---
title: "Release a phone number"
method: POST
path: "/phone-numbers/release"
tags: ["Phone Numbers"]
---

# Release a phone number

`POST /phone-numbers/release`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://be.graph8.com/api/v1`
- URL: `https://be.graph8.com/api/v1/phone-numbers/release`
- Auth: HTTP bearer

Give a number back to the carrier. IRREVERSIBLE.

The number returns to the provider's pool and can be bought by anyone,
including a competitor. Inbound calls and messages to it stop reaching
this organisation immediately; there is no grace period and no undo.

Order matters and is not transactional: the carrier release happens first,
then voice deregistration (best-effort), then the local record. A failure
after the carrier release leaves the number gone but the record behind -
which is why this returns the outcome rather than a bare 204.

## Headers

- `Authorization` string, nullable
- `X-Target-Org-Id` string, nullable

## Request body

- ReleasePhoneRequest: Give a number back to the carrier. IRREVERSIBLE. Mirrors `phone_numbers.interfaces.fastapi.dtos.ReleasePhoneRequest`.
  - `phone_number` string, required: The number to release, E.164.
  - `provider` 'twilio' | 'telnyx', required: The carrier that holds it. It must match what the number was bought from - releasing a Telnyx number as `twilio` reaches the wrong provider.

## Response `200`

Successful Response

- ApiResponsePhoneNumberPayload
  - `data` PhoneNumberPayload, required: An open envelope for a purchase result, a release, or an A2P job. Open on purpose. A purchase returns the stored row (whose capability and provider-metadata keys differ per provider), a workflow start returns a `workflow_id`, and the A2P reconcile returns per-number outcomes that grow as carriers add statuses. Pinning it would silently drop whatever the provider reported that this contract had not caught up on.
  - `pagination` PaginationMeta
    - `page` integer, required: Current page number (1-indexed)
    - `limit` integer, required: Items per page
    - `total` integer, required: Total number of items
    - `has_next` boolean, required: Whether there are more pages
    - `next_cursor` string, nullable: Opaque cursor for the next page; null when there are no more items. Pass it back as the `cursor` query param to fetch the following page without computing page numbers.
    - `total_available` integer, nullable: Search endpoints only: how many records really match, when known. Can be larger than `total`, which is capped at the 10,000 results that can be paged. For company search this is a distinct-company estimate. Null when unknown; absent outside search.
    - `total_is_lower_bound` boolean, nullable: Search endpoints only: true when more records match than `total` shows (the result set is larger than the 10,000 results that can be paged). Absent outside search.
    - `notes` string[], nullable: Search endpoints only: plain-language notes about the result, e.g. that more records match than can be paged, or that a reversed `between` range was put in order.

## Other responses

- `422`: Validation Error

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/graph8/apis/graph8-developer-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/graph8/apis/graph8-developer-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/graph8/apis/graph8-developer-api/revisions/89fc11143b70?raw)