email-mailboxes

Update a mailbox

Updates a mailbox. The address and domain are immutable. Lowering the retention tier makes remembered messages older than the new cutoff eligible for deletion. If any exist, the request requires confirm=true. A tier change is applied to the mailbox's stored messages in the background; lowering the tier again while that is still being applied is refused with E17050. You can still raise it to a tier your plan permits.

patch/v1/email/mailboxes/{mailbox_id}

Request

  • Base URL: https://us1.platform.bird.com
  • URL: https://us1.platform.bird.com/v1/email/mailboxes/{mailbox_id}
  • Auth: one of:
    • HTTP bearer
    • API key in cookie bird_session

Query parameters

confirmboolean

Set to true when lowering retention_tier would make remembered messages older than the new cutoff eligible for deletion. The request is rejected without it in that case.

Headers

Idempotency-Keystring

Client-supplied key. On operations supporting request deduplication, a retained response is replayed for duplicate requests with the same key within the idempotency window (3 hours by default). This protection requires a workspace, organization, or staff-account scope. User-only and unscoped unauthenticated operations, streams, and operations with a separate replay contract do not use this response replay.

On a supported operation, if idempotency protection is unavailable before execution, the API returns 503 IdempotencyUnavailable (E01033) without executing this attempt. Retry with backoff using the same key and request. An operation that takes effect before its response is retained can still execute again on retry.

Two distinct 409 errors signal misuse:

  • request_in_progress (E01004): The same key is currently being processed by a concurrent request. Wait briefly and retry. The lock expires within 30 seconds.
  • idempotency_key_reuse (E01005): The same key has already completed against a different request body or method. Generate a new key.

Recommended key format is <event-type>/<entity-id> (for example welcome-user/usr_abc123).

X-Workspace-Idstring

Workspace context for the request. Required for dashboard authentication and master keys. Workspace keys and access tokens already identify their workspace; send that workspace or omit the header. A different one is rejected.

X-Organization-Idstring

Organization context for the request. Required for dashboard authentication. An API key or access token carries its own organization, so send either that organization or no header at all; a different one is rejected.

Request body

display_namestring nullable

Display name used as the sender name on mail from this mailbox. null clears it.

default_reply_tostring email nullable

Default Reply-To address stamped on mail sent from this mailbox. null clears it.

receive_policy'open' | 'replies_only' | 'allowlist' | 'drop'

Which inbound mail the mailbox accepts:

  • open: Accepts everything not blocked by a rule.
  • replies_only: Accepts only replies to messages this mailbox has sent. A reply must match a message the mailbox sent. Landing in an existing thread by itself does not count.
  • allowlist: Accepts only senders matching an allow rule.
  • drop: Stores nothing.
retention_tier'30d' | '90d' | '1y'

How long message metadata, extracted text, and attachments are kept. Original bodies and inbound raw MIME are limited to 30 days on every tier. Longer tiers require a plan that includes them. Lowering the tier requires confirm=true when messages would be affected; accepted changes hide those messages immediately. Deletion waits at least ten minutes and until the retention update finishes.

metadataobject

Replaces the mailbox's key/value data. Up to 2 KB. Keys starting with __bird are reserved.

Example request

{
  "display_name": "Acme Concierge",
  "retention_tier": "30d"
}

Response

Mailbox updated.

idstring required
addressstring email required

The mailbox's email address. Immutable once created.

forwarding_addressstring email nullable required

An address we generate on our receiving domain when the mailbox is created on a domain not set up for receiving with us. Forward mail for address here from your current email provider, and it lands in this mailbox. Replies still go out from address. Immutable. It stops receiving while the mailbox is deleted, works again with the same value after a restore, and keeps working if you later enable receiving on the domain. null on mailboxes created on the shared domain or on a domain already enabled for receiving.

display_namestring nullable required

Display name used as the sender name on mail from this mailbox. null when unset.

default_reply_tostring email nullable required

Default Reply-To address stamped on mail sent from this mailbox. null when unset.

receive_policy'open' | 'replies_only' | 'allowlist' | 'drop' required

Which inbound mail the mailbox accepts:

  • open: Accepts everything not blocked by a rule.
  • replies_only: Accepts only replies to messages this mailbox has sent. A reply must match a message the mailbox sent. Landing in an existing thread by itself does not count.
  • allowlist: Accepts only senders matching an allow rule. Replies to prior outbound mail are always admitted unless blocked.
  • drop: Stores nothing.
state'active' | 'suspended' required

Lifecycle state. active means the mailbox can send, receive, and expose conversations. suspended pauses sending, conversation reads, and events; inbound mail is retained with the blocked label until you resume it.

channel'email' required

The channel this mailbox receives on. Always email.

inbound_address_idstring required
retention_tier'30d' | '90d' | '1y' required

How long message metadata, extracted text, and attachments are kept. Original bodies and inbound raw MIME are limited to 30 days on every tier.

message_countinteger required

Number of retained messages across all threads.

thread_countinteger required

Number of retained threads.

size_bytesinteger required

Stored bytes across the mailbox's retained messages: subject, preview, extracted text, and attachment bytes. Message bodies and raw MIME expire after 30 days and do not count. Maintained with each message written or deleted, so the value is current; messages stored before the counter existed are not counted.

unread_thread_countinteger nullable

Number of threads with unread messages in this mailbox, excluding trash. null on create/update responses.

metadataobject required

Your own key/value data attached to the mailbox. Up to 2 KB. Keys starting with __bird are reserved.

local_part_generatedboolean required

Whether we generated the local part of the address. false means a custom handle was chosen at creation. On the shared inbox.ai domain a custom handle counts against your plan's custom-handle allowance.

created_atstring date-time required

When the mailbox was created.

updated_atstring date-time required

When the mailbox was last updated.

deleted_atstring date-time nullable

When the mailbox was deleted, or null if active. Deletion stops receiving; restore is available for 30 days unless permanent erasure has started.

Example response

{
  "id": "mbx_01krdgeqcxet5s7t44vh8rt9mg",
  "address": "concierge@inbox.ai",
  "forwarding_address": "k7q2mzxw4h6p5ra3@eu1.inbound.bird.com",
  "display_name": "Acme Concierge",
  "owner": {
    "id": "ws_01krdgeqcxet5s7t44vh8rt9mg"
  },
  "inbound_address_id": "ina_01krdgeqcxet5s7t44vh8rt9mg"
}

Changes

No recorded changes to this operation across all 2 revisions of this API.