Feishu Block Ops

Low-level Feishu document block operations via REST API. Use when feishu_doc built-in actions are insufficient: batch update cells, precise position insert, traverse block tree, table row/column manipulation, image replacement, or any operation requiring direct block-level control. Complements feishu-doc, not a replacement.

Feishu Block Operations

Direct REST API operations for Feishu cloud documents when the feishu_doc tool's built-in actions don't cover your needs.

When to Use This (vs feishu_doc)

Need	Use
Read/write/append document	feishu_doc
Create simple table	feishu_doc create_table_with_values
Upload image/file	feishu_doc upload_image/upload_file
Batch update 200 cells at once	This skill
Insert content at exact position	This skill (or feishu-md2blocks)
Traverse block tree	This skill
Table row/column insert/delete	This skill
Merge/unmerge table cells	This skill
Replace images in-place	This skill
Delete blocks by index range	This skill

Authentication

Get tenant access token from OpenClaw config:

python

import json, urllib.request

def get_feishu_token():
    with open(os.path.expanduser("~/.openclaw/openclaw.json")) as f:
        c = json.load(f)["channels"]["feishu"]
    payload = json.dumps({"app_id": c["appId"], "app_secret": c["appSecret"]}).encode()
    req = urllib.request.Request(
        "https://open.feishu.cn/open-apis/auth/v3/tenant_access_token/internal",
        data=payload, headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"}, method="POST")
    return json.loads(urllib.request.urlopen(req).read())["tenant_access_token"]

All API calls use header: Authorization: Bearer {token}

Rate Limits

Operation	Limit
Read (GET)	5 req/sec per app
Write (POST/PATCH/DELETE)	3 req/sec per app, 3 req/sec per document

Use time.sleep(0.35) between write calls. For reads, time.sleep(0.25).

API Reference

Base URL: https://open.feishu.cn/open-apis/docx/v1/documents

1. Get Block

text

GET /docx/v1/documents/{doc}/blocks/{block_id}

Returns single block with full content (type, elements, children IDs, styles).

2. Get Children (with optional full tree)

text

GET /docx/v1/documents/{doc}/blocks/{block_id}/children
    ?with_descendants=true    # get ALL descendants, not just direct children
    &page_size=500            # max 500
    &document_revision_id=-1  # latest revision

Tip: Use with_descendants=true on table blocks to get all cells + cell content in one call.

3. Create Blocks (simple, flat only)

text

POST /docx/v1/documents/{doc}/blocks/{parent_id}/children
Body: {"children": [...blocks], "index": 0}

• Max 50 blocks per call
• Cannot create nested structures (e.g. table with cell content)
• index in body: 0=beginning, -1=end (default)

4. Create Nested Blocks (tables, grids, etc.)

text

POST /docx/v1/documents/{doc}/blocks/{parent_id}/descendant
Body: {
    "children_id": ["temp_id_1", "temp_id_2"],
    "descendants": [...all_blocks_with_parent_child_relations],
    "index": 0
}

• Max 1000 blocks per call
• children_id: only first-level child IDs (NOT grandchildren — causes error 1770006)
• descendants: flat array of ALL blocks including nested ones, each with block_id, block_type, children (list of child temp IDs)
• ⚠️ index MUST be in request body, NOT as URL query parameter — ?index=N is silently ignored

5. Batch Update Blocks

text

PATCH /docx/v1/documents/{doc}/blocks/batch_update
Body: {"requests": [...update_requests]}

Max 200 blocks per call. Each request object contains block_id + one operation:

Operation	Purpose
update_text_elements	Replace text content + inline elements
update_text_style	Change alignment, folded, language, wrap, background_color
update_table_property	Modify column widths, header rows/columns
insert_table_row	Insert rows at index
insert_table_column	Insert columns at index
delete_table_rows	Delete rows by index + count
delete_table_columns	Delete columns by index + count
merge_table_cells	Merge cells (row_start, row_end, column_start, column_end)
unmerge_table_cells	Unmerge previously merged cells
replace_image	Replace image block's content with new file_token

Example: batch update text in multiple cells

python

requests = []
for block_id, new_text in updates.items():
    requests.append({
        "block_id": block_id,
        "update_text_elements": {
            "elements": [{"text_run": {"content": new_text}}]
        }
    })

api_call(token, "PATCH",
    f"https://open.feishu.cn/open-apis/docx/v1/documents/{doc}/blocks/batch_update",
    {"requests": requests})

6. Update Single Block

text

PATCH /docx/v1/documents/{doc}/blocks/{block_id}
Body: {same operations as batch_update, without block_id wrapper}

7. Delete Blocks

text

DELETE /docx/v1/documents/{doc}/blocks/{parent_id}/children/batch_delete
Body: {"start_index": 0, "end_index": 5}

• ⚠️ Uses start_index/end_index (half-open interval [start, end)), NOT block_ids
• Indices are relative to the parent block's children list

Block Types

Type	ID	Notes
Page	1	Document root, always one
Text	2	Plain paragraph
Heading1–9	3–11
Bullet	12	Unordered list item
Ordered	13	Ordered list item
Code	14	Code block
Quote	15	Block quote
Todo	17	Checkbox item
Callout	19	Highlighted block
Divider	22	Horizontal rule (body: {})
Grid	24	Multi-column layout
GridColumn	25	Column in grid
Image	27	Image block
Table	31	Table container
TableCell	32	Cell in table
QuoteContainer	34	Quote wrapper (body: {})

Text Elements

Text blocks contain an elements array. Each element is one of:

python

# Plain text
{"text_run": {"content": "hello", "text_element_style": {"bold": True, "link": {"url": "..."}}}}

# Mention user
{"mention_user": {"user_id": "ou_xxx", "text_element_style": {}}}

# Mention document
{"mention_doc": {"token": "xxx", "obj_type": 22, "text_element_style": {}}}

# Equation (LaTeX)
{"equation": {"content": "E=mc^2"}}

# Reminder
{"reminder": {"expire_time": 1234567890, "is_whole_day": True}}

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Read table content

python

# 1. Get table's descendants in one call
url = f".../blocks/{table_block_id}/children?with_descendants=true&page_size=500&document_revision_id=-1"
items = api_call(token, "GET", url)["data"]["items"]

# 2. Extract text from cells
for item in items:
    if item["block_type"] == 2 and "text" in item:
        text = "".join(e.get("text_run", {}).get("content", "") for e in item["text"]["elements"])

Pattern 2: Insert Markdown at position

Use feishu-md2blocks skill's md2blocks.py script with --after <block_id>.

Or manually:

python

# 1. Convert markdown
convert_resp = api_call(token, "POST", ".../blocks/convert",
    {"content_type": "markdown", "content": md_text})

# 2. Clean table blocks (remove merge_info)
for block in convert_resp["data"]["blocks"]:
    if block.get("block_type") == 31 and "table" in block:
        block["table"]["property"].pop("merge_info", None)

# 3. Insert at position (index IN BODY)
api_call(token, "POST", f".../blocks/{parent_id}/descendant", {
    "children_id": convert_resp["data"]["first_level_block_ids"],
    "descendants": convert_resp["data"]["blocks"],
    "index": target_index
})

Pattern 3: Batch edit table cells

python

# 1. Get all descendants of table
items = get_descendants(table_id)

# 2. Build update map
updates = []
for item in items:
    if needs_update(item):
        updates.append({
            "block_id": item["block_id"],
            "update_text_elements": {
                "elements": [{"text_run": {"content": new_value}}]
            }
        })

# 3. Batch update (max 200 per call)
for i in range(0, len(updates), 200):
    api_call(token, "PATCH", f".../blocks/batch_update",
        {"requests": updates[i:i+200]})
    time.sleep(0.35)

Pattern 4: Delete then re-insert (position workaround)

When you need to replace content at a specific position:

python

# 1. Find the index range to replace
children = get_doc_children(doc)
start_idx = children.index(first_block_to_replace)
end_idx = children.index(last_block_to_replace) + 1

# 2. Delete old blocks
api_call(token, "DELETE", f".../children/batch_delete",
    {"start_index": start_idx, "end_index": end_idx})

# 3. Insert new content at same position
api_call(token, "POST", f".../blocks/{doc}/descendant", {
    "children_id": new_ids,
    "descendants": new_blocks,
    "index": start_idx
})

Gotchas & Lessons Learned

1. /descendant index in body, not URL — The most common pitfall. ?index=N compiles but is silently ignored.
2. batch_delete uses index range — {"start_index": 0, "end_index": 5} deletes children[0..4]. Do NOT pass block_ids.
3. Table merge_info is read-only — Must strip from blocks before insertion or API returns error.
4. children_id is first-level only — Including grandchild IDs in children_id causes error 1770006.
5. Rate limit is per-document — Multiple concurrent edits to the same doc share the 3/sec limit.
6. with_descendants=true saves calls — One GET instead of N+1 for reading table content.
7. Convert API returns temp IDs — After insertion, actual block IDs differ from the temp IDs used during convert.