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# Publish ready Dext items to your accounting software

> Publish Ready Dext items to Xero or QuickBooks in one batch, keep To review items for you and see what moved to the Archive.

Source: https://cotlet.dev/integrations/dext-api-mcp-server/publish-ready-items

Month-end means opening the Dext inbox, ticking every Ready item and publishing, while To review items wait for a fix.

Cotlet does it in your own Dext account with list\_items, publish\_items and archive\_items, called by your AI agent, an n8n workflow or a script.

[Sign up free](https://cotlet.dev/app/signup?app=dext) [All Dext tools](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/dext-api-mcp-server.md)

Hosted · nothing to install or maintain

## Can Dext do this on its own?

Dext publishes to connected accounting software from its web app, with the Admin role or publishing permission (checked 14 Oct 2026). No public API or Zapier action publishes an item. Nothing runs a publish on a schedule.

## How you do it in Dext today

1. Go to Costs or Sales and open the Inbox tab.
2. Tick the checkboxes next to the Ready items; items in To review cannot be published.
3. Select Publish in the toolbar and choose the Publish to destination; with Xero, also choose Publish as.
4. Published items appear in the accounting software within a few seconds and a copy goes to the Archive tab.

## How to publish ready Dext items to your accounting software

Prompt

```
Publish all Ready Dext Costs items for October to Xero as drafts, then list anything still in To review.
```

1. 01  
### Take only Ready  
list\_items with status ready and your date range returns items that can be published. To review items are counted and left alone.
2. 02  
### Check the destination  
The agent reads publish\_to on each item and stops if two destinations are mixed, so a batch never lands in the wrong ledger.
3. 03  
### Publish in one batch  
publish\_items sends the chosen IDs. It records transactions in the ledger, so it asks for your OK by default.
4. 04  
### Report failures  
Items that fail show a publishing error in Dext. The agent lists them with the message and does not retry, because a second attempt can duplicate a transaction.

### What you get back

Example data

```
Ready items in October: 41
Published to Xero as Draft: 40
Publishing error: 1 (Supplier not matched)
Still in To review: 5
Moved to Archive: 40
```

### Other ways to ask

- Publish only items under 200 USD and list the larger ones for me.
- Publish Sales invoices for last week to QuickBooks and list the rest.
- Show what would be published for October, but publish nothing.

## What Dext allows, and what to know first

- Dext publishing needs the Admin role or a publishing permission granted by an administrator.
- Only items with the Ready status can be published, in bulk or one by one.
- By default Dext moves an item to the Archive after publishing; this can be changed in Business settings, Automation.
- Unarchiving a published item and clearing its publishing data lets it be published again, which may create a duplicate in the accounting software.

publish\_items asks for your OK by default. To run it weekly without you, switch confirmation off for that tool in your dashboard.

Sources: [Dext Help: Editing, publishing and exporting items](https://help.dext.com/en/articles/416716-editing-publishing-and-exporting-items) · [Dext Help: Moving items into or out of the Archive](https://help.dext.com/en/articles/416746-moving-items-into-or-out-of-the-archive)

## Call publish\_items from a script

curl

```
curl -X POST https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/dext/items/publish \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"item_ids":["it_7f3a10","it_7f3a11"],"publish_to":"Xero","publish_as":"draft"}'
```

Example response

```
{
"published": [
{
"item_id": "it_7f3a11",
"publish_to": "Xero",
"publish_as": "draft"
}
],
"failed": [],
"skipped": [
{
"item_id": "it_7f3a10",
"reason": "missing category"
}
]
}
```

MCP: add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 with the same key; the call is dext\_write → publish\_items. Example data.

[Schedule it in n8n, Make, Zapier or cron](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/dext-api-mcp-server.md#automations)

## Dext tools this automation uses

__Cotlet Dext tools used to publish ready Dext items to your accounting software__
| Tool | Parameters |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| list\_items | inbox, status, supplier, date\_from, date\_to, limit, cursor |
| publish\_items | item\_ids, publish\_to, publish\_as |
| archive\_items | item\_ids |

[All 10 Dext tools with descriptions](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/dext-api-mcp-server.md#tools)

## Frequently asked questions

### Is it safe to connect Dext to Cotlet?

Yes. You sign in to Dext yourself, in your own Cloud Browser in the EU, and we never save your password. Your agents only get Dext once you enable it, every background request is listed, and the browser profile is stored encrypted with AES-256-GCM, the cipher 1Password uses for its vaults. The AI model never sees a login, posts and messages wait for your OK, and Disable for agents cuts access in one click. Independent scanners grade cotlet.dev A+ on Qualys SSL Labs, securityheaders.com and Mozilla Observatory; live results are on https://cotlet.dev/security.

## More Dext automations

- [Upload receipts and bills to Dext in bulk](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/dext-api-mcp-server/upload-receipts-and-bills.md)
- [Fix Dext items stuck in To review](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/dext-api-mcp-server/fix-items-in-to-review.md)
- [Dext API and MCP server: every tool](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/dext-api-mcp-server.md)
- [All use cases](https://cotlet.dev/use-cases.md)

## Give your agent access to Dext.

Free 7-day trial with 2,000 credits, no card needed. Cotlet is independent and not affiliated with Dext.

[Sign up free](https://cotlet.dev/app/signup?app=dext)

---

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Cotlet is an independent service. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any of the products listed on this site. Product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

## For AI agents: sign your user up

Is your user asking you to sign them up for Cotlet? You can do it for them, no account or key needed.

1. Read the fields and their allowed values: GET https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/access-requests
2. Ask the user for each value: email, apps, what you will do with them. If they leave the password to you, generate a strong one and show it to them.
3. Show the user what you will send, then POST it as JSON to https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/access-requests.

One call creates the account and sends the access request; we email the user when access is granted.