---
title: "Update Work Channel"
method: PATCH
path: "/work/channels/{channel_id}"
tags: ["Work"]
---

# Update Work Channel

`PATCH /work/channels/{channel_id}`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://be.graph8.com/api/v1`
- URL: `https://be.graph8.com/api/v1/work/channels/{channel_id}`
- Auth: HTTP bearer

Change one channel's display name, description, visibility, seating, agent policy or archive state.

**Field PRESENCE is the contract** — an omitted field keeps its stored value,
and ``description: null`` clears it.

``name`` is not accepted and a rename never moves the room: the slug is the
channel's address, and changing it would strand every event already filed
under the old one. ``403`` when the caller neither owns the channel nor
holds owner/admin rights, and separately when a non-admin tries to change
agent activation — an organization-level spend decision rather than a
room-owner one. ``409`` for a built-in channel's identity or visibility.

## Path parameters

- `channel_id` string, required: Channel id or slug

## Headers

- `Idempotency-Key` string, nullable: Retry-safety key. Replaying one returns the ORIGINAL result with `duplicate: true` instead of writing twice. Omit it and the server mints a single-use key, which means a retried request writes again — send your own for anything you may retry.
- `Authorization` string, nullable
- `X-Target-Org-Id` string, nullable

## Request body

- WorkChannelSettingsRequest: The fields of one channel a person is changing. **Field PRESENCE is the contract, not field value.** An omitted field keeps whatever the channel already has; a field present with `null` clears it where clearing is meaningful (`description`) and is refused where it is not. That is the port of the gateway's `Object.hasOwn(input, …)` checks, and it is why `provided_fields` — not the values — is what the router hands the service.
  - `displayName` string, nullable
  - `description` string, nullable
  - `visibility` 'open' | 'private', nullable
  - `memberUserIds` string[]
  - `participantAgentIds` string[]
  - `agentResponsePolicy` 'mention_required' | 'proactive', nullable
  - `confirmAgentAccess` boolean
  - `archived` boolean, nullable
  - `icon` WorkChannelIcon: A channel's icon: a glyph on a color, an emoji, or an uploaded image. `glyph` and `color` are ids from the client's curated sets, never raw CSS or SVG, so nothing a member stores can inject markup or styles into another member's sidebar. An image is a Work attachment id, never a URL: readability is re-checked on every read (`readable_attachment_ids`).
    - `type` 'glyph' | 'emoji' | 'image', required
    - `glyph` string, nullable
    - `emoji` string, nullable
    - `color` string, nullable
    - `attachmentId` string, nullable

## Response `200`

Successful Response

- ApiResponseWorkChannelWriteResult
  - `data` WorkChannelWriteResult, required: The result of one channel write, with its idempotent-replay marker.
    - `channel` WorkChannel: One Work channel as the room stores it.
      - `id` string, nullable: Channel id (uuid5 of `{org}:{name}` — the room address)
      - `name` string, nullable: Slug, unique per organization. Renaming the display name never moves the room.
      - `displayName` string, nullable: Human-readable name shown in the sidebar
      - `description` string, nullable: Channel description
      - `visibility` string, nullable: `open` (self-serve joinable) or `private` (invite only)
      - `kind` string, nullable: `stream` or `forum`
      - `memberUserIds` string[], nullable: Seated member identities
      - `participantAgentIds` string[], nullable: Seated agent ids
      - `system` boolean, nullable: True for a built-in channel (`#work`, `#signals`)
      - `archivedAt` string, nullable: When the channel was archived, if it is
      - `createdBy` string, nullable: Identity that created the channel
      - `createdAt` string, nullable: Creation timestamp
    - `duplicate` boolean, nullable: True when an Idempotency-Key replay returned the original result
    - `canvasSeeded` boolean, nullable: Present when `templateId` seeded a Canvas
  - `pagination` PaginationMeta
    - `page` integer, required: Current page number (1-indexed)
    - `limit` integer, required: Items per page
    - `total` integer, required: Total number of items
    - `has_next` boolean, required: Whether there are more pages
    - `next_cursor` string, nullable: Opaque cursor for the next page; null when there are no more items. Pass it back as the `cursor` query param to fetch the following page without computing page numbers.
    - `total_available` integer, nullable: Search endpoints only: how many records really match, when known. Can be larger than `total`, which is capped at the 10,000 results that can be paged. For company search this is a distinct-company estimate. Null when unknown; absent outside search.
    - `total_is_lower_bound` boolean, nullable: Search endpoints only: true when more records match than `total` shows (the result set is larger than the 10,000 results that can be paged). Absent outside search.
    - `notes` string[], nullable: Search endpoints only: plain-language notes about the result, e.g. that more records match than can be paged, or that a reversed `between` range was put in order.

## Other responses

- `422`: Validation Error

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/graph8/apis/graph8-developer-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/graph8/apis/graph8-developer-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/graph8/apis/graph8-developer-api/revisions/89fc11143b70?raw)