How to create unpublished document with Sanity JS client?

Yes! When you create a document through the Sanity JS client, it's published by default, but you can create it as a draft instead by prepending drafts. to the document ID.

Here's how to create a draft document:

import {createClient} from '@sanity/client'

const client = createClient({
  projectId: 'your-project-id',
  dataset: 'your-dataset',
  token: 'your-token', // needs write permissions
  apiVersion: '2024-01-01'
})

// Create a draft by adding 'drafts.' prefix to the _id
await client.create({
  _id: 'drafts.my-document-id', // This makes it a draft!
  _type: 'myDocumentType',
  title: 'My Draft Document',
  // ... other fields
})

The key is the drafts. prefix on the _id. When you create a document with this prefix, Sanity treats it as an unpublished draft that only appears in the Studio and won't be returned by default queries (unless you use the drafts perspective).

A few things to keep in mind:

• Generate unique IDs: If you don't specify an _id, Sanity will auto-generate one, but it won't have the drafts. prefix. So you need to explicitly set the ID with the prefix.
• Publishing later: When you're ready to publish, you can use client.createOrReplace() with the same ID but without the drafts. prefix, or use the Studio's publish button.
• Permissions: Make sure your API token has write permissions to create documents.

If you want to let Sanity generate the ID but still keep it as a draft, you can do this:

const doc = await client.create({
  _type: 'myDocumentType',
  title: 'My Draft Document',
})

// Then immediately create the draft version
await client.createOrReplace({
  ...doc,
  _id: `drafts.${doc._id}`
})

// Optionally delete the published version if you don't want it
await client.delete(doc._id)

This approach is useful when you want Sanity to handle ID generation but still maintain draft status.