Updating Published Content with Write API Using Auto-Save

Technical Questions
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If you are trying to use the Builder.io Write API to update published content entries without immediately publishing changes or reverting the entry back to draft, there’s a way to handle this using the autoSaveOnly=true query parameter.

By default, when sending a PUT request to update an existing published entry, the updates are applied and published right away—even if the "published" field is not included in the payload. This makes it difficult to stage changes for later review and manual publishing.

Using the query parameter autoSaveOnly=true with a PUT request will auto-save the updates instead of publishing them.

This way:

  • The live published content remains unchanged.

  • The updates are stored as an auto-save in the background.

  • The changes can later be reviewed and published manually through the Builder visual editor.

curl "https://builder.io/api/v1/write/MODEL_NAME/ENTRY_ID?autoSaveOnly=true" \
  -X PUT \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_PRIVATE_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "data": {
      "field": "newValue"
    }
  }'


PUT https://builder.io/api/v1/write/YOUR_MODEL_NAME/YOUR_ENTRY_ID?autoSaveOnly=true

Content-Type: application/json

{
  "data": {
    "title": "Updated Title",
    "description": "This change is auto-saved, not published."
  }
}

We hope this helps with workflows that require staging updates via the API while keeping control of publishing.

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to reach out or leave a comment — we’re open to feedback and happy to help!

Thanks,

Write API Patch request unclear if the page is publish