Add / Update MobileConnect Attribute via REST

Question

I'm trying to figure out whether I'm misunderstanding the patch/contacts endpoint. Here is sample json that I am passing via PostMan, which appears to function correctly.

{
    "contactKey": "1002",
    "attributeSets": 
    [{ 
        "name": "MobileConnect Demographics", 
            "items": 
            [{
                "values": 
                [{
                        "name": "Mobile Number",
                        "value": "123-555-5555"
                },
                {
                        "name": "Sandwich",
                        "value": "stromboli"
                },
                {
                        "name": "Whatever",
                        "value": "1"
                }
                ]
            }]
    }]
}

Note: Sandwich and Whatever are both MobileConnect attributes.

I've used a Contact Key of a Contact that did already exist in the system (i.e. attempting to update that record), but did not succeed, even though there was a positive response. Here is the response from the above json submission.

{
    "operationStatus": "OK",
    "rowsAffected": 1,
    "contactKey": "1002",
    "contactID": 12472888,
    "contactTypeID": 0,
    "isNewContactKey": false,
    "hasErrors": false,
    "requestServiceMessageID": "0d7a6fa0-779b-47b9-9a0d-b1292fcf0960",
    "resultMessages": [],
    "serviceMessageID": "68efeacb-8836-47c8-ab36-ede40e375abb"
}

When using an unused Contact Key, I received a positive response, but no new contact was added. Response:

{
    "operationStatus": "OK",
    "rowsAffected": 1,
    "contactKey": "1060",
    "contactID": 78825616,
    "contactTypeID": 0,
    "isNewContactKey": true,
    "hasErrors": false,
    "requestServiceMessageID": "9aa00b05-97e8-4762-bb3b-23af896b4aa7",
    "resultMessages": [],
    "serviceMessageID": "96edf839-f6cb-4456-aa57-6312c221548a"
}

https://code.exacttarget.com/apis-sdks/rest-api/v1/contacts/updateContacts.html

In the end, I'm trying to figure out the best way to update / create a contact in MobileConnect (via the api), so that when an SMS is sent to a contact, I can utilize a particular attribute to control what displays in the message.

Answer 1

I think I ended up figuring this out. The keys to get this to work were...

• Use PATCH when making an Update to a Contact
• Use POST when creating a new Contact
• Even though Update looks like it does an Upsert, it does not.

Otherwise, I believe I had the correct json code.