Update a gist

Allows you to update or delete a gist file and rename gist files. Files from the previous version of the gist that aren't explicitly changed during an edit are unchanged.

PATCH /gists/:gist_id

Input

Name Type Description
description string A descriptive name for this gist.
files object The filenames and content that make up this gist.

The value for each of the filenames in files is an object with these keys:

Name Type Description
content string The updated content of the file.
filename string The new name for this file. To delete a file, set the value of the filename to null.

Example

{
  "description": "Hello World Examples",
  "files": {
    "hello_world_ruby.txt": {
      "content": "Run `ruby hello_world.rb` or `python hello_world.py` to print Hello World",
      "filename": "hello_world.md"
    },
    "hello_world_python.txt": null,
    "new_file.txt": {
      "content": "This is a new placeholder file."
    }
  }
}

Response

Status: 200 OK
{
  "url": "https://api.github.com/gists/aa5a315d61ae9438b18d",
  "forks_url": "https://api.github.com/gists/aa5a315d61ae9438b18d/forks",
  "commits_url": "https://api.github.com/gists/aa5a315d61ae9438b18d/commits",
  "id": "aa5a315d61ae9438b18d",
  "node_id": "MDQ6R2lzdGFhNWEzMTVkNjFhZTk0MzhiMThk",
  "git_pull_url": "https://gist.github.com/aa5a315d61ae9438b18d.git",
  "git_push_url": "https://gist.github.com/aa5a315d61ae9438b18d.git",
  "html_url": "https://gist.github.com/aa5a315d61ae9438b18d",
  "files": {
    "hello_world.rb": {
      "filename": "hello_world.rb",
      "type": "application/x-ruby",
      "language": "Ruby",
      "raw_url": "https://gist.githubusercontent.com/octocat/6cad326836d38bd3a7ae/raw/db9c55113504e46fa076e7df3a04ce592e2e86d8/hello_world.rb",
      "size": 167,
      "truncated": false,
      "content": "class HelloWorld\n   def initialize(name)\n      @name = name.capitalize\n   end\n   def sayHi\n      puts \"Hello !\"\n   end\nend\n\nhello = HelloWorld.new(\"World\")\nhello.sayHi"
    },
    "hello_world.py": {
      "filename": "hello_world.py",
      "type": "application/x-python",
      "language": "Python",
      "raw_url": "https://gist.githubusercontent.com/octocat/e29f3839074953e1cc2934867fa5f2d2/raw/99c1bf3a345505c2e6195198d5f8c36267de570b/hello_world.py",
      "size": 199,
      "truncated": false,
      "content": "class HelloWorld:\n\n    def __init__(self, name):\n        self.name = name.capitalize()\n       \n    def sayHi(self):\n        print \"Hello \" + self.name + \"!\"\n\nhello = HelloWorld(\"world\")\nhello.sayHi()"
    },
    "hello_world.md": {
      "filename": "hello_world.md",
      "type": "text/plain",
      "language": "Markdown",
      "raw_url": "https://gist.githubusercontent.com/octocat/8df0a8f642973cbda937bf542d37d4e9/raw/4221bb4b942568c4e3ab253022d2b7fec7844f21/hello_world.md",
      "size": 73,
      "truncated": false,
      "content": "Run `ruby hello_world.rb` or `python hello_world.py` to print Hello World"
    },
    "new_file.txt": {
      "filename": "new_file.txt",
      "type": "text/plain",
      "language": "Text",
      "raw_url": "https://gist.githubusercontent.com/octocat/8df0a8f642973cbda937bf542d37d4e9/raw/56ab7bdf864fa11c1e16acce2a5116171514d2d1/new_file.txt",
      "size": 31,
      "truncated": false,
      "content": "This is a new placeholder file."
    }
  },
  "public": true,
  "created_at": "2010-04-14T02:15:15Z",
  "updated_at": "2011-06-20T11:34:15Z",
  "description": "Hello World Examples",
  "comments": 0,
  "user": null,
  "comments_url": "https://api.github.com/gists/aa5a315d61ae9438b18d/comments/",
  "owner": {
    "login": "octocat",
    "id": 1,
    "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=",
    "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
    "gravatar_id": "",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat",
    "followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/followers",
    "following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/following{/other_user}",
    "gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}",
    "starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
    "subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/subscriptions",
    "organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/orgs",
    "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/repos",
    "events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/events{/privacy}",
    "received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/received_events",
    "type": "User",
    "site_admin": false
  },
  "truncated": false,
  "forks": [
    {
      "user": {
        "login": "octocat",
        "id": 1,
        "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=",
        "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
        "gravatar_id": "",
        "url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat",
        "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat",
        "followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/followers",
        "following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/following{/other_user}",
        "gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}",
        "starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
        "subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/subscriptions",
        "organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/orgs",
        "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/repos",
        "events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/events{/privacy}",
        "received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/received_events",
        "type": "User",
        "site_admin": false
      },
      "url": "https://api.github.com/gists/dee9c42e4998ce2ea439",
      "id": "dee9c42e4998ce2ea439",
      "created_at": "2011-04-14T16:00:49Z",
      "updated_at": "2011-04-14T16:00:49Z"
    }
  ],
  "history": [
    {
      "url": "https://api.github.com/gists/aa5a315d61ae9438b18d/57a7f021a713b1c5a6a199b54cc514735d2d462f",
      "version": "57a7f021a713b1c5a6a199b54cc514735d2d462f",
      "user": {
        "login": "octocat",
        "id": 1,
        "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=",
        "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
        "gravatar_id": "",
        "url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat",
        "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat",
        "followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/followers",
        "following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/following{/other_user}",
        "gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}",
        "starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
        "subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/subscriptions",
        "organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/orgs",
        "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/repos",
        "events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/events{/privacy}",
        "received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/received_events",
        "type": "User",
        "site_admin": false
      },
      "change_status": {
        "deletions": 0,
        "additions": 180,
        "total": 180
      },
      "committed_at": "2010-04-14T02:15:15Z"
    }
  ]
}