home-hero`
resolves to `@latest`, so the moment someone publishes a content or schema
change it takes effect against your running code. If that change adds or
renames a field your components read, the deployed build can break without
anyone touching a deploy.

Pinning like `home-hero@2` keeps your code on a known version until you
bump the number deliberately. Older versions keep serving after a new one
is published, so it is a genuine rollout lever: you publish v3, verify it,
and change the pin in code as a normal reviewed change.

There is a second reason to be explicit. Preview links only render when the
slot version in your code matches the one the preview was generated for, so
an unpinned slot can quietly show default content in preview. More on that
in [why a preview link shows default content](/answers/nextjs-preview-link-shows-default-content).

#### Reply from marco.ln (2026-11-01)

makes sense, we publish too often to leave it on latest in prod.
pinning and treating the bump as a reviewed change it is. thanks

### Answer from greg_h (2026-10-31)

Half agree. For a production app pinning is the right call. But when I am
prototyping and the schema is still moving every day, `@latest` saves me
from bumping a number on every single content tweak, since there is no real
traffic to break yet. I just switch to pinned versions before the thing
ships to anyone.