# Update Absence

`PATCH /people/absences/{id}`

Group: People Management › Absences · Operation ID: `updateAbsence`

Updates the absence with the given identifier. Only the fields in the request body change. This is not a plain partial update in two ways. When editReason contains the text 'sick certificate', only leaveCertificate and certificateName are written and every other field in the request is ignored. On any other update, the status is recomputed and rewritten even when you did not send it, so updating an approved absence can return it to 'requested' and restart the approval workflow. Read the absence back with GET people/absences/:id.

[Open in the interactive reference](https://docs.api.lensing.ai/?op=updateAbsence)

## Parameters

| Name | In | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `Api-Version` | header | `"v1"` | yes | The API version this request targets, named by its public identifier. Required on every request; omitting it, or naming a version this company does not have, is answered with 400. This document describes version `v1`. |
| `Idempotency-Key` | header | string | no | An opaque caller-chosen string (1-255 characters) that makes this request safe to retry. Repeating the same key with an identical request body replays the original response instead of re-executing - but only once that original request succeeded; a failed attempt re-executes on retry. Repeating the key with a different body is answered with 422. A key still in flight is answered with 409 - as is a key whose original request was interrupted before it finished, for a few minutes afterwards, until that attempt is presumed dead. A completed response stays replayable for 24 hours. The key is scoped to the caller, not to the action: reusing it for a different action is answered with 409 or 422 rather than treated independently. On read actions this header is ignored. On write actions that cannot offer the guarantee it is answered with `400 IDEMPOTENCY_NOT_SUPPORTED` rather than silently ignored. |
| `id` | path | string | yes | The unique identifier for the absence to update. |

## Request body

Required, `application/json`: updateAbsenceInput.

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `editReason` | string | yes | The reason for the edit. It is recorded on the absence's history. If it contains the text 'sick certificate', only leaveCertificate and certificateName are written and every other field in the request is ignored. |
| `startDate` | string (date-time) | no | The date and time the absence starts, in UTC. Format YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.sssZ. |
| `endDate` | string (date-time) | no | The date and time the absence ends, in UTC. Format YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.sssZ. |
| `days` | string (decimal) | no | The number of absence days. May be fractional for partial days. |
| `absenceTypeId` | string | no | The unique identifier for the absence type. See id on GET people/absence-types/:id. |
| `leaveDescription` | string | no | A free-text reason for the absence. |
| `googleEvent` | boolean | no | Whether to mirror this absence to the linked Google Calendar. |
| `leaveCertificate` | string | no | The certificate file content. It is written only when editReason contains the text 'sick certificate'. Sent without that text, it is ignored. |
| `certificateName` | string | no | The file name of the certificate. Written only when editReason contains the text 'sick certificate', like leaveCertificate. |

Example:

```json
{
  "editReason": "<editReason>",
  "startDate": "2026-01-15T09:30:00.000Z",
  "endDate": "2026-01-15T09:30:00.000Z",
  "days": "19.99",
  "absenceTypeId": "3fa85f64-5717-4562-b3fc-2c963f66afa6",
  "leaveDescription": "<leaveDescription>",
  "googleEvent": true,
  "leaveCertificate": "<leaveCertificate>",
  "certificateName": "<certificateName>"
}
```

## Response

`200` Success

## Response headers

- `Idempotency-Replayed` — Present and `true` only when this response replays a previously stored one for the same Idempotency-Key, rather than reflecting a live execution. Absent on a live response - never sent as `false`.

## Errors

| Code | Status |
| --- | --- |
| `NOT_FOUND` | 400 |
| `ABSENCE_TYPE_NOT_FOUND` | 400 |
| `IDEMPOTENCY_KEY_CONFLICT` | 409 |
| `IDEMPOTENCY_PAYLOAD_MISMATCH` | 422 |

## Statuses

- `400` — Invalid request or business failure. Codes: NOT_FOUND, ABSENCE_TYPE_NOT_FOUND
- `401` — Missing or invalid access token
- `403` — Not authorized
- `404` — Not found
- `409` — The Idempotency-Key is still being processed by another request.
- `422` — The Idempotency-Key was already used with a different request payload.
- `429` — Too many requests
- `500` — Internal server error