# Update a release

> Change a release's name, body, draft or prerelease; fields left out stay as they are, and an empty release_name clears it.

<div class="g1t-endpoint"><span class="g1t-method" data-method="patch">PATCH</span><code>/repos/{owner}/{name}/releases/{id}</code></div>

Setting draft to false publishes it (published_at is set the first time). Needs the Write role.

- **Authentication:** Required. Send an [access token](/reference/api/#authentication) as `Authorization: Bearer`.
- **MCP tool:** [`repository`](/reference/mcp/#repository) with `action` `update_release`, and the same inputs
- **Scope:** An access token needs [`repo:write`](/guides/authentication/#scopes).

## Path parameters

| Name | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `owner` | string | Yes | The workspace that owns the repository. |
| `name` | string | Yes | The repository's name. |
| `id` | string | Yes | The release's id: rel_… |

## Body parameters

Send a JSON object. Names are `snake_case`, as in responses; the `camelCase` spelling is accepted too.

| Name | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `release_name` | string | No | Its title (name in the answer), at most 200 characters; under a repository's address `name` is the repository's. The tag's name is shown when it has none. |
| `body` | string | No | Its notes, Markdown, at most 125,000 characters. |
| `draft` | boolean | No | Seen only by those with the Write role until published. |
| `prerelease` | boolean | No | Not ready for everyone: never the latest release. |

## Example request

```sh
curl -X PATCH https://api.g1t.sh/repos/flagon-io/hello/releases/rel_01m4a2b7c9d3e5f7g9h1j3k5m7 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $G1T_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "body": "## What changed\n\n- `hello` greets the caller by name (#12)\n- Faster start-up (#15)\n- Docs for `--name`"
  }'
```

## Example response

A successful request answers `200` with:

```json
{
  "id": "rel_01m4a2b7c9d3e5f7g9h1j3k5m7",
  "tag_name": "v1.2.0",
  "target": "9f3c2a1b7e5d4c3b2a19f8e7d6c5b4a39281706f",
  "name": "Greetings by name",
  "body": "## What changed\n\n- `hello` greets the caller by name (#12)\n- Faster start-up (#15)\n- Docs for `--name`",
  "draft": false,
  "prerelease": false,
  "author": "ada",
  "created_at": "2026-10-06T16:02:11.000Z",
  "published_at": "2026-10-06T16:02:11.000Z",
  "latest": true
}
```

## Errors

A failed request answers with one of these statuses and a body like `{"error": {"code": "not_found", "message": "Repository not found."}}`. See [errors](/reference/api/#errors).

| Status | Code | When |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 401 | `unauthenticated` | A token is required, or the one sent is not valid. |
| 403 | `forbidden` | The token is valid but not allowed to do this, such as a member-only change or an agent token outside its repository. |
| 404 | `not_found` | It does not exist, or you cannot see it. |
| 409 | `conflict` | The request conflicts with the current state. |
| 422 | `invalid` | The input is not valid. `message` says which field and why. |