Update a metadata template

Updating a metadata template can be achieved by passing an array of operations to the API.

cURL

curl -i -X PUT "https://api.box.com/2.0/metadata_templates/enterprise/blueprintTemplate/schema" \
     -H "authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>" \
     -H "content-type: application/json-patch+json" \
     -d '[
       {
         "op": "editField",
         "fieldKey": "category",
         "data": {
           "displayName": "Customer Group"
         }
       }
     ]'

await client.metadataTemplates.updateMetadataTemplate(
  'enterprise' as UpdateMetadataTemplateScope,
  templateKey,
  [
    {
      op: 'addField' as UpdateMetadataTemplateRequestBodyOpField,
      fieldKey: 'newfieldname',
      data: { ['type']: 'string', ['displayName']: 'newFieldName' },
    } satisfies UpdateMetadataTemplateRequestBody,
  ],
);

client.metadata_templates.update_metadata_template(
    UpdateMetadataTemplateScope.ENTERPRISE,
    template_key,
    [
        UpdateMetadataTemplateRequestBody(
            op=UpdateMetadataTemplateRequestBodyOpField.ADDFIELD,
            field_key="newfieldname",
            data={"type": "string", "displayName": "newFieldName"},
        )
    ],
)

await client.MetadataTemplates.UpdateMetadataTemplateAsync(scope: UpdateMetadataTemplateScope.Enterprise, templateKey: templateKey, requestBody: Array.AsReadOnly(new [] {new UpdateMetadataTemplateRequestBody(op: UpdateMetadataTemplateRequestBodyOpField.AddField) { FieldKey = "newfieldname", Data = new Dictionary<string, object>() { { "type", "string" }, { "displayName", "newFieldName" } } }}));

try await client.metadataTemplates.updateMetadataTemplate(scope: UpdateMetadataTemplateScope.enterprise, templateKey: templateKey, requestBody: [UpdateMetadataTemplateRequestBody(op: UpdateMetadataTemplateRequestBodyOpField.addField, fieldKey: "newfieldname", data: ["type": "string", "displayName": "newFieldName"])])

client.getMetadataTemplates().updateMetadataTemplate(UpdateMetadataTemplateScope.ENTERPRISE, templateKey, Arrays.asList(new UpdateMetadataTemplateRequestBody.Builder(UpdateMetadataTemplateRequestBodyOpField.ADDFIELD).data(mapOf(entryOf("type", "string"), entryOf("displayName", "newFieldName"))).fieldKey("newfieldname").build()))

List<MetadataTemplate.FieldOperation> updates = new ArrayList<MetadataTemplate.FieldOperation>();

String addCategoryFieldJSON = "{\"op\":\"addField\","\"data\":{"
    + "\"displayName\":\"Category\",\"key\":\"category\",\"hidden\":false,\"type\":\"string\"}}";
updates.add(new MetadataTemplate.FieldOperation(addCategoryFieldJSON));

String changeTemplateNameJSON = "{\"op\":\"editTemplate\",\"data\":{"
    + "\"displayName\":\"My Metadata\"}}";
updates.add(new MetadataTemplate.FieldOperation(changeTemplateNameJSON));

MetadataTemplate.updateMetadataTemplate(api, "enterprise", "myData", updates);

template = client.metadata_template('enterprise', 'employeeRecord')
updates = template.start_update()
updates.add_enum_option('state', 'WI')
updates.edit_template({'hidden': False})
updates.edit_template({'copyInstanceOnItemCopy': False})
updated_template = template.update_info(updates=updates)

var updates = new List<BoxMetadataTemplateUpdate>()
{
    new BoxMetadataTemplateUpdate()
    {
        Op = MetadataTemplateUpdateOp.addEnumOption,
        FieldKey = "fy",
        Data = new {
            key = "FY20"
        }
    },
    new BoxMetadataTemplateUpdate()
    {
        Op = MetadataTemplateUpdateOp.editTemplate,
        Data = new {
            hidden = false
        }
    }
};
BoxMetadataTemplate updatedTemplate = await client.MetadataManager
    .UpdateMetadataTemplate(updates, "enterprise", "marketingCollateral");

// Add a new option to the Fiscal Year field, and un-hide the template
var operations = [
 {
  op: 'addEnumOption',
  fieldKey: 'fy',
  data: { key: 'FY20' }
 },
 {
  op: 'editTemplate',
  data: { hidden: false }
 }
];
client.metadata.updateTemplate('enterprise', 'vcontract', operations)
 .then(template => {
  /* template -> {
   templateKey: 'vcontract',
   scope: 'enterprise_12345',
   displayName: 'Vendor Contract',
   hidden: false,
   fields: 
   [ { type: 'date',
    key: 'signed',
    displayName: 'Date Signed',
    hidden: false },
    { type: 'string',
    key: 'vendor',
    displayName: 'Vendor',
    hidden: false },
    { type: 'enum',
    key: 'fy',
    displayName: 'Fiscal Year',
    options: 
     [ { key: 'FY17' },
     { key: 'FY18' },
     { key: 'FY19' },
     { key: 'FY20' } ],
    hidden: false } ] }
  */
 });

Admin permissions required

Updating metadata templates is restricted to users with admin permission. This means that only admins, or co-admins who have been granted rights to Create and edit metadata templates for your company by the admin can use the web app or the API to manage templates.

Operations

Updates to metadata templates are performed through operations rather than directly changing the template itself. This method allows us to update any existing metadata instances that are already applied to files and folders.

Template operations

Template operations update a template’s details or fields. These operations are generally safe as they are applied to any template instance without much impact.

Edit a template

The operation editTemplate allows for editing any of the base properties of the template, like the displayName, copyInstanceOnItemCopy and more.

Parameter
data	An object representing the properties to change

[
  {
    "op": "editTemplate",
    "data": {
      "displayName": "Client",
      "copyInstanceOnItemCopy": true
    }
  }
]

This will update the template to have a new display name of Client.

This will affect existing instances of this template.

Add a field to a template

The operation addField adds a field to a template.

Parameter
data	An object representing field to add

[
  {
    "op": "addField",
    "data": {
      "displayName": "Category",
      "key": "category",
      "hidden": false,
      "type": "string"
    }
  }
]

This will add a new non-hidden string field with a displayName and key of category.

This will affect existing instances of this template.

Reorder fields

The operation reorderFields reorders the list of fields in a template to match the requested field list.

Parameter
fieldKeys	The new list of field keys in the requested order

{
  "op": "reorderFields",
  "fieldKeys": ["field2", "field1", "field3"]
}

This will reorder the fields for the template to have field2 first, followed by field1, then field3.

This will affect existing instances of this template. It will reorder the fields, yet keep the values of the fields intact.

Field operations

Field operations transform the schema of a template. The following is a list of operations that can be used in this API and can potentially change the data of any previously assigned templates.

These changes will be logged as template changes but not as file changes.

Edit a field

The operation editField edits any number of the base properties of a field like the displayName, description, key, and hidden state.

Parameter
data	An object representing the new properties to set for the field
fieldKey	The key of the field to be edited

{
  "op": "editField",
  "fieldKey": "category",
  "data": {
    "displayName": "Customer Group"
  }
}

This will update the field category to have a new display name of Customer Group. If the key is changed, existing values of the specified field are migrated to the new key. The search index will be updated, yet it may take time depending on how many files are affected by the change.

This may affect existing instances of this template.

Remove a field

The operation removeField removes a field from a template.

Parameter
fieldKey	The key of the field to remove from the template

{
  "op": "removeField",
  "fieldKey": "brand"
}

This will remove the field brand from the template as well as all instances of the template. The search index will be updated, yet it may take time depending on how many files are affected by the change.

This will affect existing instances of this template.

Field Option Operations

Both the and metadata field types support some additional operations to change the options of the fields.

Operation
	Adds an option to an enum field
	Edits an enum field option
	Re-orders the options on an enum field
	Removes an enum field option
	Adds an option to a multiSelect field
	Edits a multiSelect field option
	Re-orders the options on a multiSelect field
	Removes a multiSelect field option