Update or publish an automation
One endpoint, two mutually exclusive modes: update the graph (a new automationVersionId on the same automationId) or change lifecycle state (published, paused). The modes cannot be combined: update first, then PATCH { "published": true }.
Use when editing a graph or changing runtime state of an automation created with createAutomation. Manual-audience runs are controlled with pauseAudienceRun, resumeAudienceRun and cancelAudienceRun, not here.
Input Update: one or more of name, description, nodes, connections, triggerEventId, under the same typed condition contract as create (explicit type, canonical snake_case operator, no value for unary operators, type-correct values elsewhere); dryRun: true validates without persisting. Node ids are stored as sent, so renamed nodes keep their new ids, except the two shapes NODE_ID_REPLACED reports. Lifecycle: published: true promotes the stored latest version live (optionally pin automationVersionId; the graph is validated first), published: false unpublishes, paused: true or false freezes or resumes future send steps (stopInFlight also stops runs already in progress).
Returns the bare automation row, or with dryRun: true a 200 AutomationDryRunReport { valid, blockers[], warnings[], blockingIssues[], nodeCounts }: blockingIssues[] lists per-node references the effective trigger or contact catalog cannot provide, and publish refuses every one of them, fallback or not (fatal says what the reference would do: true for filter or split conditions and triple-brace {{{ }}} body tokens would break the run, false for subject, previewText, fromName, replyTo and double-brace body tags would render empty); valid is false when any blocker or blocking issue is present. Updating a LIVE automation saves a draft and does not go live: the previously published version keeps serving until you republish, published describes the returned row, isLive, liveVersion and liveAutomationVersionId describe the automation, and warnings[] carries DRAFT_SAVED_NOT_LIVE. Publishing an automation whose integration trigger has not received its event on the current connection (a Shopify topic with no webhook) still succeeds, and warnings[] carries TRIGGER_EVENT_NOT_RECEIVED saying what to set up.
Errors 404 AUTOMATION_NOT_FOUND, AUTOMATION_VERSION_NOT_FOUND (pin liveAutomationVersionId, a versions[] id, or a run row’s automationVersionId), TRIGGER_EVENT_NOT_FOUND; 400 AUTOMATION_GRAPH_INVALID (details.issues[]); 409 AUTOMATION_VERSION_CONFLICT (re-read, reapply, retry); 422 PUBLISH_VALIDATION_FAILED (details.blockers[]; a cdn.brew.new image a step would send that does not exist is a blocker, listed in details.missingImages[], and a dead icon whose real file sits elsewhere in its pack is moved there instead when the key has emails access), AUTOMATION_NOT_PUBLISHED (nothing to unpublish; with stopInFlight: true on a draft, also no contacts in flight to stop), AUTOMATION_NOT_PAUSABLE (a manual-audience automation pauses through its runs).
See also createAutomation, testAutomation, runAutomation, listAutomationRuns.
Authorizations
Send your Brew API key as Authorization: Bearer brew_xxx.
Headers
The brand this request acts on. REQUIRED for organization-scoped credentials (otherwise 400 BRAND_ID_REQUIRED — there is no default brand); list ids with GET /v1/brands. Brand-scoped credentials may omit it, and sending a different brand returns 403 BRAND_SCOPE_MISMATCH. A brand outside your organization returns 404 BRAND_NOT_FOUND.
1 - 64Path Parameters
Automation id returned by POST /v1/automations and listed by GET /v1/automations.
1 - 64"M3nRk8LqW2xT5vBp9YcZd"
Body
1 - 1202000500- Option 1
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The full edge list; it replaces the stored one. Omit to keep the stored edges (also when sending nodes); an edge whose end no longer exists is then refused with AUTOMATION_GRAPH_INVALID.
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1 - 256Optimistic concurrency guard: the automationVersionId read before deriving this update. The save is refused with a conflict when the automation has changed since.
1 - 64Optional stricter guard: SHA-256 of the exact definition read before deriving this update. Requires expectedBaseVersionId.
^[a-f0-9]{64}$Validate only — runs the full publish-gate check and returns blockers/warnings without writing.
Lifecycle action: true validates + publishes the STORED latest version (a saved edit goes live only after this); false unpublishes. Cannot be combined with field/graph updates — update first, then publish.
Exact version to publish; requires published: true.
1 - 64With published: false only — ALSO permanently stop contacts already mid-flow (default: they drain to completion). On an automation that is already a draft it only stops those contacts, and is a 422 AUTOMATION_NOT_PUBLISHED when none are in flight.
Freeze (true) / resume (false) a LIVE automation without unpublishing; held contacts resume from the same point.
Response
Updated / published / unpublished — the bare automation row. For dryRun: true update requests, an AutomationDryRunReport instead (no writes).
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1 - 641 - 641 - 120x >= 01 - 641 - 2562000x >= 01 - 64Show child attributes
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Creator as Brew shows it: a name or "Former member", "API" or "MCP", or both joined ("Name · MCP"); absent when the creator cannot be named.
Creator user id; absent for an organization API key.
Who published the live version; absent while not live.
Publisher user id of the live version.
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