diff --git a/backend/src/routes/adminItemDrafts.ts b/backend/src/routes/adminItemDrafts.ts
index 2c80dc0..635882a 100644
--- a/backend/src/routes/adminItemDrafts.ts
+++ b/backend/src/routes/adminItemDrafts.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { Router, Request, Response } from 'express';
 import { pool } from '../db';
 import { asyncRoute } from '../asyncRoute';
+import { nextPriceSource, PriceSource } from '../intake/priceSource';
 
 const router = Router();
 
@@ -54,4 +55,81 @@ router.get(
   })
 );
 
+interface DraftPriceRow {
+  price_source: PriceSource;
+  price_cents: number;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Publish: the edited copy goes onto the item, and the item goes live.
+ *
+ * The only path from an intake submission to the storefront. It performs what
+ * mark-available performs — the status, and clearing the sale and reservation
+ * fields — rather than calling that route, because both halves have to be one
+ * transaction. An item published carrying the previous draft's name would be a
+ * worse outcome than one not published at all.
+ */
+router.post(
+  '/:itemId/publish',
+  asyncRoute(async (req: Request, res: Response) => {
+    const name = typeof req.body?.name === 'string' ? req.body.name.trim() : '';
+    const description = typeof req.body?.description === 'string' ? req.body.description.trim() : '';
+    const priceCents = Number(req.body?.priceCents);
+
+    if (name === '') {
+      return res.status(400).json({ error: 'a name is required' });
+    }
+    // Integer because the column is cents. A fractional value would round
+    // somewhere nobody is looking and sell the item at a price no one entered.
+    if (!Number.isInteger(priceCents) || priceCents < 0) {
+      return res.status(400).json({ error: 'a price in whole cents is required' });
+    }
+
+    const client = await pool.connect();
+    try {
+      await client.query('BEGIN');
+
+      // Locked for the length of the transaction, so two admins publishing the
+      // same submission cannot interleave one's price decision with another's
+      // name.
+      const { rows } = await client.query<DraftPriceRow>(
+        `SELECT d.price_source, i.price_cents
+         FROM item_drafts d JOIN items i ON i.id = d.item_id
+         WHERE d.item_id = $1
+         FOR UPDATE OF d, i`,
+        [req.params.itemId]
+      );
+      const existing = rows[0];
+      if (!existing) {
+        await client.query('ROLLBACK');
+        return res.status(404).json({ error: 'no draft for this item' });
+      }
+
+      const priceSource = nextPriceSource(existing.price_source, priceCents, existing.price_cents);
+
+      await client.query(
+        `UPDATE items
+         SET name = $2, description = $3, price_cents = $4,
+             status = 'available', sold_at = NULL, reserved_until = NULL, paypal_order_id = NULL
+         WHERE id = $1`,
+        [req.params.itemId, name, description === '' ? null : description, priceCents]
+      );
+
+      await client.query(`UPDATE item_drafts SET price_source = $2 WHERE item_id = $1`, [
+        req.params.itemId,
+        priceSource
+      ]);
+
+      await client.query('COMMIT');
+      res.json({ published: true, priceSource });
+    } catch (err) {
+      await client.query('ROLLBACK');
+      console.error(err);
+      res.status(500).json({ error: 'internal error' });
+    } finally {
+      client.release();
+    }
+  })
+);
+
 export default router;
diff --git a/backend/tests/integration/adminItemDrafts.integration.test.ts b/backend/tests/integration/adminItemDrafts.integration.test.ts
index d787f62..8f956d6 100644
--- a/backend/tests/integration/adminItemDrafts.integration.test.ts
+++ b/backend/tests/integration/adminItemDrafts.integration.test.ts
@@ -130,3 +130,91 @@ describe('GET /api/admin/item-drafts', () => {
     });
   });
 });
+
+describe('POST /api/admin/item-drafts/:itemId/publish', () => {
+  const body = { name: 'Blue stoneware vase', description: 'Chipped base.', priceCents: 9500 };
+
+  it('writes the edited copy onto the item and publishes it', async () => {
+    const itemId = await seedDraft();
+
+    const res = await request(app).post(`/api/admin/item-drafts/${itemId}/publish`).send(body);
+
+    expect(res.status).toBe(200);
+    const { rows } = await pool.query(
+      `SELECT name, description, price_cents, status FROM items WHERE id = $1`,
+      [itemId]
+    );
+    expect(rows[0]).toMatchObject({
+      name: 'Blue stoneware vase',
+      description: 'Chipped base.',
+      price_cents: 9500,
+      status: 'available'
+    });
+  });
+
+  // The transition priceSource.ts defines, asserted end to end: a changed
+  // number is now the admin's responsibility.
+  it('records an edited price as the admin choice', async () => {
+    const itemId = await seedDraft();
+
+    await request(app).post(`/api/admin/item-drafts/${itemId}/publish`).send(body);
+
+    const { rows } = await pool.query(`SELECT price_source FROM item_drafts WHERE item_id = $1`, [
+      itemId
+    ]);
+    expect(rows[0]?.price_source).toBe('admin');
+  });
+
+  // And the case that matters more: publishing without touching the number must
+  // leave it recorded as unconfirmed rather than quietly claiming it was chosen.
+  it('leaves an untouched price unconfirmed', async () => {
+    const itemId = await seedDraft();
+
+    await request(app)
+      .post(`/api/admin/item-drafts/${itemId}/publish`)
+      .send({ ...body, priceCents: 8000 });
+
+    const { rows } = await pool.query(`SELECT price_source FROM item_drafts WHERE item_id = $1`, [
+      itemId
+    ]);
+    expect(rows[0]?.price_source).toBe('ai');
+  });
+
+  it('refuses a publish with no name, and leaves the item unpublished', async () => {
+    const itemId = await seedDraft();
+
+    const res = await request(app)
+      .post(`/api/admin/item-drafts/${itemId}/publish`)
+      .send({ ...body, name: '  ' });
+
+    expect(res.status).toBe(400);
+    const { rows } = await pool.query(`SELECT status FROM items WHERE id = $1`, [itemId]);
+    expect(rows[0]?.status).toBe('pending');
+  });
+
+  it('refuses a negative price', async () => {
+    const itemId = await seedDraft();
+    const res = await request(app)
+      .post(`/api/admin/item-drafts/${itemId}/publish`)
+      .send({ ...body, priceCents: -1 });
+    expect(res.status).toBe(400);
+  });
+
+  it('refuses a fractional price', async () => {
+    const itemId = await seedDraft();
+    const res = await request(app)
+      .post(`/api/admin/item-drafts/${itemId}/publish`)
+      .send({ ...body, priceCents: 95.5 });
+    expect(res.status).toBe(400);
+  });
+
+  it('404s for an item with no draft', async () => {
+    const { rows } = await pool.query<{ id: number }>(
+      `INSERT INTO items (name) VALUES ('ordinary item') RETURNING id`
+    );
+    const res = await request(app)
+      .post(`/api/admin/item-drafts/${rows[0]!.id}/publish`)
+      .send(body);
+    expect(res.status).toBe(404);
+  });
+});