To update the

metadata_public

for a user in Ory, you can use the

PUT /admin/identities/{id}

endpoint. This endpoint updates an identity, and the full identity payload (except credentials) is expected. It is also possible to update the identity's credentials. Here is an example of how you might structure your request:

json PUT /admin/identities/{id} {   "metadata_public": {     "key": "value"   } }

Replace

{id}

with the ID of the identity you want to update and replace

"key": "value"

with the metadata you want to update. Please note that the

metadata_public

field is used to store metadata about the identity which the identity itself can see when calling for example the session endpoint. Do not store sensitive information (e.g. credit score) about the identity in this field. For more information, refer to the [Ory API Reference](https://www.ory.sh/docs/reference/api#operation/updateIdentity).

The

PUT /admin/identities/{{id}}

endpoint in Ory expects the full identity payload (except credentials) when updating an identity. This means that you need to include all the other fields of the identity in your request, not just the

metadata_public

field. If you only include the

metadata_public

field, the other fields might be set to their default values, which could be causing the issue you're seeing. Here's an example of how your request might look:

json PUT /admin/identities/{{id}} {   "schema_id": "default",   "traits": {     "email": "[email protected]"   },   "metadata_public": {     "customer": "twc"   } }

In this example, replace

{{id}}

with the ID of the identity you want to update,

"default"

with the ID of the JSON Schema to be used for validating the identity's traits, and

[email protected]

with the identity's email. Please note that this is just an example and you might need to include other fields in your request depending on your setup. For more information, refer to the [Ory API Reference](https://www.ory.sh/docs/reference/api#operation/updateIdentity).

Ory does not support the

PATCH

method for updating identities. You can only use the

PUT /admin/identities/{{id}}

endpoint to update an identity. However, please note that this method replaces the entire metadata object. You can't update only a single value in

metadata_public

or

metadata_admin

. Here's an example of how you might structure your request:

json PUT /admin/identities/{{id}} {{   "metadata_public": {{     "existing_key": "existing_value",     "new_key": "new_value"   }} }}

Replace

{{id}}

with the ID of the identity you want to update,

"existing_key": "existing_value"

with the existing metadata, and

"new_key": "new_value"

with the new metadata you want to add. For more information, refer to the [Ory Documentation](https://www.ory.sh/docs/guides/integrate-with-ory-cloud-through-webhooks#update-identity-metadata).

If you're having trouble updating the

metadata_public

field using the

PUT /admin/identities/{id}

endpoint, it could be due to a few reasons: 1. Incomplete or Incorrect Payload: Ensure that the payload you're sending is complete and correctly formatted. The

PUT

method requires the full identity payload, except for credentials. If any required field is missing or incorrectly formatted, the update may not work as expected. 2. Incorrect ID: Make sure that the ID you're using in the endpoint is correct and corresponds to the identity you want to update. 3. Permissions: Check if you have the necessary permissions to update the identity. Some fields may not be editable depending on your permissions. 4. Webhook Interference: If you have webhooks set up, they might be interfering with the update. When a webhook target returns a 200 OK response code and the response body is a JSON object with the key

identity.metadata_public

or

identity.metadata_admin

in it, the values from that object will be used to replace the identity metadata fields before they are saved to the database. If you're still having trouble, it might be helpful to check the server logs for any error messages or warnings. For more information, refer to the [Ory API Reference](https://www.ory.sh/docs/reference/api#operation/updateIdentity) and the [Ory Documentation on Webhooks](https://www.ory.sh/docs/guides/integrate-with-ory-cloud-through-webhooks#update-identity-metadata).