update(project: string, environment: string, name: string, patch: VariablePatch, options?: ProductScope): Promise<VariableResource>

Patches one variable addressed by its current name. Every field is optional and anything you omit keeps its stored value.

value and defaultValue must be ciphertext when present, otherwise the call fails with 400 variable.ciphertext_invalid and error.field naming which one. Send defaultValue: null to clear it and omit it to leave it alone, the two are not interchangeable.

Passing name renames the variable, which changes the address every later call must use. The new name must match ^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*$ and be 1 to 100 characters, is stored with exactly the casing you send, and the rename is refused with 409 variable.name_conflict when another live variable already holds that name, compared without regard to case. Prefer updateById inside a long running sync loop, since an id cannot go stale under a rename.

Example

const { workspaceId } = await envless.me.get()

const variable = await envless.variables.update('api', 'production', 'STRIPE_SECRET_KEY', {
    value: await encryptValue('sk_live_rotated', passphrase, workspaceId ?? '')
})

console.log(variable.updatedAt)

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`project`	`string`	Yes	Project slug the environment belongs to.
`environment`	`string`	Yes	Environment slug the variable lives in.
`name`	`string`	Yes	Current variable name, matched without regard to case.
`patch.name`	`string`	No	New name, matching `^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*$` and 1 to 100 characters, which renames the variable and changes how you address it.
`patch.value`	`string`	No	Replacement ciphertext from `encryptValue`, prefixed `v1:` or `v2:`.
`patch.type`	`string`	No	One of the `VARIABLE_TYPE` values.
`patch.isSecret`	`boolean`	No	Marks or unmarks the variable as a secret, which the example feed reports as `secret`. Stored, but not echoed in the response.
`patch.visibility`	`string`	No	One of the `VARIABLE_VISIBILITY_LEVELS` values.
`patch.required`	`boolean`	No	Toggles whether the variable is required for the environment.
`patch.defaultValue`	`string \| null`	No	Replacement ciphertext fallback, or null to clear it.
`options.product`	`string`	No	Product slug, needed when the project slug is not unique in the workspace.
`options.signal`	`AbortSignal`	No	Cancels the request.

Returns

VariableResource reflecting the row after the patch, with a fresh updatedAt.

Worth knowing

A rename does not start a new audit trail. History is keyed to the variable id, so events survive the new name.
The returned updatedAt is the value a later apply baseline must carry, down to the millisecond.
A rename is checked locally before anything is sent. The new name must be 1 to 100 characters of letters, numbers and underscores, and it must not start with a number. Case is kept exactly as you type it, and a local refusal rejects with an EnvlessApiError carrying request.body_invalid.

Required scopes

variables:write

Underlying endpoint

PATCH /projects/{slug}/environments/{environmentSlug}/variables/{name}

Request and response schema, every error code, and a live playground.

In Python

envless.variables.update()

The same method in envless-sdk, the Python SDK, with the same request, retries and errors.

In Ruby

Envless.variables.update

The same method in envless-sdk, the Ruby gem, with the same request, retries and errors.

In PHP

$envless->variables->update()

The same method in envless/sdk, the PHP SDK, with the same request, retries and errors.

Example#

Parameters#

Returns#

Worth knowing#

Required scopes#

Underlying endpoint#