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To clear a field in a PATCH request, follow the target endpoint’s contract: some APIs require you to name the field in an update_mask and omit its value; others require the property in the JSON body with a value of null. These payloads are not interchangeable. PATCH by itself does not specify how a field is cleared.
Why PATCH does not tell you how to clear a field
PATCH describes a partial update, but the API defines what the request body means. Google APIs document both a field-mask pattern and an explicit-null pattern. Sending null to an endpoint that expects a mask—or omitting a value where the endpoint expects explicit null—may not clear the field as intended.
Google’s AIP-134 update guidance generally standardizes resource updates on PATCH rather than PUT. Its compatibility rationale is that a full-resource PUT from an older client could omit a field added later and accidentally erase that field when the resource is replaced. PATCH lets clients update selected data without replacing fields they do not know about.
Pattern 1: Select the field in an update mask and omit its value
In the field-mask approach, the mask identifies which resource field is changing. To clear a field under the behavior documented by Google Docs, include that field in the mask but leave it out of the updated resource message. Google Docs describes this as unsetting the field; see Use field masks.
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{
"book": { "name": "publishers/123/books/456" },
"updateMask": "description"
}This illustrative shape selects description while omitting its value. It is not a complete API request: field names, JSON casing, resource structure, and unset semantics depend on the specific method. Google’s AIP-161 field-mask guidance describes field masks, including paths for selecting fields.
Pattern 2: Include the property and set it to null
Other Google API documentation uses explicit null to mean deletion: keep the property in the JSON request body and assign it null. BigQuery’s API performance tips and Google Wallet’s performance tips document this behavior.
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{
"comment": null
}Here, unlike the field-mask example, the property is present in the body. Treat this as an endpoint-specific instruction, not a universal interpretation of JSON null in PATCH.
How the two documented patterns differ
| Decision | Field-mask omission | Explicit-null property |
|---|---|---|
| How the field is selected | Name the field in update_mask; nested fields use field-path syntax. |
Include the property in the JSON request body. |
| What goes in the body | Omit the field’s value while retaining it in the mask; Google Docs documents this as unsetting the field. | Set the property to null; BigQuery and Wallet document this as deleting it. |
| Where this behavior is documented | Google API update guidance and the Google Docs API example. | BigQuery and Wallet API performance guidance. |
| Safe implementation rule | Use the target method’s update-mask semantics. | Use the target endpoint’s JSON PATCH semantics. |
Check the endpoint contract before sending either form
- Find the exact method and resource documentation. Do not infer clearing behavior just from the HTTP method or from a different Google API.
- Check whether the method uses an update mask. If it does, confirm the required mask field name and path syntax, and whether an omitted value clears the selected field.
- Check the endpoint’s null semantics. If the documentation says to delete a property by setting it to null, include that property in the body with a JSON
nullvalue. - Keep the request form specific to that endpoint. Do not substitute a null-valued property for a mask-selected omission, or the reverse, unless that endpoint documents the behavior.
Array updates may replace the whole array
BigQuery and Wallet state that arrays in their described PATCH behavior are replaced by the supplied array rather than edited item by item. That means those documented behaviors do not provide piecemeal add, remove, or modify operations for array elements. Verify array handling in the specific endpoint’s documentation; do not assume the same rule applies to every PATCH API.
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