Understanding workflow versions (draft vs. published)

CloudRadial AutomationAI tracks every workflow as a series of versions. Understanding the difference between an editable draft and an immutable published version explains why your edits never change something already deployed. This article is for Admins and Owners who build and deploy workflows.

• The Draft Version
• Published Versions Are Immutable
• Editing After Publishing
• Only Published Versions Deploy
• Release Versions and Test Versions

The Draft Version

Versions work like NuGet packages: each one is a numbered, self-contained snapshot of the workflow. While you build in the Designer you are always editing the draft — the one version that is still editable. The toolbar shows the current draft number and the latest published version next to it. Saving updates the draft in place; it does not create a new version.

Published Versions Are Immutable

Selecting Publish in the Designer turns the current draft into a published version. AutomationAI confirms with the dialog Publish this workflow?, which notes that published versions are immutable and become the workflow's latest published version. Once published, a version is read-only and can never be changed, which is what lets deployments and runs bind to an exact, unchanging definition.

Editing After Publishing

Because a published version is read-only, publishing immediately creates a fresh draft with a bumped version number, carrying forward the definition you just published. You keep editing that new draft, while the version you published stays frozen. Repeat the cycle — edit the draft, publish — to move a workflow forward without ever altering history.

Only Published Versions Deploy

A deployment binds a specific published version to a runner and environment. Drafts cannot be deployed, so a workflow has to be published at least once before it can be deployed and run. If you point a deployment at the latest published version, AutomationAI offers an Update deployment action in the Designer to fast-forward it.

Release Versions and Test Versions

Published versions come in two kinds. A release version is the normal kind you create with Publish; it can become the workflow's latest published version and is the only kind a deployment can use. A test version is created automatically when you test a draft in the Designer. Test versions are immutable like any published version, but they use a pre-release version label, never become the latest published version, and are hidden from the deployment selectors. For how testing works, see the article on testing a workflow with the Test action.