Update Agent

POST/v1/agents/{agent_id}

Update Agent

Path parameters

agent_id: string

Headers

"anthropic-beta": optional array of AnthropicBeta

Optional header to specify the beta version(s) you want to use.

One of the following:

string

"message-batches-2024-09-24" or "prompt-caching-2024-07-31" or "computer-use-2024-10-22" or 31 more

One of the following:

"message-batches-2024-09-24"

"prompt-caching-2024-07-31"

"computer-use-2024-10-22"

"computer-use-2025-01-24"

"pdfs-2024-09-25"

"token-counting-2024-11-01"

"token-efficient-tools-2025-02-19"

"output-128k-2025-02-19"

"files-api-2025-04-14"

"mcp-client-2025-04-04"

"mcp-client-2025-11-20"

"dev-full-thinking-2025-05-14"

"interleaved-thinking-2025-05-14"

"code-execution-2025-05-22"

"extended-cache-ttl-2025-04-11"

"context-1m-2025-08-07"

"context-management-2025-06-27"

"model-context-window-exceeded-2025-08-26"

"skills-2025-10-02"

"fast-mode-2026-02-01"

"output-300k-2026-03-24"

"user-profiles-2026-03-24"

"user-profiles-2026-08-18"

"advisor-tool-2026-03-01"

"managed-agents-2026-04-01"

"cache-diagnosis-2026-04-07"

"dreaming-2026-04-21"

"thinking-token-count-2026-05-13"

"server-side-fallback-2026-06-01"

"server-side-fallback-2026-07-01"

"fallback-credit-2026-06-01"

"fallback-credit-2026-07-01"

"agent-memory-2026-07-22"

"mid-conversation-tool-changes-2026-07-01"

Body

description: optional string or null

Description. Omit to preserve; send empty string or null to clear.

maxLength2048

mcp_servers: optional array of BetaManagedAgentsURLMCPServerParams { name, type, url } or null

MCP servers. Full replacement. Omit to preserve; send empty array or null to clear. Names must be unique. Maximum 20. Every server must be referenced by an mcp_toolset in the agent's resulting tools; unreferenced servers are rejected. See the MCP connector guide.

Unique name for this server, referenced by mcp_toolset configurations. 1-255 characters.

minLength1

maxLength255

type: "url"

url: string

Endpoint URL for the MCP server.

maxLength2048

metadata: optional map[string] or null

Metadata patch. Set a key to a string to upsert it, or to null to delete it. Omit the field to preserve. The stored bag is limited to 16 keys (up to 64 chars each) with values up to 512 chars.

model: optional BetaManagedAgentsModel or BetaManagedAgentsModelConfigParams { id, effort, inference_geo, speed }

Model identifier. Accepts the model string, e.g. claude-opus-5, or a model_config object for additional configuration control. Omit to preserve. Cannot be cleared.

One of the following:

BetaManagedAgentsModel = "claude-sonnet-5" or "claude-fable-5" or "claude-opus-5" or 10 more or string

The model that will power your agent.

See models for additional details and options.

One of the following:

BetaManagedAgentsModelConfigParams object{ id, effort, inference_geo, speed }

An object that defines additional configuration control over model use

multiagent: optional BetaManagedAgentsMultiagentParams { agents, type } or null

A coordinator topology: the session's primary thread orchestrates work by spawning session threads, each running an agent drawn from the agents roster.

Human-readable name. Must be non-empty. Omit to preserve. Cannot be cleared.

maxLength256

skills: optional array of BetaManagedAgentsSkillParams or null

Skills. Full replacement. Omit to preserve; send empty array or null to clear.

One of the following:

BetaManagedAgentsAnthropicSkillParams object{ skill_id, type, version }

An Anthropic-managed skill.

skill_id: string

Identifier of the Anthropic skill (e.g., "xlsx").

minLength1

maxLength64

type: "anthropic"

version: optional string or null

Version to pin. Defaults to latest if omitted.

minLength1

maxLength64

BetaManagedAgentsCustomSkillParams object{ skill_id, type, version }

A user-created custom skill.

skill_id: string

Tagged ID of the custom skill (e.g., "skill_01XJ5...").

minLength1

maxLength64

type: "custom"

version: optional string or null

Version to pin. Defaults to latest if omitted.

minLength1

maxLength64

system: optional string or null

System prompt. Omit to preserve; send empty string or null to clear.

maxLength100000

tools: optional array of BetaManagedAgentsAgentToolset20260401Params { type, configs, default_config } or BetaManagedAgentsMCPToolsetParams { mcp_server_name, type, configs, default_config } or BetaManagedAgentsCustomToolParams { description, input_schema, name, type } or null

Tool configurations available to the agent. Full replacement. Omit to preserve; send empty array or null to clear. Maximum of 128 tools across all toolsets allowed.

One of the following:

BetaManagedAgentsAgentToolset20260401Params object{ type, configs, default_config }

Configuration for built-in agent tools. Use this to enable or disable groups of tools available to the agent.

BetaManagedAgentsMCPToolsetParams object{ mcp_server_name, type, configs, default_config }

Configuration for tools from an MCP server defined in mcp_servers.

BetaManagedAgentsCustomToolParams object{ description, input_schema, name, type }

A custom tool that is executed by the API client rather than the agent. When the agent calls this tool, an agent.custom_tool_use event is emitted and the session goes idle, waiting for the client to provide the result via a user.custom_tool_result event.

description: string

Description of what the tool does, shown to the agent to help it decide when to use the tool.

minLength1

input_schema: BetaManagedAgentsCustomToolInputSchema { type, properties, required }

JSON Schema for custom tool input parameters.

type: "object"

properties: optional map[unknown] or null

required: optional array of string or null

Unique name for the tool. 1-128 characters; letters, digits, underscores, and hyphens.

minLength1

maxLength128

type: "custom"

version: optional number

The agent's current version, used to prevent concurrent overwrites. Obtain this value from a create or retrieve response. Must be at least 1 if specified. When supplied, the request fails if it does not match the server's current version; omit to apply the update unconditionally.

formatint32

Returns

BetaManagedAgentsAgent object{ id, archived_at, created_at, 12 more }

A Managed Agents agent.

Update Agent

curl https://api.anthropic.com/v1/agents/$AGENT_ID \
    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    -H 'anthropic-version: 2023-06-01' \
    -H 'anthropic-beta: managed-agents-2026-04-01' \
    -H "X-Api-Key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
    -d '{
          "description": "updated",
          "system": "You are a general-purpose agent that can research, write code, run commands, and use connected tools to complete the user'\''s task end to end.",
          "version": 1
        }'

{
  "id": "agent_011CZkYpogX7uDKUyvBTophP",
  "archived_at": null,
  "created_at": "2026-03-15T10:00:00Z",
  "description": "A general-purpose starter agent.",
  "mcp_servers": [
    {
      "name": "example-mcp",
      "type": "url",
      "url": "https://example-server.modelcontextprotocol.io/sse"
    }
  ],
  "metadata": {
    "foo": "bar"
  },
  "model": {
    "id": "claude-opus-5",
    "effort": {
      "type": "low"
    },
    "inference_geo": "inference_geo",
    "speed": "standard"
  },
  "multiagent": {
    "agents": [
      {
        "id": "agent_011CZkYqphY8vELVzwCUpqiQ",
        "type": "agent",
        "version": 1
      }
    ],
    "type": "coordinator"
  },
  "name": "My First Agent",
  "skills": [
    {
      "skill_id": "xlsx",
      "type": "anthropic",
      "version": "1"
    },
    {
      "skill_id": "skill_011CZkZFNu9hAbo3jZPRgTlx",
      "type": "custom",
      "version": "2"
    }
  ],
  "system": "You are a general-purpose agent that can research, write code, run commands, and use connected tools to complete the user's task end to end.",
  "tools": [
    {
      "configs": [
        {
          "enabled": true,
          "name": "bash",
          "permission_policy": {
            "type": "always_allow"
          },
          "type": "bash"
        }
      ],
      "default_config": {
        "enabled": true,
        "permission_policy": {
          "type": "always_ask"
        }
      },
      "type": "agent_toolset_20260401"
    }
  ],
  "type": "agent",
  "updated_at": "2026-03-15T10:00:00Z",
  "version": 1
}

Returns Examples

{
  "id": "agent_011CZkYpogX7uDKUyvBTophP",
  "archived_at": null,
  "created_at": "2026-03-15T10:00:00Z",
  "description": "A general-purpose starter agent.",
  "mcp_servers": [
    {
      "name": "example-mcp",
      "type": "url",
      "url": "https://example-server.modelcontextprotocol.io/sse"
    }
  ],
  "metadata": {
    "foo": "bar"
  },
  "model": {
    "id": "claude-opus-5",
    "effort": {
      "type": "low"
    },
    "inference_geo": "inference_geo",
    "speed": "standard"
  },
  "multiagent": {
    "agents": [
      {
        "id": "agent_011CZkYqphY8vELVzwCUpqiQ",
        "type": "agent",
        "version": 1
      }
    ],
    "type": "coordinator"
  },
  "name": "My First Agent",
  "skills": [
    {
      "skill_id": "xlsx",
      "type": "anthropic",
      "version": "1"
    },
    {
      "skill_id": "skill_011CZkZFNu9hAbo3jZPRgTlx",
      "type": "custom",
      "version": "2"
    }
  ],
  "system": "You are a general-purpose agent that can research, write code, run commands, and use connected tools to complete the user's task end to end.",
  "tools": [
    {
      "configs": [
        {
          "enabled": true,
          "name": "bash",
          "permission_policy": {
            "type": "always_allow"
          },
          "type": "bash"
        }
      ],
      "default_config": {
        "enabled": true,
        "permission_policy": {
          "type": "always_ask"
        }
      },
      "type": "agent_toolset_20260401"
    }
  ],
  "type": "agent",
  "updated_at": "2026-03-15T10:00:00Z",
  "version": 1
}