Publishing Modes & Autopilot

Your publishing mode is the one setting that decides how hands-on you want to be. Pick from three simple presets and theStacc handles the rest - from "I'll write everything myself" all the way to "write and publish for me automatically."

You set this under Content SEO > Settings > Publishing, in the section titled How should posts go out? Each project has its own setting, so you can run one site fully hands-off and review every post on another.

The three presets#

You choose one of three presets. They appear as a single list with a radio button next to each - only one can be active at a time.

Manual#

*You create and publish posts yourself. Nothing runs automatically.*

• Automatic daily generation is turned off - nothing runs on a schedule.
• You create and publish posts yourself from your dashboard, when you want them.
• You keep full control over timing, edits, and which posts go live.

Manual is always available, even before you connect a website. It is the safest starting point if you want to try a few posts by hand before letting theStacc run on its own.

Draft for me#

*We write a post on your schedule; you review and publish each one.*

• theStacc generates a new blog on its scheduled date using AI.
• Each finished post lands in your review queue as Pending Review - nothing goes live on its own.
• You approve it (or edit it first), and then it publishes to your connected destination.

Draft for me is the best balance of automation and control: theStacc does the writing, you stay the final check before anything reaches your audience.

Full autopilot#

*We write and publish a new post on your schedule. Completely hands-off.*

• theStacc generates a new blog on its scheduled date using AI.
• Each post publishes automatically to your connected destination - there is no review step.
• You can still unpublish or edit posts after they go live.

Full autopilot is for when you trust theStacc to run your blog end to end without you in the loop.

What each preset actually changes#

Every preset is a friendly name for two underlying switches working together:

• Auto-generation - whether theStacc writes a new post for you on each scheduled date. This is off by default on every project; a preset that automates turns it on.
• Publishing mode - what happens to a post once it has been written: hold it for review, or push it live.

Here is exactly how the three presets map to those switches:

You never have to set these two switches separately - choosing a preset sets both at once, and it deliberately prevents mismatched combinations (like "publish automatically" while "writing is off"). The preset shown as selected always reflects the real, saved state of your project.

What happens to your posts in each mode#

This is the part most people want to know: once a post exists, where does it go?

Manual#

Nothing happens on a schedule. No post is generated automatically and nothing publishes on its own. You generate posts yourself and publish them yourself from the dashboard. This mode gives you complete manual control over the whole process.

Draft for me#

On each post's scheduled date, theStacc writes the blog (text and images) and then stops and waits for you. The finished draft lands in your review queue marked Pending Review. It does not publish until you approve it. From the review queue you can edit it, approve it (which sends it to your connected destination), or reject it. See Draft & Approval Workflow for how to review, edit, and approve.

Full autopilot#

On each post's scheduled date, theStacc writes the blog and then hands it straight to publishing. The post is queued to go live and publishes automatically to your connected destination - no review step. To avoid a flood of simultaneous publishes when several posts finish at the same time, theStacc spreads the live pushes out over a short window rather than firing them all at the exact same second. Once live, you can still go back and edit or unpublish any post.

In every mode, you can always create and publish a one-off post by hand - the preset only controls what happens automatically on your schedule.

You need a destination for the automated presets#

Full autopilot and Draft for me both require an active publishing destination - somewhere for the posts to go (WordPress, Webflow, Ghost, Zepio, Shopify, or a custom webhook). You connect one in the Destination section on the same Publishing page. Only one destination is active at a time.

Until a destination is connected, those two presets are locked and you'll see a prompt to *"Connect a destination above to turn on scheduled posts."* This protects you from paying for AI to write posts every day that have nowhere to be published.

Manual does not require a destination - it is always available, because in Manual you decide when and where to publish each post yourself.

For setup steps on each platform, see Publishing.

Only one preset per project, and who can change it#

• One preset is active per project at any time. Switching presets simply replaces the previous one - you don't combine them.
• Changing the preset requires project admin access. If you're not an admin on the project, the presets are read-only and you'll see a note that *"Only project admins can change this setting."* Editors and other members can view the current mode but can't change it.
• You can switch between presets anytime from Content SEO > Settings > Publishing. The change takes effect for posts going forward.

How to set or change your publishing mode#

1. Go to Content SEO > Settings > Publishing.
2. (For Full autopilot or Draft for me) Make sure a destination is connected in the Destination section.
3. In How should posts go out?, click the preset you want.
4. Confirm in the dialog that appears - it summarizes exactly what the preset will do.

That's it. The status line under the presets confirms what theStacc will do from now on.

A quick way to choose#

• Just exploring, or want to write posts yourself? Choose Manual.
• Want theStacc to write for you, but you have the final say? Choose Draft for me.
• Want a fully hands-off blog? Choose Full autopilot.

Related#

• Publishing - connect WordPress, Webflow, Ghost, Zepio, Shopify, or a webhook destination.
• Draft & Approval Workflow - review, edit, and approve posts in Draft for me.
• Automated Generation - how scheduled, automatic writing works behind Draft for me and Full autopilot.