# Need guidance for updating outsourced employee accounts from workflow with multiple PATCH requests and different source paths

**URL:** <https://developer.sailpoint.com/discuss/t/need-guidance-for-updating-outsourced-employee-accounts-from-workflow-with-multiple-patch-requests-and-different-source-paths/208090>\
**Category:** SHF Discussion and Questions\
**Tags:** update, workflows, sailpoint-identity-security\
**Created:** [May 13, 2026, 1:43pm UTC](https://developer.sailpoint.com/discuss/t/need-guidance-for-updating-outsourced-employee-accounts-from-workflow-with-multiple-patch-requests-and-different-source-paths/208090 "2026-05-13T13:43:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ahmed119](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@ahmed119](https://developer.sailpoint.com/discuss/u/ahmed119)\
**Post date:** [May 13, 2026, 1:43pm UTC](https://developer.sailpoint.com/discuss/t/need-guidance-for-updating-outsourced-employee-accounts-from-workflow-with-multiple-patch-requests-and-different-source-paths/208090/1 "2026-05-13T13:43:30Z")

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Hi ,

 ![TestUpdateforServiceNow20260513](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/sailpoint/original/3X/a/b/abf7296f8c3005c75f908afe5147f10beae9df01.png)

I am working on a SailPoint Identity Security Cloud workflow to update outsourced employee data through an External Trigger.

The external system sends a payload containing multiple attributes that need to be updated. Based on the payload, the workflow loops through the update items and sends PATCH requests.

Current design:

1. External Trigger receives the update payload.

2. Workflow gets the identity/account details.

3. The outsourced employee may have accounts on two different sources.

4. Inside the Loop, I check the attribute/type and send a PATCH request to the relevant source/account.

5. Some updates go to one source, and other updates go to another source.

6. The issue is that I may send multiple PATCH requests to the same account during the same workflow execution.

The problem I am facing is that when multiple PATCH requests are executed against the same account, I sometimes see conflicts or unexpected behavior. I understand that the Loop operator executes items in parallel and does not guarantee order, so multiple updates to the same account may happen at the same time.

In my case, I cannot simply use one static PATCH body because the attributes have different target paths depending on the source and attribute type.

For example, the external payload may contain updates like:

```json
[
  {
    "attribute": "manager",
    "value": "managerIdentityId"
  },
  {
    "attribute": "approvalManager",
    "value": "approvalManagerIdentityId"
  },
  {
    "attribute": "endDate",
    "value": "2026-06-30"
  }
]

```

But each attribute may need to be patched using a different path or sent to a different source/account.

My questions are:

1. What is the recommended workflow design when I need to update multiple attributes on the same account but each attribute may have a different PATCH path?

2. If yes, what is the best way in ISC Workflows to dynamically build a JSON Patch array from the incoming payload?

3. Is there any supported way to force Loop iterations to run sequentially instead of in parallel?

4. For a user who has two source accounts, what is the best practice to group updates by source/account and then send one PATCH request per account?

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**Author:** ![RAKGDS](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/sailpoint/discuss/user_avatar/developer.sailpoint.com/rakgds/32/2795_2.png) [@RAKGDS](https://developer.sailpoint.com/discuss/u/RAKGDS)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 1:46pm UTC](https://developer.sailpoint.com/discuss/t/need-guidance-for-updating-outsourced-employee-accounts-from-workflow-with-multiple-patch-requests-and-different-source-paths/208090/2 "2026-05-31T13:46:14Z")

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Hi,

Does the target support PUT operation by any chance ? That will solve all your problems. But with PATCH it becomes a bit tricky to only sent 1 attribute at a time.

Thanks

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ahmed119](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@ahmed119](https://developer.sailpoint.com/discuss/u/ahmed119)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2026, 8:33am UTC](https://developer.sailpoint.com/discuss/t/need-guidance-for-updating-outsourced-employee-accounts-from-workflow-with-multiple-patch-requests-and-different-source-paths/208090/3 "2026-06-03T08:33:48Z")

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Hi, I know that PUT request will be easier but the issue that every time the workflow when triggered i don’t know which attribute need to be updated or at this case i can use many PUT requests instead of Patch

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/sailpoint/original/2X/f/f2136700ed5e3703e0b85e02f6be799dacca7735.png) [@system](https://developer.sailpoint.com/discuss/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 8:34am UTC](https://developer.sailpoint.com/discuss/t/need-guidance-for-updating-outsourced-employee-accounts-from-workflow-with-multiple-patch-requests-and-different-source-paths/208090/4 "2026-08-02T08:34:32Z")

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