Updating a Channel

There are two ways to update a channel with the Stream API: partial updates and full updates. A partial update preserves existing custom key–value data, while a full update replaces the entire channel object and removes any fields not included in the request.

Partial Update

A partial update lets you set or unset specific fields without affecting the rest of the channel’s custom data — essentially a patch-style update.

using GetStream;
using GetStream.Models;

var client = new StreamClient("{{ api_key }}", "{{ api_secret }}");
var chat = new ChatClient(client);

// Create a channel with some custom data
var channelResp = await chat.GetOrCreateChannelAsync("messaging", "general",
    new ChannelGetOrCreateRequest
    {
        Data = new ChannelInput
        {
            CreatedByID = createdByUserId,
            Custom = new Dictionary<string, object>
            {
                ["source"] = "user",
                ["source_detail"] = new Dictionary<string, object> { ["user_id"] = 123 },
                ["channel_detail"] = new Dictionary<string, object>
                {
                    ["topic"] = "Plants and Animals",
                    ["rating"] = "pg"
                }
            }
        }
    });

// let's change the source of this channel
await chat.UpdateChannelPartialAsync("messaging", "general",
    new UpdateChannelPartialRequest
    {
        Set = new Dictionary<string, object> { ["source"] = "system" }
    });

// since it's system generated we no longer need source_detail
await chat.UpdateChannelPartialAsync("messaging", "general",
    new UpdateChannelPartialRequest
    {
        Unset = new List<string> { "source_detail" }
    });

// and finally update one of the nested fields in the channel_detail
await chat.UpdateChannelPartialAsync("messaging", "general",
    new UpdateChannelPartialRequest
    {
        Set = new Dictionary<string, object> { ["channel_detail.topic"] = "Nature" }
    });

// and maybe we decide we no longer need a rating
await chat.UpdateChannelPartialAsync("messaging", "general",
    new UpdateChannelPartialRequest
    {
        Unset = new List<string> { "channel_detail.rating" }
    });

Full Update

The update function updates all of the channel data. Any data that is present on the channel and not included in a full update will be deleted.

var resp = await chat.UpdateChannelAsync("messaging", channelId,
    new UpdateChannelRequest
    {
        Data = new ChannelInputRequest
        {
            Custom = new Dictionary<string, object>
            {
                ["name"] = "myspecialchannel",
                ["color"] = "green"
            }
        }
    });

Request Params

NameTypeDescriptionOptional
channel dataobjectObject with the new channel information. One special field is "frozen". Setting this field to true will freeze the channel. Read more about freezing channels in "Freezing Channels"
textobjectMessage object allowing you to show a system message in the Channel that something changed.Yes

Updating a channel using these methods cannot be used to add or remove members. For this, you must use specific methods for adding/removing members, more information can be found here.