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PUT
/
identities
/
:id
curl -X PUT https://YOUR_BLNK_INSTANCE_URL/identities/idt_1234567890 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Blnk-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "phone_number": "+1234567899",
    "street": "456 New Address St",
    "city": "Los Angeles",
    "meta_data": {
      "customer_tier": "gold",
      "updated_reason": "address_change"
    }
  }'

{
  "message": "Identity updated successfully"
}
Updates an existing identity record with new information. All fields in the request body will overwrite existing values.

​
Path Parameters

​
id
string
required
The unique identifier of the identity to update

​
Request Body

​
identity_type
string
Type of identity
​
first_name
string
First name
​
last_name
string
Last name
​
other_names
string
Other names
​
gender
string
Gender
​
dob
string
Date of birth in ISO 8601 format
​
email_address
string
Email address
​
phone_number
string
Phone number
​
nationality
string
Nationality
​
organization_name
string
Organization name
​
category
string
Category classification
​
street
string
Street address
​
country
string
Country
​
state
string
State or province
​
post_code
string
Postal code
​
city
string
City
​
meta_data
object
Additional metadata (merged with existing metadata)

​
Response

​
message
string
Success message confirming the update
curl -X PUT https://YOUR_BLNK_INSTANCE_URL/identities/idt_1234567890 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Blnk-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "phone_number": "+1234567899",
    "street": "456 New Address St",
    "city": "Los Angeles",
    "meta_data": {
      "customer_tier": "gold",
      "updated_reason": "address_change"
    }
  }'

{
  "message": "Identity updated successfully"
}

​
Important Notes

​
Tokenized Fields

When updating an identity with tokenized fields, be careful not to overwrite tokenized data with plain text values. The update operation does not automatically re-tokenize fields.
If you need to update a tokenized field:
  1. First, update the identity with the new plain text value
  2. Then, call the tokenize field endpoint to re-tokenize the updated field
Alternatively, retrieve the current tokenized state using Get Tokenized Fields before updating.

​
Metadata Handling

The meta_data field is merged with existing metadata:
  • New keys are added
  • Existing keys are updated with new values
  • Keys not included in the update request remain unchanged
  • The tokenized_fields tracking is preserved automatically

​
Partial Updates

You only need to include fields that you want to update. Fields not included in the request body will retain their existing values.
Example: To update only the phone number, send a request body with just the phone_number field. All other fields will remain unchanged.

​
Best Practices

  1. Verify Before Update: Always retrieve the current identity state before updating to avoid overwriting important data
  2. Preserve Tokenization: Check which fields are tokenized before updating to maintain PII protection
  3. Use Metadata: Store update history and reasons in the meta_data field for audit trails
  4. Validate Input: Ensure data formats match expected patterns (e.g., ISO 8601 for dates)
See Also: Get Identity, Tokenize Field, Get Tokenized Fields

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