How to bulk update cards using the API

🔐 Available on all plans

🎯 For those who want to update cards’ information in mass

⏩ Content Summary:

Learn how to make the most of Pipefy’s API to update many cards at once:

Create reports in the pipe to extract cards’ IDs to be updated.
Use queries in the API to identify the fields’ IDs you want to update.
Use mutations to update values in the indicated fields.
Perform the above actions without exceeding your plan's allowable volume.

How to update cards in mass

You can update cards in mass using Pipefy’s API (GraphiQL) to make queries and mutations (actions) in your processes. Learn how to use Pipefy’s API.

📢 Keep in mind: To be able to use the API, you have to have administrator permissions in your organization. Learn more about roles and permissions in Pipefy.

You’ll be doing a bit of coding here, but this article includes all the necessary steps to make these updates.

Steps to update cards in mass

First, find the pipe containing the cards to be updated; you will need to perform a few actions in it. You will also need to open Pipefy’s API.

🎥 Check this video recorded by our Support team to learn more about it:

Inside the pipe containing cards to be updated

To start, you will need the ID of the pipe containing the cards you want to update in mass.

Open the pipe. The ID is located in the URL:

You will need the IDs of the cards to be updated. It’s not necessary to access them individually; you can create a Report with a defined parameter and export the CSV archive.

This action will create a new report with the predetermined parameters.

Clique the column selector to add the codes (IDs) of the cards.

Export the report and use the IDs in the construction of the mutation. Learn how to create pipe reports.

💡 Tip: You can save the report for future use, saving yourself or your team time and work if more card updates or information are needed again.

In Pipefy’s API

Now that you have the ID of the pipe and of the cards you want to update, you will need to make a query to identify the fields’ IDs you want to update.

📢 Keep in mind: We recommend you test one card before adding others; it’s best to confirm results before updating cards in mass. When ready to make mass updates, we suggest you change no more than 30 cards each time to prevent the system from blocking your ID.

Access the API and follow the instructions below:

At the left side of the screen, paste in the following query, replacing the pipe’s ID (the code you identified in the first step) inside the pipe.
```
query{
pipe(id:ID do pipe){
start_form_fields{
id
label
}
phases{
name
fields{
id
label
}
}
}
}
```
The query will look like this:
Click the indicated button below to process the query and get the fields’ ID.
On the right side, you will have a list with the information requested:
- Start form fields with their IDs and titles.
- Phase fields with their IDs and titles.
You will need the ID of the field you want to update, so search for the value in the list. For example, let’s suppose we need to update the values in the Area manager field.
The ID of the field Area manager in the phase Approval is area_manager.

With the information you now have, you can build a mutation altering the following information:

mutation{
n1 : updateCardField(input:{card_id: 123456 field_id: "my_text_field" new_value: "New value text" })
n2 : updateCardField(input:{card_id: 789101 field_id: "my_text_field" new_value: "New value text" })
n3 : updateCardField(input:{card_id: 234567 field_id: "my_text_field" new_value: "New value text" })
n4 : updateCardField(input:{card_id: 765432 field_id: "my_text_field" new_value: "New value text" })
n5 : updateCardField(input:{card_id: 543210 field_id: "my_text_field" new_value: "New value text" })
}

The mutation must look like this:

Each line (nx) represents a different card. Add up to 30 lines, altering the values of each card, always keeping the brace ( } ) at the end.

In each line, you must enter the specific card ID, the ID of the field that you will change, along with the new value.
When you have updated all mutation information, click the button indicated below to make the changes.
On the right side, you will see the results of the success of each card (nx) change. If it returns as “success”: true, it means it worked!

📢 Keep in mind: Be careful when making updating in mass, as it’s possible for the API to exceed your plan’s volume. Learn more about plan limits.

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