Publishing vs. DeploymentCopy Anchor Link

Going live involves two separate actions: publishing conversation logic and deploying to a touchpoint. They're independent steps with their own version history and lifecycle, covered one at a time below.

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Pipeline publishing and Profile deploymentCopy Anchor Link

1. Publishing a Pipeline versionCopy Anchor Link

This is the act of promoting your conversation logic from a work-in-progress state to the version that users actually experience. Every Pipeline has versions, and each version moves through three states:

• Draft – The version currently being edited. Only one Draft exists at a time. Not visible to end users.
• Active (Published) – The version currently running in production. Users interacting with your virtual being are running this version.
• Retired – A previously active version that has been superseded. Retired versions can be inspected, compared, or restored.

To publish: click Publish in the top bar of the Conversation Editor. The current Draft becomes Active, and the previous Active version moves to Retired.

2. Deploying a ProfileCopy Anchor Link

A Profile is the touchpoint configuration that connects your virtual being to the outside world. Deployment means getting the embed code (for Web Widget) or app configuration (for Kiosk) out of Virbe and onto the place users will actually find it.

Profile deployment is a one-time setup per environment – you grab the embed snippet or configuration link, add it to your website or kiosk hardware, and that's it. After that, every time you publish a new Pipeline version, the deployed touchpoint automatically picks up the updated logic with no changes to the embed code or app config.

Going live requires both. A deployed widget running an unpublished Pipeline shows users nothing. A published Pipeline with no deployment is logic that no one can reach. Both are covered here.

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Testing without publishingCopy Anchor Link

You don't need to publish to test. Two options are always available in the Conversation Editor:

• Test conversation – An in-editor chat panel that tests the current Draft instantly, with no effect on live users.
• Preview – Opens the web widget in a new browser tab, showing the current Draft in the real widget UI.

For more structured pre-production testing, you can assign a Draft to a specific Profile (availability of this option may depend on your subscription plan). This makes the Draft the active version for that one profile only – useful for running a staging check before promoting to your production profile.

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Version lifecycle in practiceCopy Anchor Link

A typical change cycle looks like this:

1. You're on a published version (Active). The Conversation Editor shows a read-only banner: "Viewing published version. Create a new draft to make changes."
2. Click Edit in the in the top bar of the Conversation Editor (or + New version from the versions dropdown) to create a new Draft.
3. Make your changes. Test using the Test conversation panel and Preview.
4. Optionally assign the Draft to a staging profile and test in a real environment (if available).
5. Click Publish. The Draft becomes Active. The previous Active version retires.
6. Your deployed touchpoints automatically reflect the new logic – no embed code changes needed.

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Managing versionsCopy Anchor Link

Open the Versions dropdown in the editor top bar to:

• See all versions with their state badges (Draft · Active · Retired) and dates
• Switch the editor to view a Retired version
• Create a new version using + New version – from a template (Default or Blank) or by duplicating an existing version (all flows, signals, and variables are copied)

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Deploying to a touchpointCopy Anchor Link

Once your Pipeline is published, configure and deploy the Profile for your touchpoint:

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