Publishing and versioning

Version deliberately

Publish a new version when a meaningful form definition changes. Do not mutate a deployed form in place when existing submissions must remain reproducible.

Operational release pattern

1. Save the change as a draft.
2. Validate the form.
3. Test with representative records.
4. Confirm calculations and repeats.
5. Publish the version.
6. Refresh or re-provision collectors when required.
7. Confirm the new version appears in the intended client.

During live data collection

Avoid breaking changes such as renaming core fields without a data migration plan. Coordinate version changes with teams that are still carrying offline work.