Understand workflow versioning and publishing

How versioning works

Every time you save a workflow, automation orchestrator creates a new version automatically. You do not need to create versions manually. You can optionally give any version a display name and description to make it easier to identify in the version history. Each version captures the complete workflow at the time of the save, including all steps, connections, triggers, and configuration.

Automation orchestrator numbers versions sequentially starting from 1. Each version records who created it and when. If you save a workflow without making any changes, no new version is created.

Automation orchestrator never overwrites or deletes a previous version, so you always have a complete history of changes.

Draft, published, and previously published states

Each workflow version is in one of three states:

Draft

A version that has been saved but not yet published. New versions start in draft state. Draft versions do not affect running triggers or scheduled runs.

Published

The active version that runs when a trigger fires or a scheduled run starts. Only one version can be published at a time for each workflow. Publishing a version activates all webhook and scheduled triggers defined in that version.

Previously published

A version that was published previously but has been replaced by a newer published version or unpublished. Previously published versions remain in the version history and you can restore them.

How publishing affects workflow runs

When you publish a version, automation orchestrator makes it the active version for all new runs:

• Webhook triggers begin accepting requests using the published version.
• Scheduled triggers start using the published version.

Runs that are already in progress continue using the version they started with. Publishing a new version does not interrupt or restart any running workflows.

When you unpublish a workflow, automation orchestrator disables all triggers and no new runs can start. Runs that are already in progress continue to completion.

How version changes are tracked

When you save a workflow and a new version is created, automation orchestrator generates a change summary that records which steps were added, removed, or modified and which connections changed. This change summary is included in the audit log entry for the version creation event.

You can review these change summaries in the audit log to understand what changed between versions without comparing the full workflow definitions manually.

How versions appear in workflow runs

Every workflow run records which version was used. The Workflow Runs page and the Run history panel display the version for each run. When the version has a version name, that name is shown. Otherwise, the date and time the version was created appears. You can filter runs by version to find all runs that used a specific workflow version.

How concurrent editing works

Multiple users can edit the same workflow at the same time. When you save, publish, or run a workflow, automation orchestrator checks for a newer version on the server.

If another user saved a newer version since you opened the workflow, a conflict dialog appears. You can save your changes as the newest version, create a duplicate workflow, or refresh to the latest version.

How version restore works

You can restore any previous version to recover a workflow that was changed or overwritten. Restoring creates a new draft version that has the same steps, connections, and configuration as the version you selected. The original version and all other versions remain unchanged.

Because restore creates a new draft, you must publish it separately if you want it to become the active version. With this two-step process, you can review the restored workflow before making it live.