@@ -30,11 +30,6 @@ Note that technically, <prerelease.quarto.org> is also a deploy preview on Netli
     - For `prerelease` branch, we use `git cherry-pick` the commit from main following previous above step. 
     - Then we trigger the `publish.yml` workflow with `workflow_call` event trigger for each of the branch.
 
-- `draft-check.yml` - A lightweight workflow that detects `draft: true` pages among changed `.qmd` files. Runs on all PRs to `main` and `prerelease` with no `paths-ignore`, so it always creates a status check. 
-  - Uses the reusable composite action at `.github/workflows/actions/detect-drafts/`.
-  - Configured as a required status check on `main` (`check-drafts` job), blocking merge until `draft: true` is removed.
-  - Admin override is available for intentional draft merges.
-
 - `port-to-prerelease.yml` - This workflow is used to sync changes made to main for quarto.org to prerelease branch for prerelease.quarto.org. 
   - It is triggered when a PR is merged in to `main`. It can also be triggered manually by adding a comment `/sync-prerelease` on a merged PR.
   - This workflow uses [`korthout/backport-action`](https://github.com/korthout/backport-action) to create a PR with the changes merged into `main` branch to be synced to `prerelease` branch.
@@ -45,7 +40,6 @@ Note that technically, <prerelease.quarto.org> is also a deploy preview on Netli
 
 Local composite actions live in `.github/workflows/actions/`:
 
-- `detect-drafts/` - Scans changed `.qmd` files for `draft: true` in YAML frontmatter. Outputs `found` (true/false) and `files` (newline-separated paths). Used by both `preview.yml` (to tag drafts in the PR comment) and `draft-check.yml` (to fail the required check).
 - `release-info/` - Retrieves release information from the quarto-cli repository.
 
 ## Netlify Configurations
 
@@ -184,29 +184,19 @@ jobs:
           fi
         shell: bash
 
-      - name: Detect draft pages
-        id: detect-drafts
-        uses: ./.github/workflows/actions/detect-drafts
-        with:
-          changed-files: ${{ steps.changed-files.outputs.all_changed_files }}
-
       - name: Create custom PR comment
         if: github.event.pull_request || github.event.issue.pull_request
         uses: actions/github-script@v8
         env:
           DEPLOY_URL: ${{ steps.netlify-deploy.outputs.deploy-url }}
           CHANGED_FILES: ${{ steps.changed-files.outputs.all_changed_files }}
           IMAGE_PAGES: ${{ steps.image-pages.outputs.pages }}
-          DRAFT_FILES: ${{ steps.detect-drafts.outputs.files }}
-          HAS_DRAFTS: ${{ steps.detect-drafts.outputs.found }}
         with:
           github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           script: |
             const prNumber = context.payload.pull_request?.number || context.payload.issue.number;
             const deployUrl = process.env.DEPLOY_URL;
             const changedFiles = JSON.parse(process.env.CHANGED_FILES || '[]');
-            const draftFilesList = (process.env.DRAFT_FILES || '').trim().split('\n').filter(Boolean);
-            const draftSet = new Set(draftFilesList);
 
             let commentBody = `## 📝 Preview Deployment\n\n`;
             commentBody += `🔍 Full site preview: [${deployUrl}](${deployUrl})\n\n`;
@@ -263,16 +253,14 @@ jobs:
                 commentBody += `### 🔄 Modified Documents\n\n`;
                 for (const [page, files] of pageToFiles) {
                   const fileUrl = `${deployUrl}/${page}`;
-                  const isDraft = files.some(f => draftSet.has(f));
-                  const draftTag = isDraft ? ' — ⚠️ `draft`' : '';
                   if (files.length === 1) {
-                    commentBody += `- [${page}](${fileUrl})${draftTag}\n`;
+                    commentBody += `- [${page}](${fileUrl})\n`;
                   } else {
                     // Multiple source files map to one page - show page with file summary
                     const basenames = files.map(f => f.split('/').pop());
                     const shown = basenames.slice(0, 3).join(', ');
                     const rest = basenames.length > 3 ? `, +${basenames.length - 3} more` : '';
-                    commentBody += `- [${page}](${fileUrl}) (${shown}${rest})${draftTag}\n`;
+                    commentBody += `- [${page}](${fileUrl}) (${shown}${rest})\n`;
                   }
                 }
               }
@@ -291,13 +279,6 @@ jobs:
               }
             }
 
-            // Add draft warning callout (no file list — already tagged inline above)
-            const hasDrafts = process.env.HAS_DRAFTS === 'true';
-            if (hasDrafts) {
-              commentBody += `\n> [!WARNING]\n`;
-              commentBody += `> This PR contains pages with \`draft: true\`. Remove the draft status before merging if the content is ready to publish.\n`;
-            }
-
             await github.rest.issues.createComment({
               issue_number: prNumber,
               owner: context.repo.owner,