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Understand the document lifecycle

Every document in Klarify follows a lifecycle from creation to publishing and beyond. Understanding this lifecycle helps you manage your documentation effectively.

Document states

A document can be in one of three states:

  • First draft — A document that has never been published. First drafts can be edited, shared with collaborators, and permanently deleted. They cannot be archived.
  • Published version — A released version visible to viewers in your organization (or publicly, depending on access settings). Published versions are immutable — once published, that version’s content is locked.
  • Subsequent draft — Unpublished changes on an already-published document. The published version remains visible while the subsequent draft is being edited. Subsequent drafts cannot be permanently deleted, but changes can be cleared to reset to the last published version.

Lifecycle flow

A document typically moves through these stages:

  1. Create — A new process model or global task starts as a first draft.
  2. Edit — Work is autosaved as you edit. You can create snapshots to capture specific points in your progress.
  3. Publish — Publishing creates the first published version (V1.0) and makes the document available to viewers.
  4. Revise — Editing a published document creates a subsequent draft. The published version remains live while you work on changes.
  5. Republish — Publishing the subsequent draft creates a new version. Choose minor (V1.0 → V1.1) for documentation updates or major (V1.0 → V2.0) for process changes.

Documents can exit the lifecycle through:

  • Delete — First drafts can be permanently deleted.
  • Archive — Published documents can be archived (hidden from viewers but not deleted).
  • Clear changes — Subsequent draft changes can be discarded, resetting to the last published version.

Document types in the lifecycle

Process models

Created from the sidebar. Have their own independent lifecycle. When published, embedded task instructions within the process model are published along with it.

Global tasks

Created from the sidebar. Have their own independent lifecycle, separate from any process models that reference them. Can be linked to multiple process models.

Embedded task instructions

Created within a process model. Their versioning is tied to the parent process model:

  • When publishing a process model, you choose which embedded task instructions to include — publishing all of them is not required.
  • After the process model is published, individual task instructions can be published independently (as long as the task exists in the published process model).
  • Publishing an embedded task instruction independently increments the parent process model’s version.

This means you can make targeted changes to a single task instruction without republishing the entire process model, or bundle changes across multiple tasks into one release.

Snapshots vs published versions

These two concepts serve different purposes:

  • Snapshots — Manual checkpoints you create while editing a draft. Captured via the Save button. Visible in the Changelog panel. Used to track your editing progress and restore to earlier draft states.
  • Published versions — Official releases visible to viewers. Created via the Publish button. Visible in Version History. Follow semantic versioning (V1.0, V1.1, V2.0).
  • Create snapshots
  • Restore snapshots
  • Restore previous versions