# The editor, autosave and version history

URL: https://engiprose.com/help/write-with-ai/the-editor
Updated: 2026-08-31
Audience: member

Write section by section with autosave, a manual Save you can trust, version history, and find and replace.

Once a draft exists, the editor is where you write. Every proposal section
lives in one document, saved automatically as you go, with a full history you
can step back through.

:::checklist title="What you'll do"
- Read the save status pill and know when it is safe to close the tab
- Use manual Save when you want to be certain, not just when autosave lags
- Open version history, preview a version, and restore it
- Find and replace text across the document
:::

## Autosave and the save status pill

The editor saves your work automatically as you type. A small pill next to
the toolbar tells you exactly where that stands:

- **Saved** is the resting state. It stays showing "Saved" for as long as
  nothing has changed, deliberately: it never fades to blank.
- **Saving…** appears briefly while a save is in flight.
- **Offline** means your changes are only saved on this device for now; they
  sync once your connection returns.
- **Not saved** covers three different causes: the save is struggling to
  land, you have been signed out, or this proposal was also edited elsewhere
  in another tab. Whichever it is, keep the tab open until it clears.

Hover or focus the pill to see a timestamp: "Last saved" a relative time
while things are healthy, or "Not saved since" a relative time once something
needs attention.

## Manual Save

Autosave runs on its own, but a **Save** button sits right next to the pill,
with its keyboard shortcut **Ctrl+S** shown alongside it. Pressing it forces
a save right now rather than waiting for autosave's own timing. It is
available in every state except when the proposal is in conflict with
another tab's edits, which has its own resolution flow.

::::steps
:::step figure="/help-figures/write-with-ai/the-editor-1.png" figureDark="/help-figures/write-with-ai/the-editor-1-dark.png" alt="The proposal editor showing the save status pill reading Saved next to the manual Save button, with the AI Coach panel open on the right" caption="The editor, with the save pill and AI Coach rail" route="/proposals/$proposalId/write/edit"
Open a proposal to Write and edit any section. The save pill sits beside
**Save**, and the AI Coach panel on the right tracks your scores as you
write.
:::
::::

## Version history

Every proposal keeps a running history of snapshots. Open it from the clock
icon in the utility strip:

::::steps
:::step figure="/help-figures/write-with-ai/the-editor-2.png" figureDark="/help-figures/write-with-ai/the-editor-2-dark.png" alt="The version history panel open, listing snapshots with their author, relative time and number of sections changed" caption="Version history" route="/proposals/$proposalId/write/edit"
Open **Version history**. Each row shows who made the snapshot, when, a
label for what kind of snapshot it is (autosave, manual, before restore,
before an AI rewrite, before or after generation, or submitted for review),
and how many sections changed.
:::
:::step
Click **Create version now** to snapshot the current draft on demand, or
click any row to preview it.
:::
:::step
In the preview, click **Restore this version** to bring that snapshot's
content back. A confirmation dialog explains what happens: "The current
draft will be saved as a snapshot labelled 'Before restore' before being
overwritten. This is reversible. You can restore the previous version from
history." Choose **Restore** to proceed, or **Keep editing** to back out.
Click **Exit preview** at any time to return to the live document without
changing anything.
:::
::::

:::note
Restoring needs edit permission on the proposal, and it is not available on
an approved and locked proposal; re-open it first. Restoring never loses
work: the draft you had a moment ago is captured as its own "Before restore"
snapshot first.
:::

## Find and replace

Press **Ctrl+F** (or **Cmd+F** on a Mac) to open the find bar, even on a
locked or read-only proposal, where jumping to a passage matters most. Type
in the **Find** field and use **Previous match** and **Next match** to step
through results, shown as a count like "3 of 12". Toggle **Match case** for
an exact-case search. On a proposal you can edit, a **Replace with** field
and **Replace** and **Replace all** buttons appear alongside it. Press
**Escape** or click **Close find** to dismiss the bar.

::::faq title="Common questions"
:::q question="Can I lose work by closing the tab too early?"
If the pill reads "Saved", it is safe. If it reads "Saving…", "Offline" or
"Not saved", wait for it to clear, or use manual Save to force it before you
leave.
:::
:::q question="What happens to my current draft if I restore an old version?"
Nothing is discarded. Restoring first snapshots your current draft as
"Before restore", then overwrites the document with the version you chose.
You can always restore the "Before restore" snapshot to undo it.
:::
::::