Update a collection

Updating collection properties

This endpoint allows you to modify certain properties of an existing collection in Tallyfy Answers, such as its description or configuration settings. The collection name cannot be changed once it’s created.

API endpoint

PATCH /v1/collections/{collection_name}

Path parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
collection_name	string	Yes	Name of the collection to update

Request body

The request body should contain a JSON object with the properties you want to update:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
description	string	No	New description for the collection

Example request body:

{
  "description": "Updated collection of premium electronics products"
}

Response

A successful update returns a 200 OK status code and a JSON response containing the updated collection:

{
  "name": "products",
  "description": "Updated collection of premium electronics products",
  "schema": {
    "name": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "price": {
      "type": "number"
    },
    "categories": {
      "type": "string[]"
    }
  },
  "created_at": "2023-08-15T14:32:21Z",
  "updated_at": "2023-09-05T10:15:42Z"
}

Error scenarios

Status	Description
404	Collection not found
400	Invalid request format or parameters

Example request

curl -X PATCH https://go.tallyfy.com/api/collections/products \
  -H "X-Answers-API-Key: <your_api_key>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "description": "Updated collection of premium electronics products"
  }'

Common update scenarios

There are several situations where updating a collection is useful:

• Improving documentation: Add or update the description to better explain the collection’s purpose
• Adjusting configurations: Modify search settings or other configuration parameters
• Refining metadata: Update metadata fields to provide better context for the collection

Limitations

• The collection name cannot be changed after creation
• Schema changes happen automatically as objects are indexed¹, not through this endpoint
• Certain system-level properties cannot be modified

Best practices

• Make incremental updates to avoid disrupting existing processes
• Use descriptive descriptions to help users understand the collection’s purpose
• Document changes to collection properties for future reference

Related articles

Collections > Create a collection

To create collections in Tallyfy Answers you must first make a POST request to the /v1/collections endpoint with a unique collection name and optional description before adding any objects to the collection.

Collections > Get a collection

The Tallyfy Answers API provides a GET endpoint to retrieve detailed information about specific collections including metadata schema information and object counts using the collection’s unique name.

Collections > Delete a collection

The DELETE endpoint permanently removes collections and all their objects from Tallyfy Answers with no recovery option and requires careful consideration of alternatives like data export or backup before execution.

Answers > Collections

Collections in Tallyfy Answers are organizational structures that group similar objects together like database tables and provide features for searching filtering and managing data with automatic schema detection and complete CRUD operations.

Footnotes

1. Tallyfy auto-detects data types (string, number, array) when new objects are added to collections ↩