Update a department

Operation ID: updateDepartment

Group: People Management › Departments

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PATCH /people/departments/{id}

Retry-safe: A write that accepts Idempotency-Key: repeating a request with the same key replays the stored answer instead of executing twice.

Updates a department with the fields you send. A field you leave out keeps its current value.

Use the department's id, not its departmentNumber.

You don't send external identifiers as a whole list. Add, change, and remove them with createExternalIdentifiers, updateExternalIdentifiers, and deleteExternalIdentifiers.

The response is empty. Read the updated department with GET people/departments/:id.

Parameters

Name In Type Required Description
Api-Version header string · 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 of the department you want to update.

Request body

Required, application/json: updateDepartmentInput.

Field Type Required Description
name string no The display name of the department.
departmentCode string no The short code for the department. Must be unique across departments. Send an empty string to reset it to the system-generated department number.
description string no A free-form description of the department's purpose and responsibilities.
managerId string no The identifier of the employee who manages the department. See id on GET people/person/:id.
parentId string no The identifier of the new parent department. It cannot be cleared through this endpoint, and it must not be a descendant of this department. See id on GET people/departments/:id.
startDate string no The date the department becomes active. Use format YYYY-MM-DD.
endDate string no The date the department becomes inactive. Use format YYYY-MM-DD. It cannot be cleared through this endpoint.
createExternalIdentifiers array<object> no External identifiers to add. A fieldName already present on the record fails with DUPLICATE_EXTERNAL_IDENTIFIER.
createExternalIdentifiers[].fieldName string yes The configured field name of the identifier, for example 'netsuiteDepartmentId'.
createExternalIdentifiers[].value string yes The identifier in the other system.
createExternalIdentifiers[].externalUrl string no A link to the record in the other system.
updateExternalIdentifiers array<object> no External identifiers to rewrite, matched by fieldName. A fieldName not present on the record fails with EXTERNAL_IDENTIFIER_NOT_FOUND.
updateExternalIdentifiers[].fieldName string yes The configured field name of an identifier already present on the record.
updateExternalIdentifiers[].value string yes The new identifier value in the other system.
updateExternalIdentifiers[].externalUrl string no A link to the record in the other system.
deleteExternalIdentifiers array<string> no The field names of external identifiers to remove. A fieldName not present on the record fails with EXTERNAL_IDENTIFIER_NOT_FOUND. Removal is always explicit, never by omission. 
{
  "name": "<name>",
  "departmentCode": "<departmentCode>",
  "description": "<description>",
  "managerId": "3fa85f64-5717-4562-b3fc-2c963f66afa6",
  "parentId": "3fa85f64-5717-4562-b3fc-2c963f66afa6",
  "startDate": "<startDate>",
  "endDate": "<endDate>",
  "createExternalIdentifiers": [
    {
      "fieldName": "<fieldName>",
      "value": "<value>",
      "externalUrl": "<externalUrl>"
    }
  ],
  "updateExternalIdentifiers": [
    {
      "fieldName": "<fieldName>",
      "value": "<value>",
      "externalUrl": "<externalUrl>"
    }
  ],
  "deleteExternalIdentifiers": [
    "<deleteExternalIdentifiers>"
  ]
}

Response

200 Success

{
  "data": {},
  "diagnostics": [
    {
      "code": "<code>",
      "message": "<message>",
      "severity": "error",
      "path": [
        "<path>"
      ],
      "details": "<details>"
    }
  ]
}

Response headers

Errors

Code Status
NOT_FOUND 400
MANAGER_NOT_FOUND 400
PARENT_DEPARTMENT_NOT_FOUND 400
DUPLICATE_DEPARTMENT_CODE 400
UNKNOWN_EXTERNAL_IDENTIFIER 400
DUPLICATE_EXTERNAL_IDENTIFIER 400
EXTERNAL_IDENTIFIER_NOT_FOUND 400
IDEMPOTENCY_KEY_CONFLICT 409
IDEMPOTENCY_PAYLOAD_MISMATCH 422

Statuses