Automatic PR drafts
Turn on Automatic PR drafts in Settings > Automations so Fern drafts a docs update when a merged pull request changes customer-facing behavior. You still review and publish every draft; Fern never publishes automatically.
Before you start
Connect the GitHub integration so Fern can monitor pull requests in your repositories.
Enable automatic PR drafts
Open Settings from the dashboard sidebar.
Select Automations. The page includes Automatic PR drafts and Scheduled audits.
Turn on Automatic PR drafts. The setting saves immediately.
When the toggle is on, Sensitivity and Guidance for PR drafts appear under it.
Choose sensitivity
Use Sensitivity to control how readily Fern creates a draft from a merged pull request. Choose one option:
Strict: only clear-cut changes: Fern drafts only when the case for a docs update is strongest.
Balanced: the default. Fern drafts clear customer-facing changes and skips weaker ones.
Eager: more drafts: Fern creates drafts for a wider set of customer-facing changes.
Changing the selector saves immediately.
Sensitivity does not guarantee a draft for every visible product change. Fern still decides whether the merge needs documentation, then applies your sensitivity setting before it creates a drafting task.
Add guidance for PR drafts
Use Guidance for PR drafts for standing, organization-wide instructions Fern applies when it screens merged pull requests and drafts from them.
The field accepts up to 4,000 characters. Leave the field to save. Empty guidance clears the setting.
This field is separate from the general Fern instructions under Settings > About You, in the Company info field. Those guide Fern's general writing and research. Guidance for PR drafts applies only to PR screening and PR-driven drafts.
What triggers a draft
Fern drafts from a pull request after it merges into the repository's configured production branch. If no production branch is set, Fern uses the repository's default branch. Pull requests that merge into other branches are skipped. Revert pull requests are also skipped.
Set the production branch for each repository on the GitHub integration page.
Fern drafts when the merge changes customer-facing behavior customers need to know about, such as UI flows, API endpoints, feature behavior, error messages, or configuration options, and the change clears your sensitivity setting.
Fern does not create a draft when:
The change is internal or does not affect end users
The relevant documentation is already up to date
The change is customer-facing but does not meet your current sensitivity setting
In those cases Fern still records a code change marked No documentation changes needed. Those threads stay out of the default All list. Filter the Fern page by Automations to review them. Open a thread to see the heading and any explanation Fern stored.
Review your drafts
When Fern creates a draft, it appears on your Fern page as a thread with a pull request icon. The thread shows the PR title and metadata, a summary of what changed, and the draft status.
To filter the Fern page, open Filter threads in the sidebar header. The Has drafts switch there returns only reviewable task threads, so it may not include the PR code-change thread itself; open the PR thread directly or select the Automations chip to find it.
Open the thread. When the draft is ready, choose Review & edit changes. Edit the draft, request revisions in the thread, or publish when you are satisfied.
You control publication
Fern drafts updates but never publishes them automatically. Every draft needs your review before it appears in your help center.
Dismiss a draft as not relevant
When a draft doesn't apply to your help center, mark it Not relevant to clear it from your feed without publishing it. You can dismiss any eligible draft that's still waiting for review; published or actively publishing changes can't be dismissed.
Open the draft on your Fern page.
Select Not relevant.
Add a reason if you want to remember why it didn't apply (optional).
Confirm dismissal.
The draft closes and leaves your main Fern feed. It isn't deleted: filter the feed by Automations to find dismissed changes again. A dismissed change shows Dismissed as not relevant with any reason you saved, and no review or publish options.