Learn how to filter by, read, update, and clear the people column on monday boards using the platform API

The people column represents a person(s) who is assigned items. You can filter by, read, update, and clear the people column via the API.

Filter by the people column

Using the items_page object, you can easily filter a board's items by specific columns or column values. The table below contains the people column's supported operators and compare values.

OperatorsCompare values
any_of
  • The user IDs to filter by ("person-123456")
  • "assigned_to_me" (items assigned to the user making the API call)
  • "person-0" (blank values)
  • not_any_of
  • The user IDs to filter by ("person-123456")
  • "assigned_to_me" (items assigned to the user making the API call)
  • "person-0" (blank values)
  • is_emptynull
    is_not_emptynull
    contains_textThe partial or whole name to filter by (exactly as written)
    not_contains_textThe partial or whole name to filter by (exactly as written)
    contains_termsThe partial or whole name to filter by (in any order)
    starts_withThe value the item starts with
    ends_withThe value the item ends with

    Examples

    The following example returns all items on the specified board assigned to anyone except the user running the query.

    query {
      boards (ids: 1234567890) {
        items_page (query_params: {rules: [{column_id: "people", compare_value: ["assigned_to_me"], operator:not_any_of}]}) {
          items {
            id
            name
          }
        }
      }
    }
    

    Read the people column

    You can query the people column using the column_values object that enables you to return column-specific subfields by sending a fragment in your query. Values for the people column are of the PeopleValue type.

    query {
      items (ids:[1234567890, 9876543210]) {
        column_values {
          ... on PeopleValue {
            persons_and_teams
          }
        }
      }
    }
    

    Fields

    FieldDescription
    column Column!The column the value belongs to.
    id ID!The column's unique identifier.
    persons_and_teams [PeopleEntity!]The column's people or team values.
    text StringThe column's value as text. This field will return "" if the column has an empty value.
    type ColumnType!The column's type.
    updated_at DateThe column's last updated date.
    value JSONThe column's JSON-formatted raw value.

    Update the people column

    You can update a people column using the change_simple_column_value mutation and sending a simple string in the value argument. You can also use the change_multiple_column_values mutation and pass a JSON string in the column_values argument.

    Simple strings

    To update a people column, send a string of user IDs separated by a comma that you want to add to the column.

    mutation {
      change_simple_column_value(item_id:9876543210, board_id:1234567890, column_id:"people", value:"123456, 654321") {
        id
      }
    }
    
    fetch ("https://api.monday.com/v2", {
      method: 'post',
      headers: {
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        'Authorization' : 'YOUR_API_KEY_HERE'
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        query : "mutation ($myBoardId:Int!, $myItemId:Int!, $myColumnValue: String!, $columnId: String!) { change_simple_column_value (item_id:$myItemId, board_id:$myBoardId, column_id: $columnId, value: $myColumnValue) { id } }",
        variables : JSON.stringify({
          myBoardId: 1234567890,
          myItemId: 9876543210,
          columnId: "people",
          myColumnValue: "123456, 654321"
          })
        })
      })
    

    JSON

    To update a people column, send an array with the people or team IDs you want to add to the column.

    mutation {
      change_multiple_column_values(item_id:9876543210, board_id:1234567890, column_values: "{\"people\" : {\"personsAndTeams\":[{\"id\":\"4616627\",\"kind\":\"person\"},{\"id\":\"4616666\",\"kind\":\"person\"},{\"id\":\"51166\",\"kind\":\"team\"}]}}") {
        id
      }
    }
    
    fetch ("https://api.monday.com/v2", {
      method: 'post',
      headers: {
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        'Authorization' : 'YOUR_API_KEY_HERE'
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        query : "mutation ($myBoardId:Int!, $myItemId:Int!, $myColumnValues:JSON!) { change_multiple_column_values(item_id:$myItemId, board_id:$myBoardId, column_values: $myColumnValues) { id }}",
        variables : JSON.stringify({
          myBoardId: 1234567890,
          myItemId: 9876543210,
          myColumnValues:"{\"people\": {\"personAndTeams\": [{\"id\": \"4616627\", \"kind\": \"person\"}, {\"id\": \"4616666\", \"kind\": \"person\"}, {\"id\": \"51166\", \"kind\": \"team\"}]}}"
        })
      })
    })
    

    Clear the people column

    You have two options to clear a people column. First, you can use the change_multiple_column_values mutation and pass null, an empty string, or an empty object in the column_values argument.

    mutation {
      change_multiple_column_values(item_id:9876543210, board_id:1234567890, column_values: "{\"people\" : null}") {
        id
      }
    }
    
    fetch ("https://api.monday.com/v2", {
      method: 'post',
      headers: {
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        'Authorization' : 'YOUR_API_KEY_HERE'
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        query : "mutation ($myBoardId:Int!, $myItemId:Int!, $myColumnValues:JSON!) { change_multiple_column_values(item_id:$myItemId, board_id:$myBoardId, column_values: $myColumnValues) { id } }",
        variables : JSON.stringify({
          myBoardId: 1234567890,
          myItemId: 9876543210,
          myColumnValues: "{\"people\" : null}"
        })
      })
    })
    

    You can also use the change_simple_column_value mutation and pass an empty string in the value argument.

    mutation {
      change_simple_column_value(item_id:9876543210, board_id:1234567890, column_id: "people", value: "") {
        id
      }
    }
    
    fetch ("https://api.monday.com/v2", {
      method: 'post',
      headers: {
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        'Authorization' : 'YOUR_API_KEY_HERE'
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        query : "mutation ($myBoardId:Int!, $myItemId:Int!, $myColumnValue: String!, $columnId: String!) { change_simple_column_value (item_id:$myItemId, board_id:$myBoardId, column_id: $columnId, value: $myColumnValue) { id } }",
        variables : JSON.stringify({
          myBoardId: 1234567890,
          myItemId: 9876543210,
          columnId: "phone",
          myColumnValue: ""
          })
        })
      })
    

    📘

    Join our developer community!

    We've created a community specifically for our devs where you can search through previous topics to find solutions, ask new questions, hear about new features and updates, and learn tips and tricks from other devs. Come join in on the fun! 😎