---
title: "Get a received email"
method: GET
path: "/v1/email/inbound-messages/{inbound_message_id}"
tags: ["email-inbound-messages"]
---

# Get a received email

`GET /v1/email/inbound-messages/{inbound_message_id}`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://us1.platform.bird.com`
- URL: `https://us1.platform.bird.com/v1/email/inbound-messages/{inbound_message_id}`
- Auth: one of:
  - HTTP bearer
  - API key in cookie `bird_session`

Returns the parsed metadata for a received email:

- Addresses.
- Subject.
- Threading headers.
- The mailbox and conversation that received it, when a mailbox did.
- Authentication results.
- The attachment manifest.

Content is fetched separately:

- Get the parsed body from [Get a received email's body](/docs/api/reference/get-inbound-message-body).
- Get the original MIME from [Get a received email's raw content](/docs/api/reference/get-inbound-message-raw).
- Get attachment bytes from [Get a received email's attachment](/docs/api/reference/get-inbound-message-attachment).

Received emails are retained for 30 days. An unknown or expired message returns `404`.

## Headers

- `X-Workspace-Id` string
- `X-Organization-Id` string

## Response `200`

Received email object.

- InboundEmailMessage: An email received on your behalf, parsed from the original message. Fetch the body with `/body`, the original MIME with `/raw`, and attachment bytes with `/attachments/{attachment_id}`.
  - `id` string, required
  - `from` EmailAddress, required: An email address with an optional display name.
    - `email` string, email, required: Email address.
    - `name` string: Display name shown alongside the address in mail clients.
  - `to` EmailAddress[], required: Recipients on the message's To header.
    - `email` string, email, required: Email address.
    - `name` string: Display name shown alongside the address in mail clients.
  - `cc` EmailAddress[], required: Recipients on the message's Cc header.
    - `email` string, email, required: Email address.
    - `name` string: Display name shown alongside the address in mail clients.
  - `subject` string, nullable, required: Subject line as received, or `null` when the message had no subject.
  - `message_id` string, nullable, required: RFC 5322 Message-ID header from the sender, or `null` when the sender did not include one.
  - `in_reply_to` string, nullable, required: The `In-Reply-To` header, which holds the Message-ID this message is replying to. `null` when the message is not a reply.
  - `references` string[]: The References header, which holds every Message-ID in this conversation, oldest first. Left out when the message arrived without one.
  - `mailbox_id` string, required
  - `thread_id` string, nullable, required: Mailbox conversation this message belongs to, or `null` when it was not received by a mailbox or has since been deleted from it.
  - `authentication` 'pass' | 'fail' | 'unknown' | 'null', nullable, required: DMARC result for the domain in the received message's `From` header. - `pass`: SPF or DKIM passed and aligned with that domain. - `fail`: DMARC was evaluated and did not pass. - `unknown`: no trustworthy verdict is available. This follows `dmarc_pass` and does not verify a particular person. The receiving provider currently supplies no DMARC result, so received messages report `unknown`.
  - `spf_pass` boolean, nullable, required: Whether the receiving provider reports that SPF authorized the envelope sender for the sending server. A soft failure is `false`. Missing, neutral and inconclusive results are `null`.
  - `dkim_pass` boolean, nullable, required: Whether the receiving provider verified a DKIM signature. A passing signature makes this `true` even when another signature fails. Missing signatures and inconclusive verification results are `null`.
  - `dmarc_pass` boolean, nullable, required: Whether SPF or DKIM passed and aligned with the domain in the message's `From` header. The receiving provider currently supplies no DMARC result, so this is `null`.
  - `spam_score` number, nullable, required: Content spam score when available. The receiving provider currently supplies no score, so this is `null`.
  - `attachments` InboundAttachment[], required: Metadata for each attachment found on the message. Empty when the message had no attachments.
    - `id` string, required
    - `filename` string, nullable, required: Filename from the attachment's Content-Disposition, or `null` when the sender did not name the part.
    - `content_type` string, nullable, required: MIME type parsed from the attachment part, or `null` when absent.
    - `size` integer, required: Size of the attachment in bytes.
  - `received_at` string, date-time, required: When the message was received.

## Other responses

- `400`: Bad request
- `401`: Authentication required
- `403`: Insufficient permissions
- `404`: Resource not found
- `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

---

[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/6dfce1179799?raw)