Bot Version management is most useful as a disciplined rhythm: clone, edit, test, activate, monitor, retire. Skipping steps invites production issues.
- Clone the current Active version
Inside Bot Builder, clone the Active version to create a new Draft. Name the clone with a meaningful suffix (V12 - intent retraining, V13 - new payment dialog).
- Edit the Draft in isolation
Make changes to dialogs, intents, training, or actions. The Active version continues to serve production while the Draft evolves.
- Test in Bot Builder Preview and a sandbox
Run scripted conversations through Preview. For larger changes, activate the Draft in a sandbox for internal testers before production.
- Activate the Draft in production
Once tested, activate the Draft. The previous Active version demotes to Inactive. Watch Bot Performance metrics closely for the first hours.
- Retire old Inactive versions
After the rollback window passes (typically two to four weeks), archive or delete obsolete Inactive versions to keep the list manageable.
- Editing the Active version directly risks production disruption. Always clone-edit-activate.
- Drafts not tested in sandbox surprise the team at production scale. Most issues only appear under real customer load.
- Keeping dozens of Inactive versions makes the version list unmanageable. Retire after the rollback window passes.
- Cross-version channel routing changes are not versioned. Document them separately so the rollback path stays clean.