# Updates a document type

`PUT /api/configuration/document-types/{documentTypeId}`

- **Success:** `200 OK`
- **Products:** Operator (`FOH`)
- **Features:** Front of House Generic Access (`FOHGENERIC`)

HTML version: [Updates a document type](https://support.gladstonesoftware.cloud/reference/configuration/updates-a-document-type)

## Overview

Updates a document type — the category a file uploaded against a member is filed under, such as a medical certificate or a signed waiver.

**This is a full replacement, not a partial update.** `name`, `description`, `isSensitive` and `isAttachment` are all overwritten from your body, so omitting `name` or `description` clears the existing text, and omitting either boolean stores `false`. Read the current values with [Get document type by ID](returns-a-specific-document-type-based-on-the-id.md) and send the whole object back.

Two rules restrict what you can change:

- **System document types cannot be changed at all.** These are the types the platform ships and depends on; any update to one is rejected with `409`. `isSystem` on the retrieval response tells you which they are.
- **A type that a member document already uses can be changed, but not renamed.** If any member document is filed under this type, `name` must match the stored name exactly — everything else is still editable. Rename attempts are rejected with `409`.

Names must also be unique across document types, so reusing another type's name is rejected with `409`.

**Note the response.** A successful update returns `204 No Content` with an empty body, not the updated document type. Do not write code that parses a body from this call; fetch the type again if you need to see the result.

## Endpoint

`PUT {base_url}/api/configuration/document-types/{documentTypeId}`

`{base_url}` is the environment URL issued to your integration. See [Authenticating with Gladstone APIs](../../guides/authenticating-with-gladstone-apis.md).

## Path parameters

| Name | Type | Required | Description |
|------|------|----------|-------------|
| `documentTypeId` | integer (int32) | Yes | The document type's identifier, as returned in `[].id` by [List document types](returns-all-document-types.md). This is the type's id, not the id of any member document filed under it. An id that matches nothing fails with `404`. |

## Request body

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|-------|------|----------|-------------|
| `name` | string | Yes | The document type's name — the label staff pick from when filing a member document. Maximum 255 characters, and unique across document types: reusing another type's name fails with `409`. Always overwritten, so **omitting it clears the name**. If any member document already uses this type, the value must match the stored name exactly (comparison is case-sensitive) or the call fails with `409`. |
| `description` | string | No | Longer explanatory text about what belongs under this type. Maximum 500 characters. Always overwritten, so **omitting it or sending null clears the stored text**. Unlike `name`, this can be changed freely even while the type is in use. |
| `isSensitive` | boolean | No | Marks documents of this type as sensitive, restricting who may view them. **Omitting it or sending null sets it to `false`**, which would widen access to every document already filed under the type. Always send the value you want. |
| `isAttachment` | boolean | No | Marks the type as one whose documents are handled as file attachments. **Omitting it or sending null sets it to `false`**. |

## Sample request

```bash title="cURL"
curl -X PUT '{base_url}/api/configuration/document-types/{documentTypeId}' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer {accessToken}' \
  -H 'X-Use-SSO: true' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "name": "string",
  "description": "string",
  "isSensitive": true,
  "isAttachment": true
}'
```

## Response fields

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `id` | integer (int32) | The document type's identifier — the value you pass as `documentTypeId`. Assigned by the platform and never reused. |
| `key` | string | The type's stable code, maximum 55 characters. Unlike `name` it is not editable through this endpoint, which makes it the safer thing for your integration to match on. |
| `name` | string | The type's display name, unique across document types. |
| `description` | string | The longer explanatory text, up to 500 characters. Null when never set or cleared. |
| `isSensitive` | boolean | Whether documents of this type are treated as sensitive. |
| `isAttachment` | boolean | Whether documents of this type are handled as file attachments. |
| `isSystem` | boolean | Whether the platform owns this type. `true` means it cannot be updated or deleted — check this before offering it for editing. It is read-only: there is no request field that sets it. |

## Sample response

```json title="200 OK"
{
  "id": 12345,
  "key": "string",
  "name": "string",
  "description": "string",
  "isSensitive": true,
  "isAttachment": true,
  "isSystem": true
}
```

## Errors

| Status | Meaning | When |
|--------|---------|------|
| `400` | Bad request | The body is not valid JSON for this request, or a value exceeds its maximum length. The body is a validation error object keyed by field name. |
| `404` | Not found | No document type has that `documentTypeId` — `Document Type ID {id} cannot be found`. |
| `409` | Conflict | The type is a system type — `Document Type ID {id} cannot be changed because it is system`. No part of the update is applied, including the editable fields. |
| `409` | Conflict | A member document already uses this type and `name` differs from the stored name — `Document Type ID {id} cannot be changed because it is in use by a member`. Resend the stored name to change the other fields. |
| `409` | Conflict | Another document type already has that `name` — `The document type name {name} already exists`. |
| `500` | Internal server error | An unexpected server-side failure. The response body is empty. |