Draft Mode and Live Mode

Overview #

Draft Mode and Live Mode help you safely edit your chatbot without immediately affecting the version your visitors or customers are already using.

When you make changes to your chatbot, Noem.ai saves those changes as a draft first. Your live chatbot does not change until you choose to publish those updates. This gives you time to review, test, and confirm the new version before making it visible to users.

This is especially useful when you are editing instructions, design settings, deployment behavior, or other chatbot configuration details.

What Draft Mode Means #

Draft Mode is the editable version of your chatbot.

When your chatbot is in Draft Mode, you can make changes without affecting the chatbot that is already live on your website or connected channels.

For example, you can safely update:

• chatbot instructions
• design settings
• video message settings
• deployment configuration
• chatbot behavior
• functions and integrations
• general project settings

After you click Save, those changes are saved as a draft. They are not automatically visible to end users.

You will need to click Publish Live when you are ready for those changes to go live.

What Live Mode Means #

Live Mode is the published version of your chatbot.

This is the version customers or website visitors interact with when your chatbot is deployed.

When you publish your chatbot live, Noem.ai makes the current saved version available to your active deployment channels.

In simple terms:

• Draft Mode is what you are editing
• Live Mode is what your users see

This separation prevents unfinished edits from accidentally affecting the customer experience.

How It Works When You Create a New Chatbot #

When you create a new chatbot project, the chatbot starts as a draft.

At this stage, some areas may not be available yet because there is no live version of the chatbot. For example, you may not see full deployment options, inbox activity, or stats until the chatbot has been published live.

This is expected.

Before a chatbot is published:

• the project can be saved as a draft
• you can continue editing the chatbot
• the chatbot is not live to users
• deployment options may be limited
• inbox and stats may not appear yet

Once you click Publish Live, the chatbot becomes available for deployment and live activity tracking.

Publishing a Chatbot Live #

When you are ready to make your chatbot available to users:

1. Save your chatbot changes.
2. Review or test the draft.
3. Click Publish Live.
4. Confirm that you want to publish the chatbot.

After publishing, the live version is updated and can be used by visitors if the chatbot has been deployed.

Noem.ai may show a reminder before publishing so you can create a backup or confirm your changes before replacing the current live version.

What Happens After a Chatbot Is Already Live #

After a chatbot has been published, you can continue editing it safely.

When you make a new change and click Save, Noem.ai saves that change as a new draft. The live chatbot remains unchanged until you publish again.

This means your users will keep seeing the previous live version while you work on updates.

Example:

1. Your chatbot is live on your website.
2. You update the instructions.
3. You click Save.
4. The update is saved as a draft.
5. Website visitors still see the old live version.
6. You test the draft.
7. You click Publish Live.
8. Visitors now see the updated version.

This workflow helps prevent accidental changes from going live too early.

Testing Draft vs Live #

Noem.ai allows you to test both versions so you can compare behavior before publishing.

Test Draft #

Use this when you want to test your latest saved changes before publishing them.

This is useful for checking:

• new instructions
• updated tone
• new routing rules
• design changes
• revised chatbot behavior

Test Live #

Use this when you want to confirm what real users are currently seeing.

This is useful when:

• a customer reports an issue
• you want to compare the live bot against your draft
• you need to confirm whether a recent change was published or only saved as draft

A good habit is to test the draft first, then publish, then test the live version again.

Important Exception: Knowledge Changes Go Live Immediately #

There is one important caveat.

Knowledge updates go live immediately.

This means that changes to the chatbot’s knowledge base, such as uploaded files or knowledge content, may affect the chatbot right away instead of waiting for a separate publish step.

This behavior is different from most other draft-based settings because knowledge is handled differently on the database side.

Because of this, be careful when changing knowledge content for a live chatbot.

Before adding, removing, or replacing important knowledge files, make sure the content is accurate and ready to be used by the chatbot.

Why Some Tabs May Be Hidden Before Publishing #

Before a chatbot has a live version, some tabs or areas may not appear or may show limited information.

For example:

• Deploy may not show usable deployment options until the chatbot is published
• Inbox may not appear because there are no live conversations yet
• Stats may not appear because there is no live usage to report

This is normal. These areas become more useful after the chatbot has been published and deployed.

Recommended Workflow #

Use this workflow whenever you are editing a chatbot:

1. Make your changes.
2. Click Save to save them as a draft.
3. Use Test Draft to confirm the chatbot behaves correctly.
4. Review anything important before publishing.
5. Click Publish Live when ready.
6. Use Test Live to confirm the published version works as expected.

For live chatbots, this workflow protects your current user experience while still giving you freedom to improve the chatbot.

Best Practices #

Do not publish immediately after every small edit #

Save your changes, test them, and publish only when you are confident.

Use Draft Mode for experimentation #

Draft Mode is useful for testing new instructions, tone, workflows, or design changes without disrupting the live chatbot.

Test before publishing #

Always use Test Draft before pushing changes live, especially if you updated instructions or customer-facing behavior.

Remember the knowledge exception #

Knowledge updates go live immediately, so treat knowledge changes with extra care.

Confirm the live version after publishing #

After publishing, use Test Live to verify the live chatbot reflects the intended changes.

Common Questions #

Why do I not see Deploy, Inbox, or Stats yet? #

If the chatbot has not been published live, those areas may not be available or may show limited information. Publish the chatbot live first, then deploy it and begin collecting conversations or usage data.

If I save changes, are users seeing them immediately? #

Usually no. Saved configuration changes go into Draft Mode. Users will not see them until you publish live.

Can I test changes before publishing? #

Yes. Use Test Draft to test your saved draft before publishing.

Can I compare draft and live behavior? #

Yes. Use Test Draft to test the version you are editing, and Test Live to test what users currently see.

Do knowledge changes wait for publish? #

No. Knowledge changes go live immediately, so update knowledge carefully on live chatbots.

Draft Mode and Live Mode give you a safer way to manage chatbot changes. You can edit and test your chatbot without immediately affecting real users, then publish only when the updated version is ready.

The main rule is simple:

Save creates a draft. Publish Live updates what users see. Knowledge changes go live immediately.