curl -X PATCH 'https://api.github.com/repos/example-owner/example-repo/git/refs/example-ref' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Accept: application/vnd.github+json' \
  -H 'X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2026-03-10' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "sha": "example-sha"
}'

# PATCH /repos/{owner}/{repo}/git/refs/{ref} (GitHub API)
Base URL: https://api.github.com
Auth: Authorization; GitHub token; required.
Request formats: application/json.
Last verified: 2026-10-20

> Update a reference

## Critical Gotchas
* GitHub recommends an `Accept: application/vnd.github+json` header and an explicit `X-GitHub-Api-Version` header.
* Fine-grained tokens only authorize repositories and permissions selected when the token is created.

## cURL
curl -X PATCH 'https://api.github.com/repos/example-owner/example-repo/git/refs/example-ref' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Accept: application/vnd.github+json' \
  -H 'X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2026-03-10' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "sha": "example-sha"
}'

## Parameters
| Name | In | Type | Required | Description |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| owner | path | string | Yes | The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive. |
| repo | path | string | Yes | The name of the repository without the `.git` extension. The name is not case... |
| ref | path | string | Yes | The Git reference. For more information, see "[Git References](https://git-sc... |
| sha | body | string | Yes | The SHA1 value to set this reference to |
| force | body | boolean | No | Indicates whether to force the update or to make sure the update is a fast-fo... |

## Response example
{"ref":"string","node_id":"string"}

---
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PATCH

PATCH /repos/{owner}/{repo}/git/refs/{ref} — GitHub API

GitHub token (required); https://api.github.com

GitHub API

Update a reference

Base URL: https://api.github.com
Auth: Authorization: Bearer <GITHUB_API_KEY>
Last verified: 2026-10-20 · upstream hash matched

Actions Try in browser→

Agents: curl -H "Accept: text/markdown" this URL
→ 294 tokens · Vary: Accept

Critical gotchas

GitHub recommends an Accept: application/vnd.github+json header and an explicit X-GitHub-Api-Version header.

Fine-grained tokens only authorize repositories and permissions selected when the token is created.

cURL

curl -X PATCH 'https://api.github.com/repos/example-owner/example-repo/git/refs/example-ref' \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \  -H 'Accept: application/vnd.github+json' \  -H 'X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2026-03-10' \  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \  -d '{  "sha": "example-sha"}'

Parameters

Name	In	Type	Required	Description
owner	path	string	Yes	The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
repo	path	string	Yes	The name of the repository without the `.git` extension. The name is not case sensitive.
ref	path	string	Yes	The Git reference. For more information, see "[Git References](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Internals-Git-References)" in the Git documentation.
sha	body	string	Yes	The SHA1 value to set this reference to
force	body	boolean	No	Indicates whether to force the update or to make sure the update is a fast-forward update. Leaving this out or setting it to `false` will make sure you're not overwriting work.

Response 200 OK

{
  "ref": "string",
  "node_id": "string",
  "url": "https://example.com",
  "object": {
    "type": "string",
    "sha": "7638417db6d59f3c431d3e1f261cc637155684cd",
    "url": "https://example.com"
  }
}

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