diff --git a/.github/workflows/check-plugin-docs.js b/.github/workflows/check-plugin-docs.js
index 49090e1e2..ecae2e8e0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check-plugin-docs.js
+++ b/.github/workflows/check-plugin-docs.js
@@ -50,6 +50,14 @@ async function checkPluginDocs() {
           );
         }
       }
+      // Validate that local zip files are not used in production
+      if (typeof pluginEntry.zipFile !== "undefined") {
+        throw new Error(
+            `Local ZIP file being used for "${
+                title || pluginEntry.path || repo
+            }". The zipFile option should only be used for local development. Please omit the zipFile attribute and ensure the plugin entry points to a remote repository.`
+        );
+      }
       // Attempt to fetch plugin docs files
       const docsMdxFiles = await fetchPluginDocs({ repo, tag: version });
       const mdxFilesByComponent = docsMdxFiles.reduce((acc, mdxFile) => {
diff --git a/website/components/remote-plugin-docs/utils/fetch-dev-plugin-docs.js b/website/components/remote-plugin-docs/utils/fetch-dev-plugin-docs.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1f7be6108
--- /dev/null
+++ b/website/components/remote-plugin-docs/utils/fetch-dev-plugin-docs.js
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+const path = require('path')
+const validatePluginDocsFiles = require('./validate-plugin-docs-files')
+const AdmZip = require('adm-zip')
+
+// Given a zipFile path,
+//
+// return [null, docsMdxFiles] if docs files
+// are successfully fetched and valid,
+// where docsMdxFiles is an array of { filePath, fileString } items.
+//
+// otherwise, return [err, null]
+// where err is an error message describing whether the
+// docs files were missing or invalid, with a path to resolution
+async function fetchDevPluginDocs(zipFile) {
+  const [err, docsMdxFiles] = await parseZipFile(zipFile)
+  if (err) {
+    const errMsg = `Invalid plugin dev docs file ${zipFile}. ${err}`
+    throw new Error(errMsg)
+  }
+  return docsMdxFiles
+}
+
+// Given a docs.zip filepath,
+// which is a compressed "docs" folder,
+//
+// return [null, docsMdxFiles] if docs files
+// are successfully fetched and valid,
+// where docsMdxFiles is an array of { filePath, fileString } items.
+//
+// otherwise, return [err, null]
+// where err is an error message describing whether the
+// docs files were missing or invalid, with a path to resolution
+async function parseZipFile(zipFile) {
+  const responseZip = new AdmZip(zipFile)
+  const docsEntries = responseZip.getEntries()
+  // Validate the file paths within the "docs" folder
+  const docsFilePaths = docsEntries.map((e) => e.entryName)
+  const validationError = validatePluginDocsFiles(docsFilePaths)
+  if (validationError) return [validationError, null]
+  // If valid, filter for MDX files only, and return
+  // a { filePath, fileString } object for each mdx file
+  const docsMdxFiles = docsEntries
+    .filter((e) => {
+      return path.extname(e.entryName) === '.mdx'
+    })
+    .map((e) => {
+      const filePath = e.entryName
+      const fileString = e.getData().toString()
+      return { filePath, fileString }
+    })
+  return [null, docsMdxFiles]
+}
+
+module.exports = fetchDevPluginDocs
diff --git a/website/components/remote-plugin-docs/utils/resolve-nav-data.js b/website/components/remote-plugin-docs/utils/resolve-nav-data.js
index dd2f667c7..6aabb0345 100644
--- a/website/components/remote-plugin-docs/utils/resolve-nav-data.js
+++ b/website/components/remote-plugin-docs/utils/resolve-nav-data.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ const fs = require('fs')
 const path = require('path')
 const grayMatter = require('gray-matter')
 const fetchPluginDocs = require('./fetch-plugin-docs')
+const fetchDevPluginDocs = require('./fetch-dev-plugin-docs')
 const validateFilePaths = require('@hashicorp/react-docs-sidenav/utils/validate-file-paths')
 const validateRouteStructure = require('@hashicorp/react-docs-sidenav/utils/validate-route-structure')
 
@@ -139,8 +140,14 @@ async function resolvePluginEntryDocs(pluginConfigEntry, currentPath) {
     version,
     pluginTier,
     sourceBranch = 'main',
+    zipFile = '',
   } = pluginConfigEntry
-  const docsMdxFiles = await fetchPluginDocs({ repo, tag: version })
+  var docsMdxFiles
+  if (zipFile !== '') {
+    docsMdxFiles = await fetchDevPluginDocs(zipFile)
+  } else {
+    docsMdxFiles = await fetchPluginDocs({ repo, tag: version })
+  }
   // We construct a special kind of "NavLeaf" node, with a remoteFile property,
   // consisting of a { filePath, fileString, sourceUrl }, where:
   // - filePath is the path to the source file in the source repo
diff --git a/website/content/docs/plugins/creation/index.mdx b/website/content/docs/plugins/creation/index.mdx
index d25245348..8c3cbe7c9 100644
--- a/website/content/docs/plugins/creation/index.mdx
+++ b/website/content/docs/plugins/creation/index.mdx
@@ -278,6 +278,33 @@ If a plugin maintainer wishes to only include a specific version of released doc
 
 The `"sourceBranch"` key in the above configuration ensures potential contributors can link back to source files in the plugin repository from the Packer docs site. If a `"sourceBranch"` value is not present, it will default to `"main"`.
 
+#### Testing Plugin Documentation
+
+Before publishing the `docs.zip` file, you might want to preview your documentation changes.
+We provide a mechanism that allows to preview how the docs will look like within
+the Packer documentation.
+
+Follow the next steps to get the Packer website running and preview the documentation changes:
+
+- Get the [Packer source code](https://github.com/hashicorp/packer). Our website code is under the [website folder](https://github.com/hashicorp/packer/tree/master/website).
+- Generate the `docs.zip` file. You can find above the steps to do so.
+- Add the `zipFile` attribute to the plugin entry in `docs-remote-plugins.json`. The value should be the full path of the `docs.zip` generated. For example:
+
+```json
+{
+  "title": "Scaffolding",
+  "path": "scaffolding",
+  "repo": "hashicorp/packer-plugin-scaffolding",
+  "version": "latest",
+  "sourceBranch": "main",
+  "zipFile": "/Users/myuser/Packer/plugins/packer-plugin-scaffolding/docs.zip"
+}
+```
+
+- Go to the [website folder](https://github.com/hashicorp/packer/tree/master/website).
+  In the website README, follow the steps to [run the website with node](https://github.com/hashicorp/packer/tree/master/website#with-node).
+- Once the website is up and running, the plugin documentation should be available in `http://localhost:3000/docs`.
+
 ### Plugin Development Tips and FAQs
 
 #### Working Examples