PATCH
PATCH /repos/{owner}/{repo}/releases/{release_id} — GitHub API
GitHub token (required); https://api.github.com
GitHub APIUpdate a release
- 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
→ 355 tokens · Vary: Accept
→ 355 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/releases/10' \ -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 '{}'
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. |
| release_id | path | integer | Yes | The unique identifier of the release. |
| tag_name | body | string | No | The name of the tag. |
| target_commitish | body | string | No | Specifies the commitish value that determines where the Git tag is created from. Can be any branch or commit SHA. Unused if the Git tag already exists. Default: the repository's default branch. |
| name | body | string | No | The name of the release. |
| body | body | string | No | Text describing the contents of the tag. |
| draft | body | boolean | No | `true` makes the release a draft, and `false` publishes the release. |
| prerelease | body | boolean | No | `true` to identify the release as a prerelease, `false` to identify the release as a full release. |
| make_latest | body | string | No | Specifies whether this release should be set as the latest release for the repository. Drafts and prereleases cannot be set as latest. Defaults to `true` for newly published releases. `legacy` specifies that the latest release should be determined based on the release creation date and higher semantic version. |
| discussion_category_name | body | string | No | If specified, a discussion of the specified category is created and linked to the release. The value must be a category that already exists in the repository. If there is already a discussion linked to the release, this parameter is ignored. For more information, see "[Managing categories for discussions in your repository](https://docs.github.com/discussions/managing-discussions-for-your-community/managing-categories-for-discussions-in-your-repository)." |
Response 200 OK
{
"url": "https://example.com",
"html_url": "https://example.com",
"assets_url": "https://example.com",
"upload_url": "string",
"tarball_url": "https://example.com",
"zipball_url": "https://example.com",
"id": 0,
"node_id": "string",
"tag_name": "v1.0.0",
"target_commitish": "master",
"name": "string",
"body": "string",
"draft": false,
"prerelease": false,
"immutable": false,
"created_at": "2026-09-03T00:00:00Z",
"published_at": "2026-09-03T00:00:00Z",
"updated_at": "2026-09-03T00:00:00Z",
"author": {
"name": "string",
"email": "string",
"login": "octocat",
"id": 1,
"node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=",
"avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
"gravatar_id": "41d064eb2195891e12d0413f63227ea7",
"url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat",
"html_url": "https://github.com/octocat",
"followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/followers",
"following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/following{/other_user}",
"gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}",
"starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
"subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/subscriptions",
"organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/orgs",
"repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/repos",
"events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/events{/privacy}",
"received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/received_events",
"type": "User",
"site_admin": true,
"starred_at": "\"2020-07-09T00:17:55Z\"",
"user_view_type": "public"
},
"assets": [
{
"url": "https://example.com",
"browser_download_url": "https://example.com",
"id": 0,
"node_id": "string",
"name": "Team Environment",
"label": "string",
"state": "uploaded",
"content_type": "string",
"size": 0,
"digest": "string",
"download_count": 0,
"created_at": "2026-09-03T00:00:00Z",
"updated_at": "2026-09-03T00:00:00Z",
"uploader": {
"name": "string",
"email": "string",
"login": "octocat",
"id": 1,
"node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=",
"avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
"gravatar_id": "41d064eb2195891e12d0413f63227ea7",
"url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat",
"html_url": "https://github.com/octocat",
"followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/followers",
"following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/following{/other_user}",
"gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}",
"starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
"subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/subscriptions",
"organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/orgs",
"repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/repos",
"events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/events{/privacy}",
"received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/received_events",
"type": "User",
"site_admin": true,
"starred_at": "\"2020-07-09T00:17:55Z\"",
"user_view_type": "public"
}
}
],
"body_html": "string",
"body_text": "string",
"mentions_count": 0,
"discussion_url": "https://example.com",
"reactions": {
"url": "https://example.com",
"total_count": 0,
"+1": 0,
"-1": 0,
"laugh": 0,
"confused": 0,
"heart": 0,
"hooray": 0,
"eyes": 0,
"rocket": 0
}
} Get a free GitHub API key → sponsored Affiliate link - we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.