Modify Channel Details

Learn to update the information of a channel using the Twitch API.

We'll cover the following

Update channel information

We might end up in situations where we have to update the information displayed on our channel page. The Twitch API allows us to do so using the channels endpoint through a simple PATCH request.

All PATCH requests to update a channel's information need to be authorized with a user access token that has the channel:manage:broadcast scope.

Request parameters

To make a successful request, we need to provide the channel ID as a required query parameter. We can also pass some optional body parameters. The table below gives an overview of these parameters:

Parameter

Parameter Type

Type

Category

Description

broadcaster_id

Query

String

Required

This is the ID of the channel for which we want to update the details.

game_id

Body

String

Optional

This is the ID of the game currently being played on the stream. We can clear this value by passing "0" or "" in this parameter.

broadcaster_language

Body

String

Optional

This is an ISO-639-1 two-letter code for the language in which the channel broadcasts. Examples of its accepted values are "en" and "other".

title

Body

String

Optional

This is the title of the last or current stream. This cannot be an empty string.

delay

Body

Integer

Optional

This is the stream delay in seconds. Since it's a Twitch Partner feature, normal users can't update this value.

Although all body parameters are listed as optional parameters, we must provide at least one of these parameters for the request to be valid.

Let's make a sample request to this endpoint and authorize ourselves with a user access token that has the required scope. We can also change the parameters in, or add more parameters to, the payload object starting on line 16 to values of our liking.

Note: If your token has expired, return to this lesson and follow the steps to generate a new one.

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import fetch from "node-fetch";
const endpointUrl = new URL("https://api.twitch.tv/helix/channels");
const headerParameters = {
  Authorization: "Bearer {{USER_ACCESS_TOKEN}}",
  "Client-Id": "{{CLIENT_ID}}",
  "Content-Type": "application/json",
};
const queryParameters = new URLSearchParams({
  broadcaster_id: "{{USER_ID}}",
});
// Defining the parameters to be changed as body parameters
const bodyParameters = JSON.stringify({
  broadcaster_language: "other",
  game_id: "509658",    // Just Chatting
});
const options = {
  method: "PATCH",
  headers: headerParameters,
  body: bodyParameters,
};
async function updateChannelDetails() {
  try {
    endpointUrl.search = queryParameters;
    const response = await fetch(endpointUrl, options);
    printResponse(response);
  } catch (error) {
    printError(error);
  }
}
updateChannelDetails();

In the code above, we perform the following:

  • Lines 5–9: We define the headers for the request, specifying the content type as application/json.

  • Lines 11–13: We define the query parameters for the call using the broadcaster_id parameter.

  • Lines 16–19: We define the body parameters using the broadcaster_language and game_id parameters.

  • Lines 21–25: We set the options for the API call, specifying the HTTP request type as PATCH and providing the request headers and body.

  • Lines 27–35: We define a function called updateChannelDetails to make a call to the channels endpoint.

    • Lines 28–32: Within a try block, we provide the query parameters, make a call to the endpoint, and print the response from the API.

    • Lines 32–34: We catch any errors or exceptions within a catch block and print them to the console.

  • Line 37: We invoke the updateChannelDetails function.

Response fields

The response from this request only contains an HTTP status code. If the API responds with 204, the request was successful. If the request fails, it returns an error code instead. The table below gives a brief summary of these status codes:

Status Code

Description

204

This is a success code indicating the details were successfully updated.

400

This is an error code indicating that the request was invalid due to missing or invalid parameters. This code is also returned if a non-partner user tries to update the delay parameter.

500

This is an error code indicating that the request failed due to server-side issues.

Now that we've updated our channel details using the API, let's fetch our channel details once more to see whether the changes we made are reflected or not.

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import fetch from "node-fetch";
const endpointUrl = new URL("https://api.twitch.tv/helix/channels");
const headerParameters = {
  Authorization: "Bearer {{APP_ACCESS_TOKEN}}",
  "Client-Id": "{{CLIENT_ID}}",
};
const queryParameters = new URLSearchParams({
  broadcaster_id: "{{USER_ID}}",
});
const options = {
  method: "GET",
  headers: headerParameters,
};
async function fetchChannelDetails() {
  try {
    endpointUrl.search = queryParameters;
    const response = await fetch(endpointUrl, options);
    printResponse(response);
  } catch (error) {
    printError(error);
  }
}
fetchChannelDetails();

If all goes smoothly, the changes we made in the previous request should reflect in response to this request.