---
key: update-or-retire-a-clause
title: Change or retire a clause
audience: staff
section: agreements
routes: ["/agreements/clauses/:clauseUid", "/agreements/clauses/:clauseUid/editor", "/agreements/clauses/:clauseUid/history"]
permissions: ["agreements.clauses.view"]
features: ["agreements.clauses"]
since: 0.0.1
updated: 0.0.1
status: published
summary: Reword a published clause by starting a new draft version and publishing it, look back through its versions, or deprecate or archive a clause you no longer use.
keywords: [edit clause, reword terms, change payment terms, clause history, clause version, retire clause, archive clause, deprecate]
related: [create-a-clause, create-an-agreement-template, update-or-retire-an-agreement-template]
---

In the sidebar, open **Settings**, then choose **Clauses** under **Agreements**, and press a clause's title (or **Open detail** in its row menu). The page address is `/agreements/clauses/` followed by the clause. **History** adds `/history` to the address, and the editor adds `/editor`.

A published clause never changes, so agreements already sent keep the wording they were built with. To reword a clause you start a new draft version, edit it and publish it.

## Before you start

- Starting or editing a draft needs permission to update clauses. Publishing needs permission to publish clauses, and deprecating or archiving need their own permissions. Buttons your role cannot use are missing or greyed out.
- A clause has at most one draft at a time.

## Steps

1. Open the clause. The chips at the top show its status and its draft and published versions.
2. Press **Create draft version**. Nova copies the published wording into a new draft and opens the editor. If a draft already exists, press **Open draft editor** instead.
3. Change the **Clause text** or the fill-in details, and press **Save draft**.
4. Press **Publish draft**. In **Publish clause draft?**, add **Release notes** if you like and press **Publish clause**. Nova says **Clause version published.** and opens the history.
5. To retire a clause instead, find **Clause lifecycle actions** on the clause page. Press **Deprecate** (on an active clause) to mark it as not for new use, or **Archive** to remove it from the everyday clause list, and confirm. Agreements already sent keep their wording either way.

## What you see

- Four tiles: **Total versions**, **Variables** (the fill-in details), **Updated** and **Published**.
- The wording of the current version with its fill-in details, a preview of the clause, and **Version inventory** with each version's notes and dates.
- **History** lists each version, marked **Current live version** or **Editable draft**. A draft has **Edit draft**, **Publish** and **Archive**. A published version has **Deprecate** and **New draft from history**, which opens **Create clause draft version** so you can pick the older version to start from, then **Create draft**.

## If something looks different

- The editor shows **Immutable published state**: there is no draft. Press **Create editable draft**.
- **Publish draft** is greyed out in the editor: save your changes first.
- **New draft from history** is greyed out: a draft already exists. Publish it or archive it first.
- **Create draft version** is missing: your role cannot update clauses.

[[route:/agreements/clauses|Open Clauses]]