# Get your game ready to publish with an agent

> An AI agent can't publish your DiceyTable game. It can check what a publish would send and open the Publish dialog, but you click Publish.

- Question: Can an AI agent publish my game?
- Source: https://diceytable.com/docs/ai-agents/workflows/publish
- Last verified: 2026-10-09

No. An AI agent can't publish your game by itself. It can check what a publish would send and open the Publish dialog for you, but only your click on **Publish** sends anything to GitHub.

That's on purpose. Publishing makes your game public, and the credits in it are claims made in your name. So the agent gets everything ready, and you make the final move. When you're happy with it, your game joins the others people built with the [free online board game maker](https://diceytable.com/features/board-game-maker).

## What you'll need

- A paired editor tab that holds the project. A tab without the project lease can't publish.
- For Step 2, an [API key](https://diceytable.com/docs/ai-agents/setup/api-keys) with **Request publishing** turned on. It's **off** by default.

## Step 1: Ask what a publish would send

The agent calls [`publish_preview`](https://diceytable.com/docs/ai-agents/reference/tools/projects-and-publishing#publishpreview). It changes nothing. It reports:

- the files that would be added, changed or deleted,
- the version,
- the precheck, the script safety scanner and the credit results,
- every blocker, including credits an agent added that nobody has reviewed.

This is the agent's to-do list. It can fix most blockers itself, then call `publish_preview` again until the list is clear. Running `project_validate` first catches problems early, as [Find errors with the diagnostics hub](https://diceytable.com/docs/ai-agents/workflows/diagnostics) shows.

## Step 2: Ask you to publish

When the preview looks clean, the agent calls [`publish_request`](https://diceytable.com/docs/ai-agents/reference/tools/projects-and-publishing#publishrequest), with a version and a message if it likes. Two clicks follow, both yours:

1. **A confirmation in the tab.** It names the project, the version and the GitHub repository. It also lists any credits still waiting for review. Click **Open the Publish dialog** to go on, or deny it. If you don't answer within 120 seconds, the request is denied.
2. **The Publish dialog.** It opens with the version and message filled in. Review the files there, then click **Publish**.

The tool returns as soon as the dialog opens, and it always reports `published: false`. To see how things went, the agent calls `publish_preview` or `project_status` afterwards. [Actions that need your click](https://diceytable.com/docs/ai-agents/concepts/confirmations) covers how these confirmations work.

> **⚠ No key setting skips your click.** **Request publishing** only lets the agent open the dialog. Publishing always waits for you.

## Why is Publish refused after the agent imported files?

When an agent imports a file, it also answers the credit question: who made this, and under what license. Its answer is marked **AI-attested · unreviewed**. No publish goes through while any of those records is unreviewed, whether you or the agent asks. The **Publish** button stays off, and the server refuses with `ai-credits-unreviewed`.

To clear it:

1. Open **Mod ▸ Mod Details…** and go to the **Credits** tab.
2. Check each record in the panel at the top: the files, where they came from, the creator and the license.
3. Tick each one, or use **Select all**.
4. Type your name under **Sign with your name**, then click **Sign N reviews**.

An agent can't review its own credits. There's no tool for it. [Review credits an AI agent added](https://diceytable.com/docs/ai-agents/concepts/ai-attested-credits) explains what each record holds and why the rule exists.

## What else stays with you

These all wait for your click in the tab, whatever the key allows:

- deleting the project, restoring an old version or deleting assets,
- turning on the `read-hidden-information` or `plugin-call` capabilities,
- throwing away changes to settle a GitHub sync conflict.

The agent's `undo` and `redo` use the same history you do, so nothing is undone behind your back. For the publish steps themselves, see [the publish flow](https://diceytable.com/docs/mods/publishing/publish-flow).

## Next steps

- [Review credits an AI agent added](https://diceytable.com/docs/ai-agents/concepts/ai-attested-credits): the review, step by step.
- [Create an API key](https://diceytable.com/docs/ai-agents/setup/api-keys): turn on **Request publishing**.
- [The publish flow](https://diceytable.com/docs/mods/publishing/publish-flow): what happens when you click **Publish**.