# Manage bulk invoice line items

Add, update and remove multiple invoice line items with the Invoices API.

You can edit multiple line items on an invoice by bulk adding, updating, and removing line items with the [Invoices API](https://docs.stripe.com/api/invoices.md).

## Create an invoice 

To update an invoice, you need to create one first. You can [create an invoice in the Dashboard ](https://docs.stripe.com/invoicing/dashboard.md#create-invoice)or with the [Invoices API](https://docs.stripe.com/api/invoices/create.md). You can only update invoices in a [draft state](https://docs.stripe.com/invoicing/overview.md#invoice-lifecycle).

## Add line items 

To create multiple line items on the same invoice, reference the [invoice ID](https://docs.stripe.com/api/invoices/object.md#invoice_object-). You can also assign a preexisting unassigned invoice item with the [invoice item ID](https://docs.stripe.com/api/invoiceitems/object.md#invoiceitem_object-).
Here’s how to create two new line items and assign an existing invoice item to this invoice.

```bash
curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/invoices/<<invoice>>/add_lines \
  -u <<secret key>>: \
  -d "lines[0][amount]"=7500 \
  -d "lines[0][currency]"="usd" \
  -d "lines[1][price]"={{PRICE_ID}} \
  -d "lines[1][description]"="New line item" \
  -d "lines[2][invoice_item]"={{INVOICE_ITEM_1}}
```

Ensure that you are using the invoice item ID, using a line item ID here will result in an error.

## Update line items 

From here, you can update multiple line items on the same invoice based on the invoice ID and line item IDs like the following:

```bash
curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/invoices/<<invoice>>/update_lines \
  -u <<secret key>>: \
  -d "lines[0][id]"={{LINE_ITEM_1}} \
  -d "lines[0][description]"="New description" \
  -d "lines[0][metadata][key]"="new value" \
  -d "lines[1][id]"={{LINE_ITEM_2}} \
  -d "lines[1][price]"={{PRICE_ID}} \
  -d "lines[2][id]"={{LINE_ITEM_3}} \
  -d "lines[2][discountable]"=true
```

The example above updates the description and metadata for line item 1, the price for line item 2, and whether it’s discountable for line item 3.

## Remove line items 

You can delete or unassign multiple line items on the same invoice by referencing the invoice ID and line item IDs and distinguishing between different removal types with the `behavior` key.
Here’s how to permanently delete `LINE_ITEM_1` and unassign `LINE_ITEM_2`. You can reassign `LINE_ITEM_2` to another invoice in another request.

```bash
curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/invoices/<<invoice>>/remove_lines \
  -u <<secret key>>: \
  -d "lines[0][id]"={{LINE_ITEM_1}} \
  -d "lines[0][behavior]"="delete" \
  -d "lines[1][id]"={{LINE_ITEM_2}} \
  -d "lines[1][behavior]"="unassign"
```

## Restrictions 

There are some restrictions when using this feature

- The invoice must still be in a draft state
- There are two [types of invoice line items](https://docs.stripe.com/api/invoices/line_item.md#invoice_line_item_object-type)
  1. `type: invoiceitem`: Generated when an [invoice item](https://docs.stripe.com/api/invoiceitems.md) is added to an invoice.
  1. `type: subscription`: Automatically generated for a subscription invoice from each subscription item.
     This is the [full list of fields that are available](https://docs.stripe.com/api/invoices/update_lines.md#bulk_update_lines-lines) to update for each line item.
     While all fields are supported for `invoiceitem` line items, you can only update a small subset for `subscription` line items. Fields that are supported for `subscription` line items are `tax_rates`, or `discounts`.
- You can update a maximum of 50 line items in one API call. This limit is subject to change and might increase or decrease.

## Invoice metadata 

You can set invoice metadata in the same request for any of the above endpoints. Here’s an example calling [update_lines](https://docs.stripe.com/api/invoices.md).

```bash
curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/invoices/<<invoice>>/update_lines \
  -u <<secret key>>: \
  -d "lines[0][id]"={{LINE_ITEM_1}} \
  -d "lines[0][description]"="New description" \
  -d "lines[1][id]"={{LINE_ITEM_1}} \
  -d "lines[2][description]"="Another description" \
  -d "invoice_metadata[is_processed]"="true"
```