Designing in Playbook Studio
Drafts vs Publishing
What changes when you Publish a template — and the difference between status and version.
Publishing & Versions
Every template moves through two core states during its lifecycle: Draft and Published.
Drafts are where you build, experiment, and collaborate. Published templates are considered ready for use and can be instantiated into real playbooks.
Publishing also creates a version history, allowing you to improve templates over time without affecting playbooks that are already running.
Template states
Draft
A work in progress. Visible only to the owner and invited collaborators. Draft templates cannot be instantiated.
Published
Ready for use. Published templates can be instantiated into playbooks and are visible according to their sharing settings.
What happens when you publish?
Publishing performs three actions:
- Changes the template status to Published
- Creates a new version
- Makes the template available for instantiation
Publishing does not change your content, visibility settings, theme, permissions, or collaborators. It simply marks the current state of the template as a reusable release.
Think of Publish as creating a release. Drafts are where you work. Publishing creates a stable version that other people can use.
When can a template be published?
The Publish action is available when:
| Requirement | Description |
|---|---|
| The template has been saved | New templates must be saved at least once before they can be published. |
| There are no unsaved changes | Any pending edits must be saved first. |
| The current state is a draft | Publishing only applies to draft changes that have not yet been released. |
If Publish is unavailable, saving the template is usually all that's required.
Understanding versions
Each time you publish, Gleo creates a new version of the template.
For example:
| Publish | Version |
|---|---|
| First publish | v1 |
| Second publish | v2 |
| Third publish | v3 |
The version history forms a permanent chain of published releases.
Why versions matter
When a playbook is instantiated, it is linked to the version that was current at that moment.
If someone creates a playbook from v2, that playbook remains on v2 forever—even if you later publish v3, v4, or v5.
This allows you to improve templates confidently without disrupting work already in progress.
Publishing never changes existing playbooks. New versions only affect future playbooks created after the publish occurs.
stateDiagram-v2
[*] --> Draft: New template
Draft --> Draft: Save draft
Draft --> Published_v1: Publish
Publishedv1 --> Draftwith_v1: Edit
Draftwithv1 --> Published_v2: Publish
Publishedv2 --> Draftwith_v2: Edit
Draftwithv2 --> Published_v3: PublishPublishing a template
-
1
Save your draft
Ensure all changes have been saved.
-
2
Click Publish
The Publish action becomes available once the template meets the publish requirements.
-
3
Confirm the publish
Gleo creates a new version and marks it as the current release.
-
4
Instantiate from the new version
The template is now available wherever templates can be instantiated.
Best practices
Treat publishing as a release milestone. Use drafts for experimentation and iteration. Publish when you're comfortable that the template is ready for real-world use.
Don't worry about breaking active playbooks. Existing playbooks remain attached to the version they were created from.
Publish regularly, but intentionally. Versions are most useful when each publish represents a meaningful improvement.