I can't publish, or visitors still see the old version

When you're done, your changes are live, or you know who can publish them.

Who this is for: anyone who builds Chirps, the account owner and team members, when publishing is greyed out or refused, or when a visitor still sees an old version. On a team, publishing needs the account owner, a workspace admin, or an editor the owner lets publish.

What you see

In the editor, at the top: a bar says "Visitors still see the published version." and lists what's waiting, for example "Not published yet: description." Publish changes (1) is greyed out, with the reason under it (2):

• "Your role doesn't include publishing. Ask the account owner to publish it, or to let you publish."
• "This account's access is paused, so it can't publish Chirps. Contact support to sort it out."

Under 8. Sharing: Unlisted and Public are greyed out (1), and so is Draft on a published Chirp when your role doesn't include publishing, with the same reason under them (2). Viewers see "You can view this workspace but not change it." The Share window shows the reason under Who can open it.

A red message when you click Save, Publish changes, Unlisted or Public:

• "Choose a Chirp Builder plan to create or change Chirps."
• "Your role doesn't include publishing. Ask the account owner to publish it, or to let you publish."
• "This account's access is paused, so it can't publish Chirps. Contact support to sort it out."
• "Couldn't publish the Chirp. Please try again.": try again in a moment.
• "Chirp not found": you don't have access to this Chirp anymore. Ask the account owner.

Visitors see the old version, with no message. After you unpublish or archive a Chirp, they see "Chirp not found".

When publishing works, Chirp Builder says "Published. Visitors see your changes now."

Your role doesn't include publishing

On someone else's team, editors publish only if the account owner lets them. Without it:

• Publish changes, Unlisted and Public are greyed out, and so is Draft once the Chirp is published. Archive this Chirp isn't there.
• Save still works. Saved edits wait in the bar until someone who can publish clicks Publish changes. A new Chirp they make stays a Draft.
• Some changes reach visitors without publishing, so editors can still make them. The access code, Pause this Chirp and the daily limits apply when they click Save. Knowledge files and the Actions on switch apply straight away.

To let an editor publish (account owner):

1. Open Settings and find Team.
2. Turn on Can publish (publish changes, and make Chirps and Collections public, unlisted or draft) for that editor. It saves straight away.
3. The editor reloads the editor page to get it.

On Business, a workspace admin can also do this for the workspaces they run, in Settings under People in …, with the Publish switch. See Invite people to your workspaces.

To publish it yourself instead: on the Chirps page, the Chirp's card says Unpublished changes. Open it and click Publish changes.

Workspace admins can always publish. Viewers can look but not change anything.

The account has no plan

"Choose a Chirp Builder plan to create or change Chirps." Saving, Publish changes, and choosing Unlisted or Public all need a plan. For a team member, it's the account owner's plan. Meanwhile, visitors see "This Chirp is temporarily unavailable. Please check back later."

To get a plan, email joanaltres@dfydata.com, or write to us from Help about Plan and billing. See What you can do without a plan.

The account's access is paused

"This account's access is paused, so it can't publish Chirps. Contact support to sort it out." Chirp Builder paused the account while the page was open. Contact support opens an email to us. The next page you open signs you out. See My access is paused.

The Chirp is a draft

A draft isn't public yet, so there's no bar and no Publish changes: there's no published version to update. To publish it, choose Unlisted or Public under 8. Sharing and click Save. That publishes it straight away. The Share window says the same: "Drafts are private. Switch to Unlisted or Public to share."

Your change isn't published yet

Once a Chirp is published, most edits stay private when you save, so you can test them in the preview first.

1. If the top of the editor says Unsaved changes, the edit isn't saved yet. Click Save.
2. The bar lists what's waiting, for example "Not published yet: description, AI model."
3. Click Publish changes. To throw the edits away instead, click Discard and confirm.

Not every setting waits for Publish changes:

When it reaches visitors	What
After Publish changes	Everything the bar can list: name, description, instructions, conversation starters, picture, AI model, extra models, model choice for visitors, web search, image creation, image model, creativity, reply length, instruction protection, visitor uploads, knowledge mode, full-text limit, brand color, greeting, welcome content, Chirp Builder badge, button text, button link and Actions
As soon as you click Save	Draft, Unlisted or Public, the access code, Pause this Chirp, the daily limits and Main address
Straight away, without Save	Who can open this Chirp, knowledge files, lead forms, the Actions on switch, Archive this Chirp and Bring back from the archive

The editor says so under 8. Sharing: "Edits to a published Chirp stay private until you click Publish changes. The main address, access code, pause and limits apply as soon as you save. Who can open this Chirp, knowledge files and lead forms apply straight away."

So a change can reach visitors before you publish. Discard only throws away what's in the bar. To bring back what visitors saw before, see Go back to an earlier version.

Testing it: the preview in the editor uses your latest saved edits. Visitors, and you on Open public page, get the published version.

Someone still sees the old version after you published

Chirp Builder doesn't keep old copies of a Chirp's page: a page that opens after you publish gets the new version.

• A page that was already open: answers follow the new version from the visitor's next message. The name, picture, starters, greeting, welcome content, colors and button change when they reload the page.
• An earlier chat: a chat reopened from the visitor's chat list keeps its earlier messages, and the Chirp reads them as part of the conversation. They click New chat.
• Your website: reload the page with the chat on it. You don't need new code.
• A main address you just changed: browsers that followed the old address may keep going there for a while. See A main address for a Chirp.
• "Temporarily unavailable" or a key message isn't about publishing: see Visitors see "temporarily unavailable" or a busy message.

Collections

• Collections have no Publish changes: their own changes apply when you click Save.
• Making a Collection Unlisted or Public needs publishing, like a Chirp. Editors without it see "Your role doesn't include publishing. Ask the account owner to publish it, or to let you publish." For a paused account: "This account's access is paused, so it can't publish Collections. Contact support to sort it out."
• A Collection's page shows each Chirp's published version. It leaves out Draft and archived Chirps without a message: the Collection's editor marks them "Draft, so visitors don't see it until it's published" or "Archived, so visitors don't see it".

Course changes students don't see

Courses in an Academy have their own publishing:

• Changes to lessons, quizzes, tutors, the lesson order, and the course's title, subtitle, description and cover reach students after Publish changes on the course. Until then, the editor says "You have changes students don't see yet."
• Address, How students join, Show in the Academy's course list and Certificate on completion work as soon as you click Save details.
• A tutor that's a published Chirp answers with its published version: publish the Chirp's changes too.

See Publish a course and update it.

Good to know

• The account owner sees Unpublished changes on a Chirp's card when a team member saved edits that wait for publishing.
• Your AI app may not be allowed to publish. With Create and edit access, it's told "This AI app can create and edit, but not publish, delete or change who can open a Chirp." Publish in Chirp Builder, or see My AI app can't connect or can't make changes.
• Each publish saves a version you can go back to: 10 on Essentials, 30 on Creator and Academy, 100 on Business. See Go back to an earlier version.
• Publishing step by step: see Publish, update or unpublish a Chirp.