Post status reference
The six current post statuses in one table, what each one allows, and what moves a post out of it.
Reference· Last verified Aug 24, 2026
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On this page
| Status | Public | Editable | Moves on when |
|---|---|---|---|
idea | No | Not yet written | Generation starts |
researching | No | No, a run is working | Research finishes |
draft | No | Yes | You or Autopilot send it for approval, or publish it |
needs_approval | No | Yes | A reviewer approves it |
scheduled | No | Yes | Its publication slot arrives |
published | Yes | Yes, changes go live on save | You unpublish it |
Notes on individual statuses
- idea and researching
Neither has a real draft behind it. A launch checklist that asks for a draft does not count these two.
- needs_approval
Not an error state. It is the Content Direction's gate doing its job. See review and approval.
- scheduled
Approved and waiting for a slot. Editing it before the slot arrives is normal.
- published
Live. Editing a published post changes what readers see as soon as you save.
Content freshness is deliberately independent of public status. A published
Post can have a needs_update freshness assessment while its Post status
remains published, so the renderer never mistakes an editorial review for an
unpublish instruction. See freshness and conflicts.
Author mode
Independent of status:
| Mode | Meaning |
|---|---|
Autopilot | Produced by Autopilot in Full mode |
Assisted | Produced by Autopilot in Assisted mode |
Human | The words are yours: an import brought in with polish_preserving. A custom brief and a rewritten import are both Assisted, because the pipeline wrote the article |