Update a workspace state

PATCH/api/v2/workspaces/{slug}/states/{pk}/

Change a catalog state's name, color, description, group, position, or external ids. Work items in the state stay where they are. The change applies in every project that uses the state.

PATCH is partial. Send only the fields you want to change. Anything you omit keeps its current value.

This endpoint addresses only catalog states, so it works only in a workspace with governance turned on. In an ungoverned workspace, a project's state id returns 404. Update it with Update a state on its project.

Path Parameters

slug:requiredstring

The workspace slug. It appears in your Plane URLs. In https://app.plane.so/my-team/projects/, the slug is my-team.

pk:requiredstring (uuid)

The id of the catalog state to update. The triage state's id returns 404.

Body Parameters

Every field is optional. Send the subset you are changing.

name:optionalstring

New display name. Maximum 255 characters. It must be unique in the catalog, compared case-insensitively, and a clash returns 409 conflict. Changing only the case of the state's own name is allowed. Triage is reserved and returns 400 invalid_request.

color:optionalstring

Hex color used wherever the state is rendered, for example #3f76ff. Maximum 255 characters.

description:optionalstring

Free-form description of what the state means.

group:optionalstring

Move the state to a different workflow group. One of backlog, unstarted, started, completed, or cancelled. triage is not accepted.

The group decides how boards, charts, and cycle progress count every work item in the state, in every project. Moving a state from started to completed makes those work items count as completed.

sequence:optionalnumber

Ordering weight. Lower values sort first. Set it to reposition the state in the catalog.

external_id:optionalstring

Your system's identifier for this state. Maximum 255 characters.

external_source:optionalstring

The system external_id came from. Maximum 255 characters. The resulting external_id and external_source pair must not belong to another catalog state. A clash returns 409 conflict with that state's id in the body.

Response shaping

fields:optionalstring

Comma-separated list of fields to return. Unrequested keys are omitted from the response, not returned as null, so absent means "not requested" and null means "actually null". id always comes back whether or not you name it.

Pass all for every requestable field. An unknown name is a 400 that lists the valid set and suggests the closest match, so a typo can't silently cost you the saving.

Requestable here: color, created_at, created_by_id, description, external_id, external_source, group, id, is_default, is_triage, name, project_id, sequence, updated_at, updated_by_id.

See Sparse fields.

Scopes

workspaces.states:write

Errors

Status	Code	Cause
400	invalid_request	A group outside the five catalog groups, the name Triage, or a field over its length limit.
401	unauthorized	Missing or invalid credentials.
402	payment_required	The feature this endpoint belongs to isn't enabled on your plan, or is switched off.
403	forbidden	Only workspace owners and admins can update catalog states, or your token lacks the scope.
404	not_found	No catalog state with this id, or it's the triage state.
406	not_acceptable	The Accept header asks for a representation the API can't produce.
409	states_managed_at_project	The state is a catalog state, but the workspace doesn't have governance turned on.
409	conflict	Another catalog state already uses this name, or this external_id and external_source pair.
409	governance_migration_in_progress	A governance migration is running, so the workspace is read-only. Retry after it finishes.
413	payload_too_large	The request body is over the size limit.
415	unsupported_media_type	The Content-Type isn't one this endpoint accepts.
429	rate_limited	Throttled. Honor the Retry-After header before retrying.

The 404 here has no body

When no catalog state matches pk, this endpoint returns 404 with an empty body. Check the status code, not the code field.

Update a workspace state

curl -X PATCH \
  "https://api.plane.so/api/v2/workspaces/my-team/states/5a9e2c71-1f3b-4d86-a0c4-7e2b9d5f8a13/" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: $PLANE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
  "name": "Building",
  "color": "#f5a623"
}'

import requests

response = requests.patch(
    "https://api.plane.so/api/v2/workspaces/my-team/states/5a9e2c71-1f3b-4d86-a0c4-7e2b9d5f8a13/",
    headers={"X-Api-Key": "your-api-key"},
    json={
        "name": "Building",
        "color": "#f5a623",
    },
)
print(response.json())

const response = await fetch(
  "https://api.plane.so/api/v2/workspaces/my-team/states/5a9e2c71-1f3b-4d86-a0c4-7e2b9d5f8a13/",
  {
    method: "PATCH",
    headers: {
      "X-Api-Key": "your-api-key",
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      name: "Building",
      color: "#f5a623",
    }),
  },
);
const data = await response.json();

Response200

{
  "id": "5a9e2c71-1f3b-4d86-a0c4-7e2b9d5f8a13",
  "name": "Building",
  "description": "Actively being worked on",
  "color": "#f5a623",
  "group": "started",
  "sequence": 30000,
  "is_default": false,
  "is_triage": false,
  "project_id": null,
  "external_id": null,
  "external_source": null,
  "created_at": "2026-01-14T09:22:41.478363Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-02-03T16:45:12.904117Z",
  "created_by_id": "16c61a3a-512a-48ac-b0be-b6b46fe6f430",
  "updated_by_id": "16c61a3a-512a-48ac-b0be-b6b46fe6f430"
}

Response409

{
  "type": "conflict",
  "code": "conflict",
  "detail": "A state with this name already exists in this workspace."
}