# Update Records Using sObject Relationships

Updates a parent record based on the specified object, record ID, and relationship field name. Field values provided in the request body replace the existing values in the record. Only a child-to-parent relationship can be traversed when you update records.

If the `fields` parameter is used with fields that don’t exist or aren’t visible to the consumer by field-level security, a 400 error response is returned. For other error messages, see [Status Codes and Error Responses](/docs/platform/api-rest/guide/errorcodes.md).

## Syntax

**URI:** `/services/data/vXX.X/sobjects/sObject/id/relationshipFieldName`

**Formats:** JSON, XML

**HTTP Method:** PATCH

**Authentication:** `Authorization: Bearer token`

**Parameters**

| Parameter               | Description                                                                                                                                        |
| ----------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `sObject`               | The name of the object. For example, `Contact`.                                                                                                    |
| `id`                    | The identifier of the record. For example, `003R0000005hDFYIA2`, the contact ID.                                                                   |
| `relationshipFieldName` | The name of the field that contains the relationship. For example, `Account`. Account is the name of the relationship on the child Contact object. |

## Example

For an example of updating a record using PATCH, see

[Update a Record](/docs/platform/api-rest/guide/dome-update-fields.md).

**See Also**

- [Object Reference for the Salesforce Platform](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.object_reference.meta/object_reference/)