Airbnb: Why my properties' content is not updated (API update lock)?

In order to avoid unintentional overrides, Airbnb has introduced a feature to block listing updates made by the hosts via API-connected software (e.g. Rentals United). The feature helps you avoid unwanted changes to your listing, but in some cases may prevent you from making planned updates. In this article you will learn how to check if your listing details have been locked and how to re-enable the updates.

How does it work?

Airbnb API update lock ensures that any of the crucial listing details is not accidentally overwritten by an API update. Once a specific attribute is updated in your listing via Rentals United and you decide to edit or delete it on Airbnb, Airbnb will block us from a possibility to make further updates to this attribute.

Note that the API update lock does not apply to all of the listing details, but a selected list of them, see here.

List of lockable details

Airbnb attributes API lock works only for set of selected listing attributes. Note that any listing information that you do not update directly in Airbnb will continue to sync from Rentals United. For the most up-to-date information, please check Airbnb API documentation.

  • name (here)

  • property_type_category and property_type_group (here)

  • amenities (here)

  • apt, street, city, state, zipcode, country_code (here

  • lat, lng (here)

  • display_exact_location_to_guest

  • listing_views (here)

  • directions

  • check_in_option (here)

  • wifi_network, wifi_password

  • house_manual

  • check_out_tasks (here)

  • summary, space, access, interaction (here)

Attributes without a linked reference are not being synchronised to Airbnb by Rentals United at all.

Re-enable the updates from Rentals United

If you notice that certain listing information do not get updated on Airbnb even though you have performed listing content update (here), you may suspect that they have been blocked by the API lock feature. From that moment on, you either need to update these attributes directly in Airbnb or give us the right to modify these attributes. To reinstate this right for us, you need to follow the steps described in this Airbnb article.

When you do this, we will be able to overwrite the information in Airbnb with the latest information from Rentals United. The next time you performe listing content update, it will be synced to Airbnb (here).