Versions and publishing

A template isn’t a single fixed thing — it holds several versions. Versions let you keep improving a design without breaking the documents your live integration already depends on. This page explains the lifecycle: draft → publish → render.

What a version is

Each version is an independent copy of the template’s layout and data model. You edit one version at a time, and you can keep several around — a stable one that’s live, and a draft you’re still working on.

Expand a template row on the Templates list (or use the version selector at the top of the editor) to see every version, each with a status:

• Draft — a work in progress. Safe to change freely; not used by production.
• Published — marked LIVE. This is the version your production integration renders.

The version selector shows, for example, v1 · LIVE and v4 · Draft, so you always know which one you’re editing and which one is serving production.

Publishing a version

When a draft is ready, click Publish (top of the editor, or the Publish action on the version row). Publishing marks that version LIVE — from then on, your production renders use it.

Caution

Publishing locks the version’s data model. Once published, its sample data and variables can no longer be changed — the Sample Data tab shows a “locked” notice. You can still adjust the layout and translations. So finalise your variables before you publish.

Why the lock? Your integration sends data against a fixed set of variable names. Freezing the data model at publish time guarantees that a published version keeps accepting exactly the data your integration already sends.

Changing a published version

Because a published version is locked, you don’t edit its data model in place. Instead:

1. Duplicate the version — this creates a new Draft copy.
2. Make your changes in the draft (including data-model changes).
3. Publish the new version when you’re happy.

The previously live version keeps serving production until the moment you publish the new one, so there’s no gap.

Tip

Keep one Draft for work in progress and Publish only when a design is final. Your live integration always renders the published version, so drafts never affect production output.

Version and template actions

Per version (expand the template row): Render, Edit version, Duplicate version, Publish, Delete version. Per template: Edit last version, Edit settings, Delete template. These are covered on the Templates overview.

Test vs Production renders

Whenever you render — from a version row or the editor’s Preview — you choose an environment:

	Test render	Production render
Output	Watermarked	Final, no watermark
Page credits	Not counted	Counts toward your plan
Use it for	Designing and checking	The real documents you keep or send

The editor’s render drawer states it plainly: “This is a test render. The output will include a watermark and will not count towards your page credits.”

Caution

Choose Production only when you want the real, credit-counting output. Use Test for everything while you design.

Both kinds appear under Output → Renders — the Environment column shows which — and each is logged under Render Events.

A typical lifecycle

1. Open or duplicate a template into a Draft.
2. Build it — with AI or by hand — and shape the data model.
3. Test render as you go (watermarked, free) to check the result.
4. When the data model is final, Publish the version.
5. Your integration renders the published version in Production.
6. Need changes later? Duplicate, edit, and publish a new version.

Related articles

• Templates — the templates list, the editor, and rendering.
• Variables and the data model — what gets locked at publish time.
• Renders and Render Events — the output your published versions produce.