# Draft and publish

Drafts keep edits separate from immutable published versions. Publishing is the explicit action that advances a branch.

## How drafts work

A draft belongs to one user and one branch. Agent Studio autosaves edited configuration into that draft. The branch tip stays unchanged, so conversations using the published configuration do not change while the draft is being edited.

The draft remembers the version it started from. If someone advances the branch first, Operade returns a stale-draft conflict instead of overwriting their work. In the dashboard, either reset to the latest version or reconcile the conflicting fields.

## What publishing changes

Publishing validates the configuration and creates a new immutable version. It advances the selected branch tip and removes the publishing user's draft for that branch. Publishing **Main** also updates the agent's active version; publishing a different branch does not replace Main.

Publishing can be blocked when referenced knowledge is missing or not ready, or when workflow, procedure, or guardrail validation reports an error. If there is no draft or the draft is identical to the branch tip, Operade reports that there is nothing to publish.

## Publish safely

1. Wait for autosave to finish.
2. Use [test chat](/docs/agents/test-chat) with the draft enabled.
3. Select **Publish changes** and review every displayed difference.
4. Add a change note when it helps future reviewers.
5. Select **Publish now**.
6. Start a new test chat without the draft to confirm the branch tip.

For the larger state sequence, see [agent lifecycle](/docs/agents/agent-lifecycle).