---
title: "Update External Feed"
method: PATCH
path: "/external_feeds/{id}"
tags: ["External Feeds"]
---

# Update External Feed

`PATCH /external_feeds/{id}`

Update an external feed's properties

## Path parameters

- `id` string, required

## Request body

- ExternalFeedUpdateInput
  - `behavior` 'draft' | 'emails' — An enumeration.
  - `cadence` 'every' | 'daily' | 'weekly' | 'monthly' — An enumeration.
  - `cadence_metadata` CadenceMetadata
    - `time` string, nullable — Hour of the day (0-23, as a string) when emails should be generated.
    - `weekday` 'monday' | 'tuesday' | 'wednesday' | 'thursday' | 'friday' | 'saturday' | 'sunday', nullable — Day of the week when emails should be generated. Required when cadence is `weekly`.
    - `monthday` union — Day of the month when emails should be generated. Accepts a numeric day (`1`-`31`, clamped to the last day for shorter months), a weekday name (first such day of the month), `firstday`, or `lastday`. Required when cadence is `monthly`.
      - 'monday' | 'tuesday' | 'wednesday' | 'thursday' | 'friday' | 'saturday' | 'sunday' | 'firstday' | 'lastday'
      - string
  - `filters` FilterGroup — Buttondown's filtering schema can be used for multiple things: - Filtering [the audience of an email](/api-emails-create) to a specific subset - Creating [finely-tuned automations](/api-automation-introduction) Filters are fractal; they can be nested in groups, and groups can be nested in other groups. This is accomplished through a tree-like structure. Every "FilterGroup" has a "predicate" field, which is either "and" or "or", which determines how the filters and groups within the group are combined, a "groups" field, which is a list of "FilterGroup" objects (that's that recursive bit!), and a "filters" field, which are the leaf-level filters themselves. Let's say you want a simple filter: all subscribers who have a tag whose ID is `sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j`. You can do that like this: ```json { "filters": [{"field": "subscriber.tags", "operator": "contains", "value": "sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j"}], "groups": [], "predicate": "and" } ``` Now, let's say you want to filter for subscribers who have that tag and a tag whose ID is `sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40k`. You can do that like this: ```json { "filters": [{"field": "subscriber.tags", "operator": "contains", "value": "sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j"}, {"field": "subscriber.tags", "operator": "contains", "value": "sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40k"}], "groups": [], "predicate": "and" } ``` If you wanted to change that `and` to an `or`, you can do that like this: ```json { "filters": [{"field": "subscriber.tags", "operator": "contains", "value": "sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j"}, {"field": "subscriber.tags", "operator": "contains", "value": "sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40k"}], "groups": [], "predicate": "or" } ``` Now, let's say you want to filter for subscribers who have the first tag _or_ both the second tag and a third tag whose ID is `sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40m`. This is where the whole nested thing comes in handy. You can do that like this: ```json { "filters": [{"field": "subscriber.tags", "operator": "contains", "value": "sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j"}], "groups": [ { "filters": [{"field": "subscriber.tags", "operator": "contains", "value": "sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40k"}, {"field": "subscriber.tags", "operator": "contains", "value": "sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40m"}], "groups": [], "predicate": "and" } ], "predicate": "or" } ``` You can read more about the specific filter construction in the [Filter documentation](/api-emails-filter).
    - `filters` Filter[], required — The leaf-level filters to apply to the audience.
      - `field` string, required
      - `operator` 'equals' | 'not_equals' | 'contains' | 'not_contains' | 'is_empty' | 'is_not_empty' | 'greater_than' | 'less_than', required — An enumeration.
      - `value` string, required
    - `groups` FilterGroup[], required — The nested groups to apply to the audience.
    - `predicate` 'and' | 'or', required — The logical operator to use when combining filters (either 'and' or 'or').
  - `subject` string, nullable — The subject line template for emails generated from this feed.
  - `body` string, nullable — The body template for emails generated from this feed.
  - `label` string, nullable — An optional internal label for this feed.
  - `status` 'active' | 'failing' | 'inactive', nullable — The current status of the external feed automation.
  - `metadata` object, nullable — Metadata to be passed to emails rendered by this RSS feed.
  - `skip_old_items` boolean, nullable — Skip items with publish date older than one day from when they're discovered

## Response `200`

OK

- ExternalFeed — An automation is a one-to-one mapping between an external RSS feed and an action to be performed when new items are detected in that feed. Right now, Buttondown offers two actions: - Send an email - Create an email but save it as a draft to be sent out manually The automation is configured with a cadence, which is the frequency at which the automation will be run. The cadence can be one of the following: - Run the automation every time a new item is detected in the feed - Run the automation once per week - Run the automation once per month
  - `id` string, required — A unique TypeID associated with the object.
  - `creation_date` string, date-time, required — The date and time at which the object was first created.
  - `last_checked_date` string, date-time, nullable — The most recent date and time this feed was checked for new items.
  - `status` 'active' | 'failing' | 'inactive' | 'deleted', required — Represents the status of the automation, and whether or not it is active. Inactive automations will not be processed. Deleted automations will not be processed.
  - `behavior` 'draft' | 'emails', required — An enumeration.
  - `cadence` 'every' | 'daily' | 'weekly' | 'monthly', required — An enumeration.
  - `cadence_metadata` object, required — Additional scheduling details for the selected cadence. `time` is required for `daily`/`weekly`/`monthly` cadences; `weekday` is required for `weekly`; `monthday` is required for `monthly`. See the [cadence metadata reference](https://docs.buttondown.com/api-external-feed-cadence-metadata) for allowed values.
  - `filters` FilterGroup, required — Buttondown's filtering schema can be used for multiple things: - Filtering [the audience of an email](/api-emails-create) to a specific subset - Creating [finely-tuned automations](/api-automation-introduction) Filters are fractal; they can be nested in groups, and groups can be nested in other groups. This is accomplished through a tree-like structure. Every "FilterGroup" has a "predicate" field, which is either "and" or "or", which determines how the filters and groups within the group are combined, a "groups" field, which is a list of "FilterGroup" objects (that's that recursive bit!), and a "filters" field, which are the leaf-level filters themselves. Let's say you want a simple filter: all subscribers who have a tag whose ID is `sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j`. You can do that like this: ```json { "filters": [{"field": "subscriber.tags", "operator": "contains", "value": "sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j"}], "groups": [], "predicate": "and" } ``` Now, let's say you want to filter for subscribers who have that tag and a tag whose ID is `sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40k`. You can do that like this: ```json { "filters": [{"field": "subscriber.tags", "operator": "contains", "value": "sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j"}, {"field": "subscriber.tags", "operator": "contains", "value": "sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40k"}], "groups": [], "predicate": "and" } ``` If you wanted to change that `and` to an `or`, you can do that like this: ```json { "filters": [{"field": "subscriber.tags", "operator": "contains", "value": "sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j"}, {"field": "subscriber.tags", "operator": "contains", "value": "sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40k"}], "groups": [], "predicate": "or" } ``` Now, let's say you want to filter for subscribers who have the first tag _or_ both the second tag and a third tag whose ID is `sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40m`. This is where the whole nested thing comes in handy. You can do that like this: ```json { "filters": [{"field": "subscriber.tags", "operator": "contains", "value": "sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j"}], "groups": [ { "filters": [{"field": "subscriber.tags", "operator": "contains", "value": "sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40k"}, {"field": "subscriber.tags", "operator": "contains", "value": "sub_tag_0j6hb7h40j6hb7h40j6hb7h40m"}], "groups": [], "predicate": "and" } ], "predicate": "or" } ``` You can read more about the specific filter construction in the [Filter documentation](/api-emails-filter).
    - `filters` Filter[], required — The leaf-level filters to apply to the audience.
      - `field` string, required
      - `operator` 'equals' | 'not_equals' | 'contains' | 'not_contains' | 'is_empty' | 'is_not_empty' | 'greater_than' | 'less_than', required — An enumeration.
      - `value` string, required
    - `groups` FilterGroup[], required — The nested groups to apply to the audience.
    - `predicate` 'and' | 'or', required — The logical operator to use when combining filters (either 'and' or 'or').
  - `url` string, required — The URL of the RSS feed to poll for new items.
  - `subject` string, required — The subject line template for emails generated from this feed.
  - `body` string, required — The body template for emails generated from this feed.
  - `label` string, required — An optional internal label for this feed.
  - `metadata` object — Metadata to be passed to emails rendered by this RSS feed.
  - `skip_old_items` boolean, required — Skip items with publish date older than one day from when they're discovered

## Other responses

- `400` — Bad Request
- `401` — Unauthorized
- `403` — Forbidden
- `404` — Not Found
- `409` — Conflict
- `422` — Unprocessable Entity
- `429` — Too Many Requests

---

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