> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://documentation.taskmaverick.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://documentation.taskmaverick.com/missions/how-to-guides/publish-a-mission.md).

# Publish a Mission

A Mission must be **Published** before it can be [scheduled](/missions/how-to-guides/schedule-a-mission.md), deployed to boards, and used in [Processes](/processes/what-are-processes.md). Publishing is the gate between "work in progress" and "ready for employees."

## Why publishing matters

Publishing isn't just a status change — it locks certain fields and unlocks the entire deployment pipeline. Before publishing, a Mission is invisible to employees and can't appear on any board. After publishing, it becomes a live operational tool.

## Mission statuses

Every Mission moves through a lifecycle:

<table><thead><tr><th width="173">Status</th><th>What it means</th><th>What you can do</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Draft</strong></td><td>Work in progress — fully editable</td><td>Edit everything, duplicate, delete</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Ready</strong></td><td>Reviewed and approved for publishing</td><td>Publish or reject back to Draft</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Published</strong></td><td>Live — can be scheduled and deployed</td><td>Edit content and settings (with some restrictions), archive</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Archived</strong></td><td>Removed from active use — read-only</td><td>Restore or delete</td></tr></tbody></table>

## How to publish

1. Open a Mission in **Draft** or **Ready** status
2. Click **Publish** in the Actions menu (sidebar, context menu, or navigation bar)
3. Confirm

The Mission is now live and available for scheduling.

## What changes after publishing

<table><thead><tr><th width="203">What</th><th>Before publishing</th><th>After publishing</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Mission content</strong></td><td>Fully editable</td><td>Editable — changes apply to future instances</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Mission Settings</strong></td><td>Fully editable</td><td>Editable</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Scheduling</strong></td><td>Not possible</td><td>Available</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Use in Processes</strong></td><td>Not possible</td><td>Available</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Visibility to employees</strong></td><td>Not visible</td><td>Visible when scheduled</td></tr></tbody></table>

## Unpublishing and archiving

<table><thead><tr><th width="153.6666259765625">Action</th><th>What it does</th><th>When to use</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Archive</strong></td><td>Moves to read-only state. All active schedules stop. Public Interface links stop working.</td><td>Mission is no longer needed but you want to keep the history</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Restore</strong></td><td>Returns an archived Mission to Published status. Schedules and links reactivate with the same URLs.</td><td>Bringing back a seasonal or temporary Mission</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Delete</strong></td><td>Permanently removes the Mission and all its data</td><td>Only available for Draft or Archived Missions</td></tr></tbody></table>

{% hint style="info" %}
Archiving a Mission that's part of a [Process](/processes/what-are-processes.md) changes the Process status to **Broken**. Restoring the Mission fixes it.
{% endhint %}

## Good to know

* Only [System Admins](/your-organization/people.md#roles) can publish, archive, and restore Missions
* Missions imported from the Marketplace arrive in your Library as **Published** — you can edit their Settings but not their Main Info or content (unless you detach them)
* A Mission can't be deleted while Published — archive it first


---

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