update

update

An update action on a store resource. Defines how existing records are modified, which fields can be changed, what validations run before the update, and what changes apply during the operation. Compiles to an Ash Framework update action at runtime.

When to use

Use update when you need to:

• Modify specific fields on an existing record
• Restrict which fields can be changed in a given operation
• Validate new values before persisting (e.g., status transitions, range checks)
• Apply computed side effects during an update (e.g., update a modified_by field)

Define separate named update actions for distinct operations on the same resource. For example, a ticket resource might have update assign and update close as separate actions that accept different fields and run different validations.

Syntax

resource <resource_name>
  update <action_name>
    accept: [<field1>, <field2>, ...]
    validate <rule>
    change <function>

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
action_name	Yes	Bare identifier naming this action. Multiple update actions can exist on a single resource.
accept	No	List of field names that this action can modify. If omitted, all non-primary-key fields are modifiable.
validate	No	Validation rule applied before update. Can appear multiple times.
change	No	Mutation function applied during update. Can appear multiple times.

Examples

Simple field update

resource article
  id as uuid, is primary_key
  title as text, is required
  body as text
  status as text, default: "draft"
  timestamps

  update edit
    accept: [title, body]

  update publish
    accept: [status]
    validate compare(status, :eq, "published")

The edit action can only change title and body. The publish action can only set status, and it validates that the value is "published".

Update with validation and changes

resource order
  id as uuid, is primary_key
  status as text, is required
  shipped_at as datetime
  cancelled_at as datetime
  timestamps

  update ship
    accept: [status]
    validate compare(status, :eq, "shipped")
    change set_attribute(shipped_at, now())

  update cancel
    accept: [status]
    validate compare(status, :eq, "cancelled")
    change set_attribute(cancelled_at, now())

Narrow update for a single field

resource user
  id as uuid, is primary_key
  email as text, is required
  display_name as text
  role as text, default: "member"
  timestamps

  update change_role
    accept: [role]

  update update_profile
    accept: [display_name, email]
    validate format(email, ~r/@/)

Splitting updates into named actions gives you fine-grained governance. An admin policy might allow change_role but not update_profile, or vice versa.

Governance

Update actions are governed effects. When a machine executes an update action:

1. The governance interpreter checks the db capability
2. The action is subject to any policy blocks on the resource
3. The operation is recorded in the behavioral ledger with the action name, changed fields, and previous values
4. The machine’s ensures > permissions section can restrict or require approval for data modifications

Update actions on sensitive fields (e.g., roles, permissions, financial data) should have explicit policies.

Translations

Language	Keyword
English	update
Spanish	actualizar
French	modifier
German	aktualisieren
Japanese	更新
Chinese	更新
Korean	수정

See also

• resource - Resource declarations
• create - Create actions for inserting data
• read - Read actions for querying data
• destroy - Destroy actions for deleting records
• policy - Authorization policies on actions