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Working state and saved state

The editor has a working state and a saved state. They can be different until you save.

Working state​

The working state is what you currently see and edit. It includes the diagram source, type, renderer options, presentation settings, title, and description.

When you edit a saved diagram, the working state changes first. The saved diagram does not change until you choose Save.

For an open diagram, diagram.zip stores the working state as a local browser draft. This draft supports recovery on the same browser. It is not a saved diagram and other people cannot read it.

When a saved link opens with a different local draft, the editor marks that draft as a device-only overlay. Choose Restore saved to discard the overlay and return to the alias revision, or Make a copy to preserve it under a new alias. Neither action silently changes the original share link.

For a locked diagram, the editor does not store the working state as plaintext in browser storage. Save a locked diagram explicitly to persist it.

Saved state​

The saved state is the last version that you saved successfully. It has an alias, a revision, and a stable read link.

The Share dialog uses the saved state. If the working state has changes, the dialog tells you to save before you share. This prevents you from sharing an older version by mistake.

Persistent data​

After a successful save, diagram.zip persists the diagram content and its metadata. It can also persist SVG and PNG renders for that saved revision.

Open content is stored as readable diagram data. Locked content and locked renders are stored as encrypted data. See Password encryption for the locked diagram rules.

The persisted data belongs to the alias and its current revision. A local draft does not replace the persisted data.

Save flow​

The normal flow is:

  1. Edit the working state.
  2. Choose Save.
  3. diagram.zip stores a new revision.
  4. The saved state becomes the working state.

Saving a new diagram creates an alias and an edit capability. Saving an open diagram with an edit capability updates its alias. Saving a read-only diagram creates a new alias instead.

Conflicts​

The editor saves against the revision that it last loaded. If that revision is no longer current, another person saved the alias first.

The editor then offers Reload saved or Save as new. Reload replaces the working state with the current saved state. Save as new preserves the working state in a new alias. diagram.zip does not silently overwrite the other person's saved version.