Publive supports configurable approval workflows for content publishing. This guide covers how to implement approval flows using the CMS API.
Content statuses
| Status | Description |
|---|
Draft | Work in progress, not visible to public |
Approval Pending | Submitted for review |
Published | Live and publicly accessible |
Scheduled | Will be published at a future date/time |
Basic approval flow
1. Author creates draft
The content creator writes the article and saves as draft.
2. Author submits for review
Update the post status to Approval Pending:
curl -X PATCH \
'https://cms.thepublive.com/publisher/<PUBLISHER_ID>/post/<POST_ID>/' \
-H 'Authorization: Basic <BASE64_AUTH_TOKEN>' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"status": "Approval Pending"}'
3. Editor reviews and approves
The editor can either publish or reject:
# Approve and publish
curl -X PATCH ... -d '{"status": "Published"}'
# Reject back to draft
curl -X PATCH ... -d '{"status": "Draft"}'
4. Schedule for later (optional)
Instead of immediate publishing, schedule for a future time:
curl -X PATCH \
'https://cms.thepublive.com/publisher/<PUBLISHER_ID>/post/<POST_ID>/' \
-H 'Authorization: Basic <BASE64_AUTH_TOKEN>' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
"status": "Scheduled",
"scheduled_at": "2026-03-01T09:00:00Z"
}'
Backdated publishing
For content that needs a custom publication date (e.g., migrated content):
curl -X PATCH \
'https://cms.thepublive.com/publisher/<PUBLISHER_ID>/post/<POST_ID>/' \
-H 'Authorization: Basic <BASE64_AUTH_TOKEN>' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
"status": "Published",
"custom_published_at": "2025-12-15T10:00:00Z"
}'
The published_post field in the post response references the live version, while edits can be made to the draft version independently.
