# Publishing Changes

Banner settings, tracker categories, and scan results are saved to the project as you work. **Visitors do not see any of it until you publish.**

## Publish

**Publish changes** is in the header of every project screen. When the saved configuration differs from what is live, the header notes that there are unpublished changes.

![Project overview with Publish changes in the header](/web-app/overview-complete.png)

## Why a publish is required

The script on your site does not read your project settings directly. It requests a published configuration file for your domain, and that file is written only when you publish. Until then — or after later edits — the site keeps serving the configuration from the previous publish.

A project that has never been published serves no configuration at all. The runtime reports that no configuration was found for the domain and keeps the consent elements hidden.

## Confirm the publish reached your domain

Published configuration is cached at the edge for a long period, and publishing clears that cache for the domains it wrote. That step is reported back, and it can fail while the publish itself succeeds — so it is worth confirming rather than assuming:

1. Open the production domain in a new private window.
2. Confirm the banner reflects the change you published.

To inspect what the runtime actually loaded, use the [Debugger](/web-app/debugger).

## What publishing covers

| Change                             | Live after publish |
| ---------------------------------- | ------------------ |
| Banner placement, colours, copy    | Yes                |
| Region and banner-type assignments | Yes                |
| Tracker categories from a scan     | Yes                |
| Privacy policy link                | Yes                |
| Storage endpoint                   | Yes                |

Consent records and analytics are not part of the published configuration — they are collected from visitors as they respond to the banner.

## Checklists

**Initial setup** on the overview tracks the steps needed to go live, ending with **Publish on production**. **Data Privacy Check** tracks the compliance items and includes **Publish the latest changes to production**, which reappears whenever newer changes are waiting.

**Re-check** re-runs these checks after you deploy the site or publish.

## Verify delivery after publication

A successful publish acknowledges a saved configuration snapshot for the selected domains. Browser caches and already-open pages can retain an earlier version; publishing does not replace code already loaded in a tab. Verify a fresh browser load and requests before consent, after rejection, partial acceptance and withdrawal before claiming enforcement. Draft configuration findings describe what would be published, not necessarily what current visitors receive.