---
title: "Archive a contact property"
method: POST
path: "/v1/contact-properties/{property_id}/archive"
tags: ["email-contacts"]
---

# Archive a contact property

`POST /v1/contact-properties/{property_id}/archive`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://us1.platform.bird.com`
- URL: `https://us1.platform.bird.com/v1/contact-properties/{property_id}/archive`
- Auth: one of:
  - HTTP bearer
  - API key in cookie `bird_session`

Archiving is how you remove a contact property. Bird keeps its values so you can restore it with Unarchive.

The property disappears from property pickers, including import column mapping. New template versions that read it cannot be published. The publish error names the property. Templates already published keep sending and fill in its value. You can still read and update the property's values through the API and imports. Values must match the property's type. See [Archiving a property](/docs/guides/email/contacts#archiving-a-property) for more details.

Archiving returns a `409` conflict while a published automation, including a paused one, uses the property in a trigger or contact write. An active run that writes the property also blocks archiving. Remove the property from those automations or archive them. Let active runs finish or cancel them, then archive the property again. If you have permission to read automations, the error names up to five that use the property.

The key stays reserved and counts toward the workspace's 200-property limit. Archiving an already archived property also returns a `409` conflict. Use [Unarchive a contact property](/docs/api/reference/unarchive-contact-property) to restore it.

## Path parameters

- `property_id` string, required

## Headers

- `Idempotency-Key` string
- `X-Workspace-Id` string
- `X-Organization-Id` string

## Response `200`

The archived contact property.

- ContactProperty
  - `id` string, required
  - `key` string, required: The property key, used as the key in contact data and as the attribute in the `bird.contact.<key>` broadcast template variable. Lowercase letters, digits, and underscores, starting with a letter. Cannot be changed after creation.
  - `type` 'string' | 'number' | 'boolean' | 'datetime', required: The value type every contact must use for a property. Cannot be changed after creation. `datetime` values are RFC 3339 timestamps with an explicit offset. Examples include `2024-01-15T09:30:00Z` and `2024-01-15T11:30:00+02:00`. A bare date or a time with no offset is rejected. The value is normalized to UTC with second precision on write, so `2024-01-15T11:30:00+02:00` is stored and returned as `2024-01-15T09:30:00Z`, and any fractional seconds are dropped.
  - `fallback_value` unknown
  - `archived` boolean: Whether the property is archived. Archived properties disappear from pickers and cannot be used in new template versions. Published templates keep sending. Stored values remain available to read and update. Unarchive the property to restore it.
  - `created_at` string, date-time, required
  - `updated_at` string, date-time, required

## Other responses

- `400`: Bad request
- `401`: Authentication required
- `403`: Insufficient permissions
- `404`: Resource not found
- `409`: Resource conflict
- `422`: The request has invalid field values, violates a business rule, or carries a query parameter the endpoint does not declare. Field validation errors use `type: validation_error` and include the affected fields in `details`. Business-rule errors identify the failed rule in `type`.
- `429`: Rate limit exceeded
- `500`: Internal server error
- `503`: The service is temporarily unavailable. If `Retry-After` is present, wait for that delay before retrying; otherwise, retry with exponential backoff. Reuse the same idempotency key and request when retrying a mutation.

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/messagebird/apis/bird-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/messagebird/apis/bird-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/messagebird/apis/bird-api/revisions/3e2a50466454?raw)