Update Rows

The Update Rows action updates one or more existing rows in a sheet in Smartsheet. Updates can be performed on cell values, position in the sheet, or hierarchy.

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
sheetId	Required	The ID of the sheet containing the rows to update.
allowPartialSuccess	Optional	Lets some rows succeed even if others in the same update fail.
overrideValidation	Optional	Allows values outside a column’s validation limits. Requires strict set to false on the relevant cell.
accessApiLevel	Optional	Set to 1 to allow COMMENTER access. Defaults to VIEWER access.

Using sheetId

This can be a fixed, hardcoded value taken from the properties of a sheet in Smartsheet, but it is very common to get the sheetId dynamically from a trigger or another action.

Using allowPartialSuccess

Set to true to prevent the entire batch of rows being updated from failing if there are 1 or more rows that are rejected.

Using overrideValidation

Relevant if a column has dropdown or validation rules and you deliberately want to write a value outside them.

Using accessApiLevel

Not commonly used if you’re running the flow on sheets you own or administer. Smartsheet added Commenter as a distinct access level after the API already existed, so by default it’s quietly treated as Viewer for backward compatibility. Setting this to 1 tells the API to recognize Commenter properly, which is relevant if your API token’s access to this sheet is specifically at the Commenter level.

Updating rows

The Body field accepts rows two different ways, and you can switch between them using the icon in the top-right corner of the field.

Updating rows with detail inputs

The default view. Click Add new item to add each row as its own set of fields, filled in through the picker UI. Straightforward for a known, fixed number of rows, but every row has to be added by hand, so it doesn’t work when the row count varies at runtime.

Updating rows as a raw array

Clicking the icon in the top-right of the Body field in the default view details array view, results in the view shown above. The item picker is replaced with a single field that accepts a JSON array, which means the array can come from an expression or the output of any earlier step. Using this option, the number of rows doesn’t have to be known when you build the flow. This is how you update a dynamic number of rows, anywhere from 1 up to the 500-row limit, without adding items by hand.

This input accepts a standard Smartsheet row object or array of row objects, but each object in the array requires an id so Smartsheet knows which existing row to update. Here is an example showing updating 2 rows with a value in 1 cell:

[
  {
    "id": 2345678901234567,
    "cells": [
      { "columnId": 1234567890123456, "value": "Updated task" }
    ]
  },
  {
    "id": 3456789012345678,
    "cells": [
      { "columnId": 1234567890123456, "value": "Another updated task" }
    ]
  }
]

Row fields

Each row you add is its own item with these fields. You can update multiple rows in one execution of the action, up to 500 rows, which is a hard limit set by the Smartsheet API itself, not something this connector can increase.

Field	Required	Description
id	Required	The ID of the row to update.
cells	Optional	The values to change on the row. See below.
locationType	Optional	Where to move the row. See below.
locationReferenceRowId	Situational	Required for some locationType options. See below.
expanded	Optional	Whether the row is expanded or collapsed.
format	Optional	Baseline formatting for the row’s blank cells only.
locked	Optional	Whether the row is locked.

Using id

This is the unique row ID belonging to an existing row. This is almost always assigned dynamically from a trigger or previous action rather than being hardcoded.

Using cells

Only include the cells you actually want to change. You don’t need to resend every cell on the row. Each cell needs a columnId and a value. A few things worth knowing:

• displayValue only matters for contact-list columns, where it sets the displayed name. Put the contact’s email in value and their name in displayValue.
• formula lets you set the cell to a formula (like =SUM(CHILDREN())) instead of a static value. Cannot be combined with value, displayValue, or linkType on the same cell.
• strict set to false bypasses Smartsheet’s normal value type checking. This is also the fix for date columns since Smartsheet’s DATE columns only accept YYYY-MM-DD by default and reject regional formats like 07/30/2026. If you set strict to false on that cell, then you can enter a date value like “07/30/2026”.
• linkType turns the cell into a hyperlink, or removes an existing one. Choose URL, Sheet, Report, or Dashboard to set a new link (provide the target in linkValue, and set value to the link’s label text), or choose Clear to remove a hyperlink that’s already on the cell. Leave blank to leave any existing hyperlink untouched.
• linkValue is the link’s target: the full URL for a URL link, or the sheet/report/dashboard ID for the others. Required alongside linkType unless linkType is Clear.
• For checkbox columns, set value to true for checked, or false (or leave it blank) for unchecked.

Using locationType

Smartsheet’s raw API uses seven separate placement fields that can only be combined in specific ways. This connector replaces all of them with one dropdown:

locationType	Needs locationReferenceRowId?	Moves the row
Top	No	To the very top of the sheet.
Bottom	No	To the very bottom of the sheet.
Child (first)	Yes	To become the first child of the row in locationReferenceRowId.
Child (last)	Yes	To become the last child of the row in locationReferenceRowId.
Sibling (below)	Yes	Directly below the row in locationReferenceRowId, at the same level.
Sibling (above)	Yes	Directly above the row in locationReferenceRowId, at the same level.
Indent under row above	No	Makes the row a child of whichever row is directly above it.
Outdent one level	No	Moves the row out one level from its current position.

NOTE: Every row in the same call must use the same locationType. You can’t send one row with Sibling (below) and another with Child (last) in the same call. Smartsheet will reject the entire request if the types don’t match.

Using locationReferenceRowId

Pairs with: required when locationType is set to Child (first), Child (last), Sibling (below), or Sibling (above) — see the table above.

The ID of the row that the updated row is positioned relative to. For instance, the parent for Child (first) and Child (last), or the sibling for Sibling (above) and Sibling (below). Leave blank for Top, Bottom, Indent under row above, and Outdent one level, which don’t need a reference row.

NOTE: Every row in the same call must use the same locationReferenceRowId. To insert rows under or beside different reference rows, use a separate call for each one.

Using expanded

This controls whether the row displays expanded or collapsed if it has child rows.

Using format

Sets the baseline format ONLY for the row’s blank cells. It does not restyle cells that already have a value. To format existing data, format has to be set per-cell, not on the row.

Using locked

Sets whether the row is locked from further editing.

Example

A flow that marks a task row complete and moves it into a “Done” section of the sheet in the same call, which requires updating a Status cell and setting locationType to move it under the right parent row.

What you get back

The updated row objects, reflecting the new cell values and position.

Gotchas