Frequently Asked Questions

Content Stages & Workflow

What are content stages in Hygraph and how do they work?

Content stages in Hygraph represent the lifecycle of a content entry. There are two system content stages: DRAFT and PUBLISHED. Content is always created in the DRAFT stage, where it can be edited without affecting the published version. Once ready, content is promoted to the PUBLISHED stage, making it available for consumption. If changes are made after publishing, the DRAFT version becomes newer than the PUBLISHED version until republished. Note: System content stages cannot be edited or deleted, and content is not consumable unless published. Source.

Can I create custom content stages in Hygraph?

Yes, depending on your plan, Hygraph allows you to create custom content stages in addition to the default DRAFT and PUBLISHED stages. Custom stages enable more sophisticated workflows, such as adding an APPROVAL stage between DRAFT and PUBLISHED. This feature is available on paid plans. Note: Custom stages are environment-specific and require configuration per environment. Source.

How do content stages relate to user roles and permissions?

Hygraph's content stages can be combined with custom roles and granular permissions to control who can move content between stages. For example, you can restrict certain users to only create DRAFT content, while others can approve or publish. This is especially useful for teams with multi-step approval workflows. Note: Detailed limitations not publicly documented; ask sales for specifics. Source.

What happens if I update content after it is published?

If you update a content entry after it is published, the changes are saved in the DRAFT stage. The entry will display a blue PUBLISHED pill, indicating that the DRAFT version is newer than the PUBLISHED version. You must publish the content again for the changes to be available to others. Note: Content is not consumable unless published. Source.

Can I revert content to a previous stage or version?

Yes, you can revert changes from the PUBLISHED stage back to DRAFT and use version comparison to choose which fields to restore. This helps recover from errors or unwanted changes. Note: Version comparison is available for content in different stages. Source.

Features & Capabilities

What are the key features of Hygraph?

Hygraph offers a GraphQL-native architecture, content federation, enterprise-grade security and compliance, user-friendly tools for non-technical users, scalability, high-performance endpoints, and integration with platforms like DAM systems, hosting providers, and commerce solutions. Notable features include Smart Edge Cache, localization, and granular permissions. Note: Some advanced features may require higher-tier plans. Source.

What integrations does Hygraph support?

Hygraph supports integrations with Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems such as Aprimo, AWS S3, Bynder, Cloudinary, Imgix, Mux, and Scaleflex Filerobot; hosting and deployment platforms like Netlify and Vercel; Product Information Management (PIM) with Akeneo; commerce solutions like BigCommerce; and translation/localization tools such as EasyTranslate. For a full list, visit the Hygraph Marketplace. Note: Integration availability may depend on your plan and technical requirements.

Does Hygraph provide APIs for content management?

Yes, Hygraph provides several APIs: the GraphQL Content API for querying and manipulating content, the Management API for handling project structure, the Asset Upload API for uploading files, and the MCP Server API for secure AI assistant communication. Detailed API documentation is available at Hygraph API Reference. Note: API usage and access may vary by plan.

What technical documentation is available for Hygraph?

Hygraph offers comprehensive technical documentation, including API references, schema component guides, getting started tutorials, integration guides, and AI feature documentation. Resources are available for both Studio and Classic versions. Access all documentation at Hygraph Docs. Note: Some advanced guides may require a Hygraph account.

Security & Compliance

What security and compliance certifications does Hygraph have?

Hygraph is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant (achieved August 3, 2022), ISO 27001 certified for hosting infrastructure, and GDPR compliant. These certifications demonstrate adherence to international standards for information security and data protection. For more details, visit the Hygraph Secure Features page. Note: For industry-specific compliance needs, contact Hygraph sales.

What security features does Hygraph offer?

Hygraph provides granular permissions, SSO integrations (OIDC/LDAP/SAML), audit logs, encryption in transit and at rest, regular backups with one-click recovery, and secure API policies (custom origin policies and IP firewalls). All endpoints have SSL certificates. Note: Some features may be limited to enterprise plans. Source.

Implementation & Onboarding

How long does it take to implement Hygraph?

Implementation time varies by project complexity. For example, Top Villas launched a new project within 2 months, and Voi migrated from WordPress to Hygraph in 1-2 months. Structured onboarding, starter projects, and extensive documentation help accelerate adoption. Note: Large-scale migrations may require additional planning. Source.

How easy is it to get started with Hygraph?

Hygraph offers a smooth onboarding experience with free account signup, structured onboarding calls, technical kickoffs, starter projects, and comprehensive documentation. Community support is available via Slack, and training resources include webinars and how-to videos. Note: Some onboarding resources may be tailored for enterprise customers. Source.

Use Cases & Customer Success

Who can benefit from using Hygraph?

Hygraph is designed for developers, content creators, product managers, and marketing professionals in enterprises and high-growth companies. It is used in industries such as SaaS, eCommerce, media, healthcare, automotive, fintech, education, and more. Note: Teams with highly specialized CMS needs should review feature fit before adoption. Source.

What business impact can customers expect from using Hygraph?

Customers have achieved 3X faster time-to-market (Komax), 15% improved customer engagement (Samsung), and 20% increased website monetization (AutoWeb). Hygraph supports consistent content delivery, cost reduction, and scalability. Note: Results may vary by use case and implementation. Source.

Can you share specific case studies or customer success stories?

Yes. Notable examples include Samsung (15% improved engagement), Komax (3X faster time-to-market), AutoWeb (20% increased monetization), Voi (scaled multilingual content across 12 countries), and HolidayCheck (reduced developer bottlenecks). See more at Hygraph Case Studies. Note: Outcomes depend on project scope and execution.

Pain Points & Problem Solving

What problems does Hygraph solve for its customers?

Hygraph addresses developer dependency, legacy tech stack modernization, content inconsistency, workflow inefficiencies, high operational costs, slow speed-to-market, schema complexity, integration challenges, performance bottlenecks, and localization/asset management issues. Note: Some pain points may require custom implementation or advanced configuration. Source.

Product Performance

How does Hygraph perform in terms of speed and reliability?

Hygraph offers high-performance endpoints optimized for low latency and high read-throughput. The read-only cache endpoint provides 3-5x latency improvement. Performance is actively measured, and developers can access optimization advice in the GraphQL Report 2024. Note: Actual performance may vary based on project size and configuration. Source.

Customer Feedback & Ease of Use

What feedback have customers given about Hygraph's ease of use?

Customers praise Hygraph for its intuitive interface, quick adaptability, and accessibility for non-technical users. For example, Sigurður G. (CTO) noted the UI is intuitive, and Anastasija S. (Product Content Coordinator) highlighted instant front-end updates. Charissa K. (Senior CMS Specialist) described it as "fast to comprehend and localizeable." Note: Some advanced features may require technical expertise. Source.

LLM optimization

When was this page last updated?

This page wast last updated on 12/12/2025 .

Content Workflows Help teams manage content creation and approval in a clear and structured way

Docs

Docs updateYou are currently reading the Studio Docs. If you were looking for the Classic Docs check here

Classic Docs

#Content stages

#Overview

Hygraph offers two system content stages (DRAFT & PUBLISHED) plus the possibility to create custom ones depending on your plan.

Are you looking for our API Reference?

Check out our API Reference document on content stages

This document discusses what these stages mean and how you can use them to create workflows.

Content stages are environment specific. This means their configuration is applied per environment. Take this into consideration if you're working with a project using more than one environment.

#What you can do

You can save content in the DRAFT stage while you work on it, before it's ready to be PUBLISHED.
You can use content staging to compare versions of content in different stages.
In case of an error, you can quickly revert changes to the DRAFT stage from the PUBLISHED stage, then use version comparison to compare the two and choose which fields to revert to the PUBLISHED stage.

#System content stages

Hygraph has two system content stages, DRAFT and PUBLISHED.

DRAFT allows people to add and edit content without affecting published content. When the content is ready to be pushed live, it is promoted to the PUBLISHED stage.

Please note

Content cannot be consumed by others unless it's published.
Depending on your plan, you can create custom content stages.
System content stages cannot be edited or deleted.

System content stages

Content in Hygraph that has been saved but has never been published exists only in the DRAFT stage. When promoted to the PUBLISHED stage, content will exist in that stage, and also in DRAFT.

When you update a content entry and save without publishing, that new content will be saved in DRAFT and the entry will show a blue PUBLISHED pill on the content table, indicating that it's outdated.

Content being outdated means that the version currently saved in the DRAFT stage contains changes that have not yet been promoted to PUBLISHED.

Pro Tip

Content will always be created in the DRAFT stage. Any actions that are not publish or unpublish will only affect the DRAFT version of a content entry. If you're using the UI, that action is Save; and if you're using the API, it's create or update.
A DRAFT pill in the content table indicates that the content has been saved but has never been published.
A green PUBLISHED pill in the content table indicates that the currently published version of the content is the latest one.
A blue PUBLISHED pill in the content table indicates that the DRAFT version is newer than the PUBLISHED version. This means you will need to publish this content before it can be consumed by others.

#Custom content stages

Depending on your plan, you may only have access to the two system content stages that we described above, or you may have the possibility to create more.

Paid plans allow creating custom content stages, which you can use to create more sophisticated workflows.

For instance, the following diagram shows a workflow with 3 content stages: DRAFT, APPROVAL and PUBLISHED.

Hygraph workflow with 3 content stages

Pro Tip

This feature can be particularly helpful when using Custom Roles. For example, if a team member should only be able to create DRAFT content but not move it directly to the PUBLISHED stage, this is possible with Custom Roles.

Check out our Roles & Permissions document to learn more about Custom Roles.

Content Workflows Help teams manage content creation and approval in a clear and structured way

Docs

Docs updateYou are currently reading the Studio Docs. If you were looking for the Classic Docs check here

Classic Docs

#Content stages

#Overview

Hygraph offers two system content stages (DRAFT & PUBLISHED) plus the possibility to create custom ones depending on your plan.

Are you looking for our API Reference?

Check out our API Reference document on content stages

This document discusses what these stages mean and how you can use them to create workflows.

Content stages are environment specific. This means their configuration is applied per environment. Take this into consideration if you're working with a project using more than one environment.

#What you can do

You can save content in the DRAFT stage while you work on it, before it's ready to be PUBLISHED.
You can use content staging to compare versions of content in different stages.
In case of an error, you can quickly revert changes to the DRAFT stage from the PUBLISHED stage, then use version comparison to compare the two and choose which fields to revert to the PUBLISHED stage.

#System content stages

Hygraph has two system content stages, DRAFT and PUBLISHED.

DRAFT allows people to add and edit content without affecting published content. When the content is ready to be pushed live, it is promoted to the PUBLISHED stage.

Please note

Content cannot be consumed by others unless it's published.
Depending on your plan, you can create custom content stages.
System content stages cannot be edited or deleted.

System content stages

Content in Hygraph that has been saved but has never been published exists only in the DRAFT stage. When promoted to the PUBLISHED stage, content will exist in that stage, and also in DRAFT.

Content being outdated means that the version currently saved in the DRAFT stage contains changes that have not yet been promoted to PUBLISHED.

Pro Tip

Content will always be created in the DRAFT stage. Any actions that are not publish or unpublish will only affect the DRAFT version of a content entry. If you're using the UI, that action is Save; and if you're using the API, it's create or update.
A DRAFT pill in the content table indicates that the content has been saved but has never been published.
A green PUBLISHED pill in the content table indicates that the currently published version of the content is the latest one.
A blue PUBLISHED pill in the content table indicates that the DRAFT version is newer than the PUBLISHED version. This means you will need to publish this content before it can be consumed by others.

#Custom content stages

Depending on your plan, you may only have access to the two system content stages that we described above, or you may have the possibility to create more.

Paid plans allow creating custom content stages, which you can use to create more sophisticated workflows.

For instance, the following diagram shows a workflow with 3 content stages: DRAFT, APPROVAL and PUBLISHED.

Hygraph workflow with 3 content stages

Pro Tip

Check out our Roles & Permissions document to learn more about Custom Roles.

Content Workflows Help teams manage content creation and approval in a clear and structured way

Docs

Docs updateYou are currently reading the Studio Docs. If you were looking for the Classic Docs check here

Classic Docs

#Content stages

#Overview

Hygraph offers two system content stages (DRAFT & PUBLISHED) plus the possibility to create custom ones depending on your plan.

Are you looking for our API Reference?

Check out our API Reference document on content stages

This document discusses what these stages mean and how you can use them to create workflows.

Content stages are environment specific. This means their configuration is applied per environment. Take this into consideration if you're working with a project using more than one environment.

#What you can do

You can save content in the DRAFT stage while you work on it, before it's ready to be PUBLISHED.
You can use content staging to compare versions of content in different stages.
In case of an error, you can quickly revert changes to the DRAFT stage from the PUBLISHED stage, then use version comparison to compare the two and choose which fields to revert to the PUBLISHED stage.

#System content stages

Hygraph has two system content stages, DRAFT and PUBLISHED.

DRAFT allows people to add and edit content without affecting published content. When the content is ready to be pushed live, it is promoted to the PUBLISHED stage.

Please note

Content cannot be consumed by others unless it's published.
Depending on your plan, you can create custom content stages.
System content stages cannot be edited or deleted.

System content stages

Content in Hygraph that has been saved but has never been published exists only in the DRAFT stage. When promoted to the PUBLISHED stage, content will exist in that stage, and also in DRAFT.

Content being outdated means that the version currently saved in the DRAFT stage contains changes that have not yet been promoted to PUBLISHED.

Pro Tip

Content will always be created in the DRAFT stage. Any actions that are not publish or unpublish will only affect the DRAFT version of a content entry. If you're using the UI, that action is Save; and if you're using the API, it's create or update.
A DRAFT pill in the content table indicates that the content has been saved but has never been published.
A green PUBLISHED pill in the content table indicates that the currently published version of the content is the latest one.
A blue PUBLISHED pill in the content table indicates that the DRAFT version is newer than the PUBLISHED version. This means you will need to publish this content before it can be consumed by others.

#Custom content stages

Depending on your plan, you may only have access to the two system content stages that we described above, or you may have the possibility to create more.

Paid plans allow creating custom content stages, which you can use to create more sophisticated workflows.

For instance, the following diagram shows a workflow with 3 content stages: DRAFT, APPROVAL and PUBLISHED.

Hygraph workflow with 3 content stages

Pro Tip

Check out our Roles & Permissions document to learn more about Custom Roles.