About Publishing Automation Projects

Publishing an automation project means archiving the project folder so that it can be sent to Robots and then executed.

By default, all the files in the project folder are published except for test cases. If you want to prevent a specific file from being included in the published package, right-click it in the Project panel, and then select Ignore from Publish (not available for workflow files in library projects). In the case of libraries, to prevent a workflow file from appearing as a reusable component in the Activities panel when the published library is installed in a project, right-click it in the Project panel, and then select Make Private.

You can publish automation projects to Orchestrator, a custom NuGet feed, or locally. After publishing to Orchestrator, the archived project is displayed on the Packages page and you can create a process to be distributed to Robots. When you publish an automation process to the Orchestrator Personal Workspace or you publish test cases, a process is created automatically if one does not already exist, and existing processes are automatically updated to the latest published version.

Additionally, automation projects may be published to a custom NuGet feed, with the option to also add an API key if the feed requires authentication.

Publishing projects locally requires you to provide a path on the local machine, different than the location where process packages are published. From here, you can later manually send the packages to the Robots, so they can be executed. The default local publish location is %ProgramData%\UiPath\Packages.

To publish a project, the project.json and design.json files in the project folder must not be in a read-only location (for example, if the project is under source control, the files must be checked out for editing).

You can publish projects from Studio or from the command line. To update dependencies for multiple projects and publish them all at once, use the Project Dependencies Mass Update Tool.

Note: Other software applications can interfere with the publishing process if folders that start with a period (.) are hidden and thus ignored when publishing.

Publishing Projects From Studio

To publish a project, select Publish in the Studio Design tab ribbon.

To publish an automation project:

In Studio, create a new project.
In the Design ribbon tab, click Publish. The Publish window opens. Notice that the window's title bar changes depending on the context:
- Publish Process when publishing a process;
- Publish Library when publishing a library project;
- Publish UI Library when publishing a UI library project;
- Publish Test Cases when publishing test cases.
- Publish Templates when publishing templates.
In the Package Properties tab:
- Enter a name for the package. The drop-down list contains up to 5 of the most recent names of packages that you previously published.
- In the Version section, review the Current Version of your project, and type a New Version if needed. Check the Is Prerelease box to mark the version as alpha. Please note that this automatically changes the project’s version schema to semantic. When publishing a new version of the file locally, make sure that the custom location does not already include a file with the same proposed version number. For more details about project versioning, check the About Automation Projects page.
- Optionally, use the Project Icon option to define a custom icon for the project. You can browse to and select a file, or enter a path or public URL to a jpeg, jpg, or png file up to 1MB in size.
  
  After the project is published, the icon is displayed as follows:
  - For processes, in the Assistant next to the process name, making it easier to identify it in the list of processes.
  - For templates, next to the template in Home (Studio Backstage View) > Templates.
  - For libraries, next to the package in the Manage Packages window in Studio.
    
    Note: The icon is not visible in Manage Packages if a local file is used for a library published to Orchestrator or to a feed that does not support embedded icons, In this case, specify the icon using a URL.
- In the Project tags box, you can add one or more tags to the project, either by creating new ones or by reusing tags already defined in Orchestrator. There are two types of tags: labels and properties (key-value pairs). Tags are included in the published package and they help describe and categorize projects. For example, they can refer to the automated application (an Excel label) or the department (a department:accounting key-value property).
  
  When you start typing, possible matches are suggested from already defined tags, and you can reuse one by selecting it from the list of matches. For a property match, the key followed by the : (colon) character is displayed first, and the associated values are displayed after you select the key, To add a new tag, after you enter the name, click the entry with the plus sign next to the name. Separating strings with the : (colon) character enables you to add properties, while entries that don't contain a : add labels.
  
  Labels and key-value properties are limited to 256 characters. Tag names can't contain these characters: <, >, %, &, \, ?, /, :.
  
  Project tags can be automatically applied to processes in Orchestrator. For more information about using tags, see Organizing resources with tags in the Orchestrator guide.
- In the Release Notes text box, enter details about the version and other relevant information. Release notes for published projects are visible in the Packages section in Orchestrator. Please note that the Release Notes field accepts a maximum of 10,000 characters.
Click Next.

If you are publishing a template, the Template info tab opens next (step 5). Otherwise, proceed to step 6.
(For templates only) In the Template info tab, provide the following information, and then click Next:
- Name - The name of the template.
- Description - The template description in the Templates tab.
- Default Project Name - The default project name when creating a new project using this template.
  
  Note: Avoid using punctuation marks, separator characters, and characters that are not allowed in file names. These characters may be removed from the default name when the template is used.
- Default Project Description - The default description when creating a new project using this template.
In the Publish options tab, select where to publish the project. The available options depend on the type of project you are publishing:
- For processes (including StudioX projects):
  - Orchestrator Tenant Processes Feed, Orchestrator Personal Workspace Feed and, if a first-level folder with a separate package feed or one if its subfolders is selected from the folders menu in the Studio status bar, the feed for that folder hierarchy. These options are available if Studio is connected to Orchestrator. The Orchestrator Personal Workspace Feed is available only if your user has the Personal Workspace feature enabled in Orchestrator.
    
    If the Personal Workspace or a folder from a hierarchy with a separate package feed is selected in Studio, the feed for that folder is the default option. Otherwise, the tenant feed is the default option. If you already published a project in the current session, the last publish location you used is the default selection until you close Studio or change the Orchestrator folder from the Studio status bar.
  - Assistant (Robot Defaults) - the default package location for the Robot and Assistant, C:\ProgramData\UiPath\Packages. Projects published here automatically appear in the Assistant. The option is not available if Studio is connected to Orchestrator.
  - Custom - either a custom NuGet feed URL or local folder. Adding an API Key is optional.
- For test cases:
  - The same options that are available for processes, with the exception of Orchestrator Personal Workspace Feed.
- For libraries and UI libraries:
  - Orchestrator Tenant Libraries Feed or Orchestrator Shared Libraries Feed - available if Studio is connected to Orchestrator. The available option depends on whether the tenant libraries feed is enabled in Orchestrator.
  - Custom - either a custom NuGet feed URL or local folder. Adding an API Key is optional.
- For templates:
  - Orchestrator Tenant Libraries Feed or Orchestrator Shared Libraries Feed - available if Studio is connected to Orchestrator. The available option depends on whether the tenant libraries feed is enabled in Orchestrator.
  - Local - the location for publishing templates locally, by default: C:\Users\User\Documents\UiPath\.templates.
  - Custom - either a custom NuGet feed URL or local folder. Adding an API Key is optional.
If you are publishing a library or any project with the Windows or cross-platform compatibility except for templates, additional settings are available in the Publish options tab under Compilation Settings:
- (For libraries only) Activities Root Category - enter a name for the category under which the reusable component will be listed in the Activities panel.
- (For Windows-legacy libraries only) Compile activities expressions - select this option to compile and package all activities expressions. This results in an improved execution time.
- (For Windows - legacy libraries only) Ready to Run - select this option to optimize the generated assemblies for faster JIT compilation at runtime.
  
  Note: To find out what might prevent a library from being published successfully, read about the limitations when publishing libraries.
Click Next to advance to the Certificate signing tab, or Publish to publish your project.
(Optional) In the Certificate Signing tab, add a local Certificate Path next to the Certificate box. Furthermore, add the Certificate Password and an optional certificate Timestamper if needed. For more details, check out the Signing Packages page.

Note: Currently .pfx and .p12 certificate extensions are accepted for signing projects.
Click Publish. A NUPKG file is created and uploaded to Orchestrator, the custom NuGet feed, or saved in the local directory. For libraries, if the Separate Runtime Dependencies Project Settings option is enabled, two NUPKG files are created: one file is the design time package used in Studio and the other file is the runtime package used by the Robot when executing the automation. Depending on the project, the package contains:
- For template projects and processes with the Windows - Legacy compatibility, the project source files.
- For libraries and projects with the Windows or Cross-platform compatibility, compiled DLL files.
If the project is published successfully, the Info dialog box is displayed and the project is copied to the NuGet location set in the NuGetServerUrl parameter, in the UiPath.settings file.

The Info dialog box displays:

The name under which the package was published.
The version number under which the package was published;
The location where the project was published if the project was published locally or in the Robot's Default. Click the path to go to the package, except if the publish location was Orchestrator.
The Details option which expands a list containing the names of project files that were published.
The Copy to Clipboard option.

Information added during publishing, like the publish location is persisted in the window, so it can be used for subsequent publish actions performed for the same type of project. Each time you click Publish, a new version of the project is created and sent to the packages feed. Publishing to a secure feed can be authenticated either through the Robot Key, Orchestrator credentials, Windows authentication, or API key.

Important: Published projects must not be unpackaged. To make any changes, please open the initial .xaml file in Studio, perform the changes, and then publish the project again.

Publishing Projects from the Command Line

You can publish projects using the UiPath.Studio.CommandLine.exe publish command.

UiPath.Studio.CommandLine.exe is available in the installation folder:

For per-machine installations, the default path is C:\Program Files\UiPath\Studio\.
For per-user installations, the default path is %localappdata%\Programs\UiPath\Studio\.

The following arguments are available for the publish command:

Argument	Description
-p, --project-path	The path to the project.json to publish. The argument is mandatory.
-g, --target	Where to publish the project: Custom - Custom URL or local folder. Define the location using the -f, --feed argument. Robot - Default publish location for the Robot, if not connected to Orchestrator. Not available for publishing libraries or templates. OrchestratorTenant - Orchestrator Tenant Processes Feed (for processes and test cases) or Orchestrator Libraries Feed (for libraries and templates). OrchestratorPersonalFolder - Orchestrator Personal Workspace Feed. Not available for publishing libraries, templates, or test cases. OrchestratorFolderHierarchy - If a first-level folder with a separate package feed or one if its subfolders is selected from the folders menu in the Studio status bar, the feed for that folder hierarchy. Not available for publishing libraries or templates.
-f, --feed	The custom URL for publishing the project. This can also be a custom local directory, similar to the path in the Publish options tab in Studio.
-a, --api-key	The API key for publishing the project. This argument can be used for a custom target.
-i, --icon	Path to the custom icon to use for the package.
-n, --notes	Release notes that contain changes brought to the project.
-v, --new-version	The new version for the project. If not provided, the version is automatically incremented.
-t, --timeout	Specifies the timeout value for publishing projects. The default timeout is 30 seconds. This setting only applies for the package transfer to Orchestrator duration.
--cer-path	The local path to the certificate for package signing.
--cer-password	The password for the certificate.
--timestamper-url	The URL to the timestamper.
--incl-all-feeds	Not required.
--help	View the arguments available for each command.
--version	Check the version of UiPath.Studio.CommandLine.exe.

For example:

The following command publishes the Sample process to the Orchestrator Tenant Processes Feed:

UiPath.Studio.CommandLine.exe publish --project-path "C:\Users\username\Documents\UiPath\Sample\project.json" --target OrchestratorTenant --notes "Fixed a couple of bugs."
The following command publishes the same process to a local folder:

UiPath.Studio.CommandLine.exe publish --project-path "C:\Users\username\Documents\UiPath\Sample\project.json" --target Custom --feed "C:\Users\username\Desktop\myfeed" --notes "Fixed a couple of bugs."

For more information about the CommandLine.exe utility, see Mass Update Command Line Parameters.

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