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docs(rest): clarify PATCH is a shallow top-level merge (nested objects replaced, not deep-merged) #547

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docs(rest): clarify PATCH is a shallow top-level merge (nested objects replaced, not deep-merged) #547

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docs(rest): clarify PATCH is a shallow top-level merge (nested object…
kriszyp Jun 25, 2026
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Update reference/rest/overview.md
kriszyp Jun 26, 2026
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17 changes: 17 additions & 0 deletions reference/rest/overview.md
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Expand Up @@ -116,6 +116,23 @@ Content-Type: application/json
{ "status": "active" }
```

:::warning
The merge is **shallow** (top-level only). Preserving "unspecified properties" applies only to top-level attributes.

If the request body includes a nested object, that entire sub-object is **replaced** rather than deep-merged. Any omitted nested properties will be dropped.

**Example:**
* **Existing record:** {"settings": {"theme": "light", "notifications": {"email": true}}}
* **PATCH request body:** {"settings": {"theme": "dark"}}
* **Resulting record:** {"settings": {"theme": "dark"}} (the "notifications" object is lost)

To update a single nested field, you must either:
1. Read-modify-write the parent object.
2. Send the full nested object with the updated values.
Comment on lines +124 to +131

@Ethan-Arrowood Ethan-Arrowood Jul 9, 2026

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This is what's breaking CI: the bare {...} JSON here gets parsed as JSX expressions by MDX (Docusaurus compiles .md through MDX), so the site build fails on this file — the Deploy PR Preview log shows MDX compilation failed for reference/rest/overview.md. Prettier also wants - bullets and blank lines before the lists.

This suggestion fixes both — I verified it passes prettier --check and compiles under MDX:

Suggested change
**Example:**
* **Existing record:** {"settings": {"theme": "light", "notifications": {"email": true}}}
* **PATCH request body:** {"settings": {"theme": "dark"}}
* **Resulting record:** {"settings": {"theme": "dark"}} (the "notifications" object is lost)
To update a single nested field, you must either:
1. Read-modify-write the parent object.
2. Send the full nested object with the updated values.
**Example:**
- **Existing record:** `{"settings": {"theme": "light", "notifications": {"email": true}}}`
- **PATCH request body:** `{"settings": {"theme": "dark"}}`
- **Resulting record:** `{"settings": {"theme": "dark"}}` (the `notifications` object is lost)
To update a single nested field, you must either:
1. Read-modify-write the parent object.
2. Send the full nested object with the updated values.


Note that dot-path keys (e.g., "settings.theme") are stored literally as keys and are not interpreted as paths.
:::

### DELETE

Delete a specific record or all records matching a query.
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