Overview Day Copilot implements a draft/publish workflow that allows you to make changes to tasks and events without immediately affecting the published version. This is particularly useful for collaborative editing, review processes, and preventing accidental changes.
The draft/publish workflow is optional. Simple updates (status changes, adding comments) can bypass drafting if needed.
How It Works Version Numbers Every task and event has two version numbers:
Property Description version_majorPublished version (e.g., 1, 2, 3) version_minorDraft version (e.g., 1, 2, 3) is_publishedWhether current state is published
Example: { "id" : "task-uuid" , "title" : "Complete API documentation" , "version_major" : 2 , "version_minor" : 3 , "is_published" : false }
This means:
Published version : 2.0 (last accepted state)Draft version : 2.3 (current working state with 3 edits)Status : Unpublished (changes not yet live)
State Machine Creating a Draft When you update a published task or event, it automatically becomes a draft:
Example: Update Task PUT /api/v1/tasks/550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 { "title" : "Complete comprehensive API documentation", "priority" : "urgent" }
Response: { "data" : { "id" : "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000" , "title" : "Complete comprehensive API documentation" , "priority" : "urgent" , "version_major" : 1 , "version_minor" : 2 , "is_published" : false , "last_live" : { "title" : "Complete API documentation" , "priority" : "high" , "version" : "1.0" } } }
What Happened:
Task was at version 1.0 (published)
Your update created version 1.2 (draft)
last_live contains the snapshot of version 1.0Changes are not yet published
Publishing a Draft To make your draft changes official, publish the draft:
POST /api/v1/tasks/550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000/draft { "action" : "accept" }
Response: { "data" : { "id" : "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000" , "title" : "Complete comprehensive API documentation" , "priority" : "urgent" , "version_major" : 2 , "version_minor" : 0 , "is_published" : true , "last_live" : null } }
What Happened:
Draft version 1.2 became published version 2.0
is_published set to truelast_live cleared (no longer needed)Ready for new edits
Discarding a Draft To revert to the last published version:
POST /api/v1/tasks/550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000/draft { "action" : "discard" }
Response: { "data" : { "id" : "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000" , "title" : "Complete API documentation" , "priority" : "high" , "version_major" : 1 , "version_minor" : 0 , "is_published" : true , "last_live" : null } }
What Happened:
Draft changes discarded
Reverted to last published state (version 1.0)
All unpublished edits lost
Use Cases 1. Review Process Example Workflow:
Developer updates task description (creates draft)
Adds code examples (draft v1.2)
Asks manager to review
Manager approves → publish draft
OR manager rejects → discard draft
2. Batch Editing Make multiple changes without notifying collaborators until ready:
// Make several changes await updateTask ( taskId , { priority: 'high' }); // Draft v1.1 await updateTask ( taskId , { due_date: tomorrow }); // Draft v1.2 await updateTask ( taskId , { description: '...' }); // Draft v1.3 // Publish all at once await publishDraft ( taskId ); // All changes go live as v2.0
3. Conflict Prevention Two users editing the same task:
When multiple users create drafts, only one can be published. The second will receive a conflict error and must rebase their changes.
Bypassing the Draft Workflow Some operations don’t require drafting:
Status Changes POST /api/v1/tasks/550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000/complete
This directly publishes the status change without creating a draft.
POST /api/v1/tasks/550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000/comments { "message" : "Great progress!" }
Comments are always immediately visible, no drafting.
Quick Updates Include publish: true in update requests:
PUT /api/v1/tasks/550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 { "priority" : "urgent", "publish" : true }
This creates and immediately publishes the draft in one operation.
Querying Drafts Get Only Published Items GET /api/v1/tasks?published= true
Get Only Drafts GET /api/v1/tasks?published= false
Include Draft Status GET /api/v1/tasks?include_draft_status= true
Response includes draft information:
{ "data" : [ { "id" : "task-1" , "is_published" : true , "version_major" : 3 , "version_minor" : 0 }, { "id" : "task-2" , "is_published" : false , "version_major" : 1 , "version_minor" : 2 , "has_unpublished_changes" : true } ] }
Version History Access previous versions:
GET /api/v1/tasks/550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000/history
Response:
{ "data" : { "current" : { "version" : "2.3" , "is_published" : false , "updated_at" : "2025-11-02T15:00:00Z" }, "published" : { "version" : "2.0" , "updated_at" : "2025-11-01T10:00:00Z" , "snapshot" : { ... } }, "history" : [ { "version" : "1.0" , "published_at" : "2025-10-15T12:00:00Z" } ] } }
Best Practices
Don’t leave drafts unpublished for extended periods. This can cause sync issues with collaborators.
Use Drafts for Major Changes
Use the draft workflow for significant updates that benefit from review. Skip it for minor changes like status updates.
Handle Conflicts Gracefully
When publish fails due to conflicts, fetch the latest published version, merge changes manually, and republish.
In UI, clearly indicate when viewing a draft vs published version to avoid confusion.
Error Handling Conflict Error { "error" : "Draft conflict" , "message" : "Another draft was published while yours was being edited" , "status" : 409 , "data" : { "your_version" : "1.2" , "current_version" : "2.0" , "conflicting_fields" : [ "title" , "priority" ] } }
Resolution:
Fetch latest published version (GET /tasks/{id})
Merge your changes with current state
Create new draft with merged changes
Publish
Next Steps 
