Drafts

Use drafts to work on changes in the editor before publishing to your live site. A draft is an isolated workspace where you draft, preview, and edit content. Your changes are only available in the editor until you choose to publish them. Drafts are the recommended way to make changes in the editor. Each draft has a Git branch and pull request that the editor manages for you, so you can work without switching branches or opening pull requests.

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How drafts work

Every edit saves automatically. As you type, the editor saves your work to Mintlify’s servers, then commits changes to the draft’s branch in the background. Your changes persist across tabs, devices, and network interruptions. Each draft tracks its own version history. The editor commits changes as you work, so a draft builds up a history of changes on its branch. It also keeps an open pull request that reflects the current state of the draft. Nothing goes live until you publish. A draft never affects your live site while you edit it. You control when its changes deploy. Keep multiple drafts at once. Work on several sets of changes in parallel, each in its own draft, and publish them separately.

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Create a draft

1. Click the deployment selector in the editor toolbar. When you’re editing your deployment branch, it displays Live site. When you’re editing a draft, it displays the name of the draft.

2. Click the Drafts tab.
3. Click New draft.

The editor creates the draft and switches to it. New drafts start with the name “Untitled draft.” Rename your drafts with descriptive names so you can identify them later.

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Switch between drafts

1. Click the deployment selector in the editor toolbar.
2. Click Live site to return to your deployment branch or click another draft to switch to it.

The Drafts tab lists your drafts with the time each was last updated, most recent first. Use the search field to filter drafts by name.

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Publish a draft

When your draft is ready, open the publish menu to review your changes and publish. The available actions depend on whether your deployment branch requires review before changes go live.

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Rename a draft

1. Click the deployment selector in the editor toolbar.
2. Click the Drafts tab.
3. Hover over the draft and click the rename icon.
4. Enter a new name and press Enter.

Renaming a draft also updates the title of its pull request.

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Delete a draft

1. Click the deployment selector in the editor toolbar.
2. Click the Drafts tab.
3. Hover over the draft and click the delete icon.
4. Confirm the deletion.

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Drafts versus branches

Drafts and branches both let you work on changes in isolation before publishing. Choose based on how your team works:

• Use drafts if you want the editor to manage Git for you.
• Use branches if you follow a Git-based workflow and want to name branches, manage pull requests directly, or coordinate with changes made outside the editor. See Branching and publishing.

Both options are available in the deployment selector, so you can move between the two approaches at any time.