fluree update

Update data with full WHERE/DELETE/INSERT semantics.

Usage

fluree update [LEDGER] [DATA] [OPTIONS]

Arguments

Arguments	Behavior
(none)	Active ledger; provide data via `-e`, `-f`, or stdin
`<arg>`	Auto-detected: if it looks like data (JSON or SPARQL UPDATE), uses it inline with the active ledger; if it's an existing file, reads from it; otherwise treats it as a ledger name
`<ledger> <data>`	Specified ledger + inline data

Options

Option	Description
`-e, --expr <EXPR>`	Inline data expression (alternative to positional)
`-f, --file <FILE>`	Read data from a file
`-m, --message <MSG>`	Commit message
`--format <FORMAT>`	Data format: `jsonld` or `sparql` (auto-detected if omitted)
`--remote <NAME>`	Execute against a remote server (by remote name)
`--direct`	Bypass auto-routing through a local server (global flag; see note on SPARQL UPDATE below)

Description

Executes a WHERE/DELETE/INSERT transaction against a ledger. Unlike insert (which only adds data) and upsert (which replaces by subject+predicate), update supports the full WHERE/DELETE/INSERT pattern, enabling:

Conditional deletes: delete triples matching a WHERE pattern
Conditional updates: delete old values and insert new ones based on WHERE matches
Computed updates: use variables from WHERE to derive new values via bind
Delete-only operations: WHERE + DELETE without INSERT
Insert-only operations: equivalent to insert but using the update command

Supported Formats

JSON-LD (default): transaction body with where, delete, and/or insert keys
SPARQL UPDATE: standard INSERT DATA, DELETE DATA, DELETE/INSERT WHERE syntax

SPARQL UPDATE Note

SPARQL UPDATE requires the server's parsing pipeline. It works automatically when:

A local server is running (the CLI auto-routes through it by default)
Using --remote to target a remote server

For direct local mode (--direct), use JSON-LD format instead.

Examples

Conditional Property Update (JSON-LD)

# Update Alice's age: find old value, delete it, insert new one
fluree update '{
  "@context": {"ex": "http://example.org/"},
  "where": [{"@id": "ex:alice", "ex:age": "?oldAge"}],
  "delete": [{"@id": "ex:alice", "ex:age": "?oldAge"}],
  "insert": [{"@id": "ex:alice", "ex:age": 31}]
}'

Delete-Only

# Remove all email addresses for alice
fluree update '{
  "@context": {"ex": "http://example.org/"},
  "where": [{"@id": "ex:alice", "ex:email": "?email"}],
  "delete": [{"@id": "ex:alice", "ex:email": "?email"}]
}'

Bulk Conditional Update

# Set all "pending" users to "active"
fluree update '{
  "@context": {"ex": "http://example.org/"},
  "where": [{"@id": "?person", "ex:status": "pending"}],
  "delete": [{"@id": "?person", "ex:status": "pending"}],
  "insert": [{"@id": "?person", "ex:status": "active"}]
}'

From File

fluree update -f update.json
fluree update -f update.json -m "Updated user statuses"

SPARQL UPDATE (via server)

# Requires a running server (fluree server start)
fluree update -e 'PREFIX ex: <http://example.org/>
DELETE { ex:alice ex:age ?oldAge }
INSERT { ex:alice ex:age 31 }
WHERE { ex:alice ex:age ?oldAge }'

Pipe from stdin

cat update.json | fluree update

Target a specific ledger

fluree update production -f migration.json

Output

Committed t=3, 4 flakes

With remote mode, the full server response is printed as JSON.

Format Detection

The format is auto-detected using this priority:

Explicit flag (--format) — always wins
File extension (when using -f or a positional file path):
- .json, .jsonld → JSON-LD
- .rq, .ru, .sparql → SPARQL UPDATE
Content sniffing:
- Valid JSON (full parse, not just first character) → JSON-LD
- Starts with INSERT, DELETE, PREFIX, or BASE → SPARQL UPDATE

Override with --format jsonld or --format sparql.

Comparison with Insert and Upsert

Operation	WHERE clause	DELETE	Conditional	Use case
`insert`	No	No	No	Add new data
`upsert`	No	Auto (per subject+predicate)	No	Replace values for known entities
`update`	Yes	Explicit	Yes	Targeted updates, deletes, complex transformations