> Documentation index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt). Every page as one file: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt).

# Test and publish an agent

Test and publish an agent [#test-and-publish-an-agent]

Changes to an agent save to a draft. People keep chatting with the published version until you publish the draft.

|                  | Draft                                                                               | Published version                                                                  |
| ---------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| What it is       | The agent as it is in the editor right now. Saved automatically after every change. | A numbered, frozen copy: **v1**, **v2** and so on.                                 |
| Who uses it      | Only you and other editors, in the editor's **Test** tab.                           | Everyone: chat, Slack, scheduled tasks, workflows, apps, other agents and the API. |
| Where you see it | The editor header reads **Saved draft**; the agent's card shows **Draft**.          | The editor header reads **Published**; the card shows the version number.          |

<img alt="The Month-End Close Assistant card at v1 with a Draft badge, and its tooltip: Some changes were never published: Name & description. Chats keep using the published version." src="__img0" />

Create a draft [#create-a-draft]

1. Select **Agents** in the sidebar, then **New** > **New agent**. The editor opens on a new draft called **Untitled agent**, marked **Not published**.

   <img alt="The editor for a new agent: Create agent, Untitled agent, Not published, with Saved draft and Publish at the top right and the Build tab open beside the form" src="__img1" />

2. Fill in the agent's settings. See [Configure an agent](/docs/platform/agents/configure), or let Agent Builder fill them in with you: [Build an agent by chatting](/docs/platform/agents/agent-builder).

* The draft saves a moment after each change: &#x2A;*Saving…**, then **Saved draft**.
* If you leave a new draft without changing anything, it is deleted.
* Until its first publish, only the **Test** tab can run the agent:

  | Where                   | What happens to a never-published agent                                                                                                                 |
  | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
  | Chat                    | It is not offered in the composer or in &#x2A;*@** mentions. Its card's preview offers **Publish** instead of **Start Chat** to people who can publish. |
  | Scheduler               | It cannot be picked for a scheduled task.                                                                                                               |
  | Slack and Teams         | It is not offered.                                                                                                                                      |
  | Other agents            | It cannot be called as a sub-agent.                                                                                                                     |
  | Workspace default agent | It is skipped, and new chats fall back to **Alo**.                                                                                                      |

Test the draft [#test-the-draft]

1. Select **Test** next to the form.

2. Send a message the agent should handle well. The test runs on the draft as it is saved, with files, tools, apps and approvals working as in a normal chat.

   <img alt="The Test tab next to the Prompt pane of Supplier Onboarding Reviewer, with a test question about a new supplier and the draft's checklist answer" src="__img2" />

3. Change the settings and test again. Your edits are saved before each test message.

| Button at the top of the **Test** tab | What it does                                                                 |
| ------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Test history**                      | Opens an earlier test chat.                                                  |
| **New test**                          | Starts a new test chat.                                                      |
| **Expand the test chat**              | Widens the test chat over the form; **Back to the editor** narrows it again. |

Test chats are not listed with your other chats and cannot be shared. Testing needs permission to edit agents.

To test an agent on many cases at once, the same way every time, use [Lab](/docs/platform/lab).

Publish [#publish]

Publishing needs the publish permission: **Editor** and **Admin** have it by default, **Member** does not. Members can still edit and test drafts; someone with the permission publishes them.

1. Select **Publish** at the top right.

2. Under **What changed**, describe the change in one line of up to 72 characters. It is shown in the version history.

   <img alt="The Publish version 1 window with What changed filled in as First version for the accounts payable team" src="__img3" />

3. Select **Publish**. The Agents page opens on the agent's preview, now showing the new version.

Everyone using the agent gets the new version from their next message. **Publish** stays greyed out while there is nothing to publish: no draft changes and no **Update available**.

See what changed in the draft [#see-what-changed-in-the-draft]

Hover over **Saved draft** to see which parts changed since the published version: name and description, instructions, model, tools, sub-agents, skills, knowledge, connectors or other settings.

<img alt="The Saved draft status with its tooltip: Saved as a draft. Changed since version 1: Name & description. Click to roll back to version 1." src="__img4" />

Roll back unpublished changes [#roll-back-unpublished-changes]

1. Select **Saved draft**.
2. Select **Roll back**.

<img alt="The Roll back to version 2? window: the agent goes back to version 2, and changes made since then are lost for every editor" src="__img5" />

The draft goes back to the published version. Changes made since are lost for every editor, not only for you.

Versions [#versions]

Select **Versions** next to the form to see every published version, newest first, with its note, who published it and when. The one people use is marked **Live**. Select a version to see what changed in it.

<img alt="The Versions tab with v2, Checks that the VAT number is valid, marked Live and expanded to show the old and new description, and v1 below it" src="__img6" />

**Versions** appears once the agent has been published.

Re-publish or restore an earlier version [#re-publish-or-restore-an-earlier-version]

Open a version's &#x2A;*…** menu.

<img alt="The menu of version 1 with Re-publish this version and Restore to draft" src="__img7" />

| Action                      | What it does                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| --------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Re-publish this version** | Makes that version live again for everyone, from their next message. It is added to the history as a new version, and the draft is reset to it, discarding unpublished changes. Needs the publish permission; not offered on the **Live** version. |
| **Restore to draft**        | Copies that version's settings into the draft. Nothing goes live until you publish. Unpublished changes in the draft are replaced for every editor.                                                                                                |

<img alt="The Restore version 1 to the draft? window: the draft takes this version's settings and nothing goes live until you publish" src="__img8" />

* A version keeps the content of the skills and prompt template it was published with. **Re-publish this version** brings that content back; **Restore to draft** brings back which skills are switched on, with their content of today.
* Restoring brings back which files, folders and connections the agent used; their content and credentials are today's.
* Skills, connections and models deleted since are left out, and the app lists what it could not bring back.

When a skill or prompt template changes [#when-a-skill-or-prompt-template-changes]

An agent keeps the skills and prompt template it was published with. When one of them changes or is deleted, the card shows **Update available**, and so does the editor for people who can publish. Chats keep using the published version until you test the draft and publish it.

<img alt="The Expense Policy Advisor editor with an Update available note: Skill Expense Policy Check changed, chats keep using version 2 until you test the draft and publish it" src="__img9" />

Built-in agents from Alomana are the exception: Alomana publishes them again when their skills change.

Two people editing [#two-people-editing]

If someone else changes the draft while you edit, **Someone else changed this draft** appears and your edits stop saving. Select **Reload** to see their changes, or **Keep mine** to overwrite them.

Troubleshooting [#troubleshooting]

| Message                                 | What to do                                                                                                                  |
| --------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Your plan has ended**                 | Changes cannot be saved, and building and testing are paused, until the workspace has an active plan. Select **See plans**. |
| **Not saved** next to **Publish**       | The last change could not be saved. Fix what the error message names, then edit again.                                      |
| **Save the draft before publishing it** | The draft has an unsaved change. Wait for **Saved draft**, then publish.                                                    |

To publish versions with an API key, see [Create and configure an agent](/docs/api/configurable-agents/create-and-configure) in the API documentation.