---
title: "Update a bot"
method: PATCH
path: "/bots/{id}"
tags: ["Bots"]
---

# Update a bot

`PATCH /bots/{id}`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://www.happyscribe.com/api/v1`
- URL: `https://www.happyscribe.com/api/v1/bots/{id}`
- Auth: API key in header `Authorization`

Moves a bot created through the API when its meeting moves, or replaces its
participants or metadata. Send only the fields you are changing. A field sent
with the value the bot already has is ignored, so a retried request is safe.

- `join_at` and `meeting_url` can change while the bot is `queued`. The bot
  keeps its ID.
- `participants` can change until the call ends. They are used to name
  speakers when the recording is processed. A new address also gets access
  to the recording; removing an address from the list does not take access away.
- `metadata` can change until the bot is `completed`, `failed`, or `cancelled`.

Updating a bot sends no webhook.

## Path parameters

- `id` string, required

## Headers

- `Happyscribe-Version` string, date

## Request body

- BotUpdateRequest
  - `join_at` string, date-time: New future ISO 8601 timestamp with a UTC offset. Only while the bot is `queued`.
  - `meeting_url` string: New Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams join URL. Only while the bot is `queued`.
  - `participants` MeetingParticipant[]: Replaces the participant list used to name speakers. Until the call ends. New addresses get access to the recording; removed ones keep it.
    - `email` string: The participant's email. Used to name speakers.
    - `name` string, nullable: Resolved from the calendar invite, anything supplied at creation, the names people displayed in the call, and the people the workspace already knows, keeping the fullest. Null when no source knew one.
  - `metadata` union: Merged into the object's metadata: the keys you send are added or overwritten and the others kept. `""` as a value removes that key; `metadata: ""` removes every key. Numbers and booleans are stored as their text; objects, arrays and `null` are refused.
    - object
    - ''

## Response `200`

The updated bot.

- Bot: A bot is one way of recording a meeting. It carries its identity in the call and the meeting's recording choices; what the meeting produced (transcript, speakers, summary, media) is read from [`GET /meetings/{id}/results`](/api-reference/meetings/results).
  - `id` string: Stable typed bot ID beginning with `bot_`. Treat it as an opaque string.
  - `object` string: Always `bot`.
  - `meeting_id` string: The meeting this bot records, beginning with `mtg_`. It exists from the moment the bot is queued; read its results with `GET /meetings/{meeting_id}/results`.
  - `meeting_url` string: Normalized URL supplied at creation. Treat as sensitive — it may contain credentials.
  - `join_at` string, date-time, nullable: Requested ISO 8601 join time, or `null` for an immediate dispatch.
  - `status` 'queued' | 'joining' | 'in_call' | 'processing' | 'completed' | 'failed' | 'cancelled': Current lifecycle state: - `queued`: the provider accepted the bot and the notetaker is pending - `joining`: the notetaker is joining the call - `in_call`: the notetaker is in the call and recording - `processing`: the recording is being transcribed or summarized - `completed`: the transcript and summary are ready on the meeting - `failed`: the bot ended without a usable result - `cancelled`: the bot was cancelled
  - `bot_name` string: Display name of the notetaker in the call.
  - `welcome_message` string, nullable: Chat message the notetaker posts when it joins, or `null` when it posts none.
  - `language` string: Transcription language as a BCP-47 code, `auto` or `multi`. The meeting's `effective_policy.transcription.language`.
  - `recording_start` 'on_join' | 'on_command': When the notetaker starts recording. The meeting's `effective_policy.recording.methods.bot.start`. - `on_join`: as soon as it joins the call - `on_command`: when someone in the call asks it to
  - `recording_mode` 'audio_and_video' | 'audio_only': What the notetaker records. The meeting's `effective_policy.recording.methods.bot.mode`. - `audio_and_video`: audio and video - `audio_only`: audio only
  - `silence_alert` boolean: Whether the notetaker posts an audible and chat alert after a long silence, in case it is recording nothing. The meeting's `effective_policy.recording.methods.bot.silence_detection.alert`.
  - `summary_language` string, nullable: Language of the summary as a BCP-47 code, or `null` to follow the transcription. The meeting's `effective_policy.summary.language`.
  - `summary_template` string, nullable: The summary template that runs, a built-in slug or a custom template's `tpl_` id. The meeting's `effective_policy.summary.template`.
  - `participants` MeetingParticipant[]: Everyone invited to the meeting. Meeting rooms and the notetaker itself are excluded.
    - `email` string: The participant's email. Used to name speakers.
    - `name` string, nullable: Resolved from the calendar invite, anything supplied at creation, the names people displayed in the call, and the people the workspace already knows, keeping the fullest. Null when no source knew one.
  - `metadata` Metadata: Your own key-value pairs, for your ids and context. HappyScribe stores them, returns them on the object and in every webhook that carries it, and never acts on them. Up to 50 keys of up to 40 characters (no square brackets), values up to 500 characters. See [metadata](/meetingkit/setup#a-workspace-per-customer).
  - `created_at` string, date-time: When the bot was created.
  - `ended_at` string, date-time, nullable: When the recording first became available. `null` until then, and for a bot that never recorded. Reprocessing does not change it.
  - `reason` 'no_recording' | 'invalid_meeting_url' | 'bot_error' | 'transcription_failed': Machine-readable failure reason. Present only for failed bots. - `no_recording`: the call ended without anything recorded - `invalid_meeting_url`: the meeting URL could not be joined - `bot_error`: the notetaker failed in the call - `transcription_failed`: the recording could not be transcribed
  - `failure_message` string, nullable: Human-readable failure detail for debugging. Present only for failed bots. Do not match on its text; use `reason`.

## Other responses

- `400`: The body is empty, names a field that cannot be changed, or a value is malformed (`join_at` in the past, invalid `meeting_url`, `participants` over its limit, or `metadata` over its limits before 2026-10-12; from 2026-10-12 invalid `metadata` is a 422).
- `401`: Your API key is missing (`missing_api_key`) or wrong (`invalid_api_key`), or it may not access this resource (`unauthorized`).
- `404`: The specified resource could not be found, or this key cannot see it (`not_found`).
- `409`: The bot can no longer take this change (for example `join_at` once it is joining), or it was not created through the API. The error's `code` is `bot_not_editable`.
- `422`: The meeting provider refused to move the bot (`provider_rejected`). The bot is unchanged.
- `502`: The meeting provider did not answer. The bot is unchanged; retry.

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/happyscribe/apis/happyscribe-api.md) - [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/happyscribe/apis/happyscribe-api/llms.txt) - [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/happyscribe/apis/happyscribe-api/revisions/1281bd968c3d?raw)
