> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://hub.equipme.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://hub.equipme.io/development/api-reference-app/changing-resources.md).

# Changing resources

A `PATCH` body is a **JSON merge patch** ([RFC 7396](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc7396)), sent as `application/json`. Send only what should change — never the whole resource. Every field carries one of three meanings:

| The field is | Meaning              |
| ------------ | -------------------- |
| omitted      | leave it as it is    |
| `null`       | clear it             |
| a value      | set it to that value |

```json
{"assigneeId": 17, "priorityName": null}
```

That assigns the ticket and clears its priority. Everything else keeps its current value, so there is no read-modify-write cycle and no risk of writing back a field you never meant to touch.

Rules worth knowing:

* **A relation is changed through the scalar that identifies it** — `assigneeId`, `statusName`, `typeName` — never by embedding the related object. A nested `assignee` object in the body is ignored.
* **An array replaces the whole collection.** Merge patch does not merge arrays: `{"labels":["billing"]}` leaves exactly one label, and both `{"labels":null}` and `{"labels":[]}` remove all of them. A label name that does not exist yet is created.
* **A field that cannot be empty has no `null` form.** `statusName` and `subject` are always set, so an explicit `null` there leaves the current value unchanged instead of clearing it.
* A status change is validated against the configured transitions and answered with `400` when the transition is not permitted.
* The response carries the patched resource under `data`.


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