ETL: Package Drafts

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Overview

A package draft is a private, automatically saved working copy of a package. As you edit a package in the designer, your changes are saved to your draft roughly every two seconds. The draft never affects the running version of the package: jobs, schedules, and teammates continue to use the last saved version until you click Save Version. Each user has their own draft per package. Your draft is private: teammates editing the same package work in their own drafts, and a package is only flagged as having unsaved changes for the user who made them.

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How It Works

Actions that update your draft include adding, editing, moving, or removing components, connecting or disconnecting components, renaming the package or editing its description, changing package variables, and undo or redo.

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Draft Indicators

When you have unsaved draft changes, Integrate.io ETL shows a Draft Version indicator in two places:

• In the package designer: a Draft Version badge appears next to the package name. Its tooltip reads “You have unsaved changes. Save Version to make it the running version.”
• In the package list: the package shows a Draft Version tag with the version number your draft is based on, for example “Draft Version 5”.

The version indicator in the designer shows the version your draft was created from, not the latest saved version.

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Resuming a Draft

When you open a package that has one of your drafts, the designer loads the draft automatically and shows the message “Restored your unsaved draft.” There is no prompt: you continue exactly where you left off, even after closing the browser or switching devices. To review the last saved version instead, open the package version history. Read-only version views never load drafts.

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Saving a Version

Clicking Save Version publishes your draft as the new running version of the package: Package variables follow the same flow: variable changes are stored in your draft and applied when you save a version.

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Discarding a Draft

To throw away your unsaved changes and revert to the last saved version: Discarding a draft removes only your own draft. It does not affect the saved package or any teammate’s draft.

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Working with Teammates

Because drafts are per user, several people can edit the same package at once without overwriting each other’s work in progress. Conflicts are handled at save time:

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A teammate saves a version while you are editing

If a newer version of the package was saved after your draft was created, clicking Save Version shows a dialog: “A newer version was saved while you were editing.” You can choose:

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A teammate saves a version while your editor is clean

If you have no unsaved changes when a teammate publishes a new version, the designer shows a “Package updated” notice with two options: Refresh to load the new version, or Keep editing to stay on the version you have open.

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Copying a draft to a new package

Copy to New Package creates a new package from your draft content. The new package is named “Copy of” followed by the original package name, and the original package and your draft on it are left unchanged. This is useful when your draft has diverged too far from the latest saved version to merge.

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Duplicating a Package with a Draft

Duplicating a package always copies the last saved version, not your draft. If you duplicate a package while you have unsaved draft changes, a dialog warns: “Duplicate copies the last saved version. Your unsaved draft changes on this package won’t be included.”

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Drafts and the AI Assistant

Edits made by the AI Assistant and by the Integrate.io MCP tools are written to your draft, not to the running version. AI-generated changes appear on the canvas with the Draft Version badge, and take effect in jobs and schedules only after you click Save Version. Package validation also checks your draft when one exists, so you can validate AI or manual edits before publishing them.

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FAQ

Q: Can my teammates see my draft? No. Drafts are private to each user. A package shows the Draft Version tag only to the user who has unsaved changes on it. Q: What happens to my draft if I close the browser without saving? Nothing is lost. Drafts are saved on the server, so your changes are restored automatically the next time you open the package. Q: Do drafts affect scheduled jobs? No. Schedules and manually run jobs always use the last saved version of the package. Draft changes take effect only after you save a version. Q: Does autosaving create package versions? No. Draft autosaves are not recorded in version history. A new version is created only when you click Save Version. Q: Are secret variables stored in my draft? No. Secret variable values are excluded from drafts and are committed only when you save a version. Q: What happens to drafts when a package or user is deleted? Deleting a package removes all drafts on it. Removing a user from the account removes that user’s drafts.

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