Why doesn't dify save the agent when creating it but publish it directly?

[BruceXuK]

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I hope to store the creation information of the agent in an external application, but when creating the agent, updates can only be published directly.

[dosubot[bot]]

Dify publishes agents (apps) directly upon creation because that's how the platform is designed—there is no draft or unpublished state for agents. When you create an agent, it's immediately committed to the database and becomes active; the codebase and API do not support saving agents as drafts or in an unpublished state. This is different from workflows, which do support drafts and publishing as separate steps. The reasoning appears to be that workflows are more complex and often need iteration before going live, while agents are treated as simpler and are published immediately by design. Supporting a draft state for agents would require significant architectural changes, and there is no evidence of such a feature in the current codebase or recent updates (source, service logic).

If you want to store agent creation information externally before publishing, you could prepare and manage your agent data in your external system, then use the Dify API to create/publish the agent only when you're ready. There is currently no built-in way to save agents as drafts within Dify.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[dosubot[bot]]

There isn’t an official template in the docs, but you can create an Agent (app) externally using the Dify API by sending a POST request to the /apps endpoint with at least these fields: name (string) and mode set to agent-chat. Optional fields include description, icon_type, icon, and icon_background. Here’s a sample JSON payload:

{
  "name": "My Agent",
  "mode": "agent-chat",
  "description": "This is my agent.",
  "icon_type": "emoji",
  "icon": "🤖",
  "icon_background": "#F5F5F5"
}

This will create an agent that is immediately published and active. Further configuration (like prompts, tools, etc.) is done via separate update endpoints after creation. The backend uses default templates for agent mode, so you don’t need to specify everything up front—just the basics to get started (API details, template logic).

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[BruceXuK]

@dosu Sorry, there is something wrong with my description. Actually, I hope to obtain the template for publishing the agent because I need external applications to create the agent, and the agent can be published through an interface similar to an API.

[dosubot[bot]]

To publish (create) an agent from an external application, use the Dify API endpoint POST /apps with a JSON payload. Creating and publishing are the same operation—there is no draft state for agents. The minimal required fields are:

{
  "name": "Your Agent Name",
  "mode": "agent-chat"
}

Optional fields you can include: description, icon_type, icon, and icon_background. Example:

{
  "name": "My Agent",
  "mode": "agent-chat",
  "description": "This is my agent.",
  "icon_type": "emoji",
  "icon": "🤖",
  "icon_background": "#F5F5F5"
}

You must authenticate as a user with admin, owner, or editor permissions to use this endpoint. The backend fills in default agent settings (like model provider and model name) automatically, so you only need to provide the basics. Further configuration (prompts, tools, etc.) is done via update endpoints after creation. See the implementation details for more info: API controller, service logic, default template.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[BruceXuK]

@dosu Thanks.I hope I can save the published status and the corresponding parameter information at the time of publication in my own application. Can this be achieved?

[dosubot[bot]]

Yes, you can save both the published status and all parameter information of an agent at the time of publication in your own application. In Dify, creating an agent via the API (POST /apps) instantly publishes it—there is no draft state, so a successful creation (HTTP 201) means the agent is published reference.

The API response includes all the details you need to store, such as: id, name, description, mode, icon, icon_background, model_config (with all agent settings), created_at, updated_at, and more reference. You can persist this entire response in your own system as a record of the agent’s published state and configuration.

Here’s a simplified example of what the response looks like:

{
  "id": "app_xxx",
  "name": "My Agent",
  "description": "This is my agent.",
  "mode": "agent-chat",
  "icon": "🤖",
  "icon_background": "#F5F5F5",
  "model_config": { /* agent config details */ },
  "created_at": 1719216000,
  "updated_at": 1719216000,
  // ...other fields
}

You can treat the presence of this record as proof the agent is published, and store any or all of these fields as needed. No extra steps are required—just capture the API response at creation time.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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