> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.helpalive.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Publish or discard changes to the HelpAlive agent

> Which HelpAlive changes wait for Publish (Train and Appearance) and which apply as soon as you save (Controls), and how to publish or discard a draft.

**Publishing** is how changes to the HelpAlive agent reach your users. Changes on **Train** and **Appearance** wait as a draft until you press **Publish**, while changes on **Controls** and **Settings** apply as soon as you save. This page explains which is which, and how to publish or discard a draft. It is for anyone on your team who edits the agent.

## Publishing at a glance

* A draft means that your users don't see the change yet. Only the **Test** page reads it.
* **Train** and **Appearance** changes wait for **Publish**. **Controls** and **Settings** changes apply when you save.
* While anything waits, the **Unpublished changes** bar is pinned to the top of every dashboard page.
* **Publish now** takes every draft live at once. **Discard changes** throws every draft away.
* After you publish, the widget in your app picks up the change within a minute or a few page loads.

## Why some changes wait for Publish

Changes to what the agent knows and how it looks wait for **Publish** because you can then try them on **Test** first, before any user sees them. Changes to who gets the agent and what it may do apply at once. After you save them, **Controls** offers **Undo** instead.

## What waits for Publish

These changes are drafts. Your users don't see them until you publish. The **Test** page reads them, so you can try them first.

| Where | What |
| - | - |
| **Train** | New websites and files, and a re-crawl you started yourself |
| **Train** | **Tone of voice** and **Answer length** |
| **Train** | Custom responses |
| **Appearance** | Every setting |

## What applies at once

These are never drafts. They apply when you save.

* **Controls**: the switch, **Who gets it**, **What it does**, the limits for each person, tenant and your organization, and **How far over your plan**. After **Save changes**, the toast says "Saved. It applies now." with **Undo**.
* **Train**: removing a source.
* **Train**: an automatic sync goes live by itself, unless it is held for your check.
* **Settings**: everything on its four tabs.

## Publish your changes

<Steps>
  <Step title="Find the Publish bar">
    While anything waits, a bar is pinned to the top of every dashboard page: **Unpublished changes**. Labels name what waits, such as **Appearance**, **Guidance** (tone and length), **Responses**, **New doc** or **Re-crawl**, with when you last changed it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Preview it">
    **Preview on Test** opens the **Test** page, which runs your questions against the draft.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Publish">
    Press **Publish**. The **Publish changes** dialog lists what goes live: **Config sections**, **Knowledge docs** and **New crawls**. For a new crawl it shows **Live now** against **New crawl**. This means that you can catch a crawl that found too few pages before it replaces what is live.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm">
    Press **Publish now**. The toast says "Published. Live on your site now."
  </Step>
</Steps>

A new source that is still crawling stays a draft, because there is nothing complete to publish yet. While new sources are the only change and all still crawl, the bar says "Publish appears when the crawl finishes."

## Discard a draft

In the bar's menu, **More draft actions → Discard draft** opens **Discard unpublished changes?**. Press **Discard changes** to throw away every draft. A waiting re-crawl is thrown away too, which means that the source keeps what is live.

## Check it works

After you publish, the bar disappears. In your app, the widget picks up the change within a minute or a few page loads. Then ask the agent a question your change affects.

## Troubleshooting

* **Publish is grayed out and says "Nothing is ready yet."** Your new docs are still crawling. Publish once a crawl finishes.
* **A re-crawl "could not go live".** Re-crawl that source on **Train**, then publish again.
* **You changed Controls and see no Publish bar.** That is expected. Controls apply as soon as you save.

## Next

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Train" icon="graduation-cap" href="/dashboard/train">
    Sources, tone, length and custom responses.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Test" icon="flask" href="/dashboard/test">
    Try a draft before you publish it.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Controls" icon="sliders" href="/dashboard/controls">
    Changes that apply at once.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


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