This article explains how draft and live workflow versions work in Intellistack Streamline, who can publish, and what to expect for people already in a workflow session.
Use Publish to control which version of your workflow your users and collaborators experience - without disrupting your ability to keep editing. You can also save your work as a version checkpoint without publishing it, compare any two versions to see exactly what changed, and restore an earlier version when you want to go back.
Overview
In Streamline Workflow, every workflow has a Draft you're editing and a Live version your users run. Alongside those, Streamline keeps a version history of every version you've saved, so you can look back at earlier work without publishing it.
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| Draft | The editable, work-in-progress version on your canvas |
| Live | The published version running for users via shared links, project pages, embeds, and workspace |
| Saved versions | Earlier versions kept in your version history. Read-only, and not running for anyone until you publish one |
How Versioning Works
When you open your canvas, you are always working in Draft mode. This means you can freely add, rename, and edit steps, update logic, and make any other changes without affecting what your users see.
When you're ready to release your changes:
- Click Publish in the canvas toolbar.
- Streamline automatically creates a new version and increments the version number (e.g., your draft becomes v1, and a new v2 draft is created on your canvas).
- The published version (v1) is now Live - it's what users see everywhere outside the canvas, and it's no longer the version in your canvas.
- You continue editing in the new v2 draft without touching what's live.
Example: You're on v2 draft and click Publish. Streamline publishes v2 as Live and opens a v3 draft on your canvas for your next round of changes.
What You Can Do When You Publish
When you click Publish, the panel gives you a few options before you confirm:
- Version details - Rename the version and add a description. Give it a meaningful name (e.g., "Added FAQ step" or "June onboarding flow") and document what changed for your own records or your team's reference.
- Review changes - See exactly what's changing between your live version and the version you're about to publish, before you confirm.
The name and description appear in your version history and make it easier to identify versions at a glance.
Draft vs. Live: Where Each Version Runs
Running a Session from the Canvas
When you click Run Session directly from the canvas, it always runs on the current draft version. This is intentional - it lets you test your changes before publishing them.
You can also run a session on any earlier version from your version history, which is useful for confirming how a previous version behaved before you restore it.
Running a Session Everywhere Else
Once a version is published as Live, it becomes the version that runs in all other contexts:
- Project page - Sessions started here run on the Live version.
- Workspace page - Users in your workspace run the Live version.
- Share links - If you've shared your workflow via a link, that link runs the Live version.
- Embeds - If you've embedded your workflow, the embed runs the Live version.
This means publishing is how you "push" your changes out to the world. Until you publish, users continue to experience the previous Live version.
Updating the Live Version
If you've made changes in draft and want to update what your users see:
- Make your edits on the canvas (draft mode).
- Click Publish.
- Click Review changes to confirm what's changing.
- Click Publish workflow. The new version becomes Live, and all shared links, embeds, project pages, and workspace sessions will now run on this version.
Sessions Stay on the Version They Started On
This is an important behavior to be aware of: sessions are pinned to the version they were started on.
If a user starts a session on v1, they will remain on v1 for the duration of that session - even after you publish v2 as Live. New sessions started after you publish will use the new Live version, but existing in-progress sessions are not affected.
You can see which version each session is on from the Sessions page.
Saving a Version Checkpoint
A checkpoint saves the current state of your workflow as a version without publishing it. Use one before you start a significant set of changes, so you have a known-good version to come back to.
The canvas header shows the version you're working in, along with a Run session button for that version and Publish. Click the version name to open the version options.
To save a checkpoint, click Add checkpoint in the version options. You can also click New version checkpoint at the bottom of version history. Both do the same thing.
Note: A checkpoint is not published. Your users continue to run the live version until you click Publish.
Viewing Version History
To open version history, click the version name in the canvas header and select History.
Note: Version history used to be a tab in the Publish panel. It now lives in the version options instead.
Version history lists every version of your workflow, newest first.
Each entry shows:
- The version number (v1, v2, v3…) and version name
- Badges: Published for the version that's live, Draft for a version that hasn't been published, and In canvas for the version you're currently editing
- Who created or published it, and when
- A description, if one has been added
To add a description, click Add description... on a version and enter what changed. Descriptions make it much easier to identify the right version later.
Actions available on each version
Click the ... menu on any version to see what you can do with it.
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Compare changes | Opens the comparison view with that version selected |
| Run session | Runs a session on that specific version |
| Restore | Brings that version into your canvas as a new version |
| Delete | Removes that version from your history |
Note: You can't delete the version that's currently live, or the only remaining version of a workflow. Deleting a version also removes it from comparison.
Comparing Two Versions
Comparison shows you exactly what differs between two versions of a workflow, down to individual field settings.
To compare versions, click the ... menu on a version in your version history and select Compare changes. The Version changes view opens with your live version as the From version and the version in your canvas as the To version. You can change either dropdown to compare any two versions in your history.
From version is your starting point, and To version is the version with the changes applied. The Changes count tells you how many steps differ. Each step is labeled:
- Added - the step exists in the To version but not the From version
- Removed - the step existed in the From version and is gone in the To version
- A count such as
-2 +31- the step exists in both versions, with that many settings removed and added
See unchanged steps
Only show changed steps is on by default. Turn it off to list every step in your workflow, with unmodified steps marked No changes. This is useful for confirming that a change you made didn't affect anything else.
See field-level changes
Expand any step to see what changed inside it. The From version is on the left and the To version is on the right, with removed values in red and added values in green - down to individual settings like content, required, options, and placeholder text.
Reviewing Changes Before You Publish
You can review what's changing before you make a version live.
- Click Publish in the canvas header.
- Click Review changes.
- The same Version changes view opens, comparing your live version to the version you're about to publish.
- Close the comparison and click Publish workflow when you're ready.
Restoring a Previous Version
If you want to go back to an earlier version of your workflow, use Restore from the ... menu on that version in your version history.
Restore adds a copy of the version you chose as a new version and puts it in your canvas. It does not overwrite the version you were working on, and it does not change your live version.
Example scenario:
You have four versions:
- v1 - your current Live version
- v2 and v3 - earlier saved versions
- v4 - the version currently in your canvas
If v4 has gone in the wrong direction and you liked where v3 was, click Restore on v3. Streamline creates v5, named Reverted "Version 3", and puts it in your canvas. v4 stays in your version history exactly as it was, so you can go back to it too.
Important: Restore never affects your Live version or any session already in progress. Nothing is deleted - the version you were editing remains in your history.
When to use Restore:
- You've made extensive changes and want to go back to a known-good version.
- You want to rebuild from an earlier version without losing your current work.
- You went too far down a path with edits and want a clean reset.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between saving a checkpoint and publishing? A checkpoint saves your work as a version in your history without changing anything for your users. Publishing makes a version live, so anyone using a shared link, embed, project page, or workspace runs it.
How do I know which version I'm currently editing? The canvas header shows the version name and (Draft). In version history, the same version is marked In canvas.
Can I go back to a previous Live version? There's no action that switches an earlier version back to Live directly. Use Restore instead: it makes a copy of the version you choose and puts that copy in your canvas as your new editable version. You can review it, make any adjustments, and publish when you're ready. Publishing the copy is what changes what your users run. The version you restored from stays in your history unchanged.
Will publishing affect sessions already in progress? No. Active sessions stay on the version they were started on. Only new sessions will use the newly published Live version.
What happens to my draft when I publish? The version you were editing becomes Live, so it's no longer the version in your canvas. Streamline automatically creates a new draft and puts it in your canvas, so you can keep editing right away. The version you published stays in your version history, marked Published.
If I click Run Session from the canvas, which version runs? Always the current draft. The canvas is your testing environment. To test a different version, use Run session on that version in your version history.
My embed/share link isn't showing my latest changes - what do I do? Make sure you've published the version you want your users to run. Embeds and share links always reflect the Live version, not the draft. A checkpoint on its own does not change what your users see.
What does Restore do exactly - does it affect my Live version? No. Restore adds a copy of the version you select as a new version in your canvas. Your Live version, your active sessions, and the version you were previously editing are all unaffected - nothing is overwritten or deleted.
Can I restore from the current Live version? Yes. You can restore from any version in your history, including the version that's currently live. This is useful when you want to start again from exactly what your users are running today.
Why can't I delete a version? The version that's currently live and the last remaining version of a workflow are both protected and can't be deleted.
Does comparison show me who changed something? No. Version history shows who created or published each version. It doesn't record which person changed an individual field.
Why does a step show as removed and added when I only edited it? This happens when a step was deleted and rebuilt, or when the version predates this feature. Expand the step to compare its contents and confirm what actually changed.
I moved a step - why doesn't the comparison show it? Comparison looks at step and field contents, not at the order of steps or how they're connected. Reordering and rewiring aren't shown as changes.
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