email-messages

Get a message

Returns a single message with its aggregate delivery status and per-state recipient counts. The response never includes the html/text bodies. When content storage is enabled for the send, fetch the stored bodies with Get stored message content. Per-recipient statuses and the event timeline are separate sub-resources.

get/v1/email/messages/{message_id}

Request

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

Path parameters

message_idstring required
Example:em_01krdgeqcxet5s7t44vh8rt9mg

ID of the message to fetch. A broadcast records one message per recipient, and List email messages returns those copies alongside ordinary sends. For a single send, this is the message's own ID, from the send response's id field.

Headers

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.

Response

Message object.

idstring required
subjectstring required

The subject line as delivered. For a send that used a template, the stored subject is the template's, so this reports it with the send's parameters substituted in, which is what the recipient saw.

category'marketing' | 'transactional' required

Content classification, which controls suppression policy:

  • marketing: Blocks on all suppression reasons.
  • transactional: Allows delivery through complaint and unsubscribe suppressions, for receipts, password resets, and similar operational mail.
status'scheduled' | 'accepted' | 'processed' | 'deferred' | 'delivered' | 'partial_failure' | 'bounced' | 'complained' | 'rejected' | 'canceled' required

Aggregate delivery status of an email, derived from its recipients' states.

In flight:

  • scheduled: The message is queued to send at a future time and has not been dispatched yet.
  • accepted: The initial status of an immediate send. The message is queued for its recipients.
  • processed: Delivery is underway, so at least one recipient's message is on its way out and none has failed.
  • deferred: At least one recipient's mailbox provider asked for a retry, and delivery attempts continue.

Final:

  • delivered: Every recipient's mail server accepted the message.
  • bounced: Every recipient permanently failed (bounced or was rejected).
  • rejected: Every recipient was rejected before a delivery attempt (for example, all recipients were suppressed).
  • partial_failure: Some recipients permanently failed while others were delivered or are still in flight.
  • canceled: A scheduled message was canceled before it was sent.

complained takes precedence over every other status: at least one recipient reported the message as spam, regardless of what happened to the rest.

accepted_countinteger required

How many recipients are in the accepted state, meaning we have the message and are getting ready to deliver it.

processed_countinteger required

How many recipients the message has been prepared for and queued for delivery.

delivered_countinteger required

How many recipients' messages were accepted by their mail server.

bounced_countinteger required

Number of recipients that resulted in a permanent delivery failure.

complained_countinteger required

Number of recipients that reported spam.

deferred_countinteger required

Number of recipients in transient delivery deferral. Their mail server asked for a retry, and delivery attempts continue.

rejected_countinteger required

Number of recipients rejected before delivery. Read the per-recipient rejection_reason field on GET /v1/email/messages/{message_id}/recipients for the specific cause.

processing_latency_msinteger nullable

Time between the send being accepted and the message being prepared for delivery, in milliseconds, for the fastest recipient. Null until the first recipient reaches processed.

delivery_latency_msinteger nullable

Time between the message being processed and the receiving mail server accepting it, in milliseconds, for the fastest delivered recipient. Null until the first recipient is delivered.

total_latency_msinteger nullable

End-to-end accept → delivered time for the fastest delivered recipient, in milliseconds. Null until the first recipient is delivered.

open_countinteger required

Total open events across all recipients.

click_countinteger required

Total click events across all recipients.

requested_languagestring

A language tag in BCP-47 form, for example en or pt-BR.

resolved_languagestring

A language tag in BCP-47 form, for example en or pt-BR.

template_idstring
template_version_idstring
broadcast_idstring
metadataobject

Any JSON you kept on the message. We store it and hand it back in webhook payloads, and that is all it does. If you want to search or filter by it, use tags instead.

parametersobject nullable

The substitution values this send supplied, whether inline or from a template, or null if none were supplied. They are the values applied to subject and to the bodies the content endpoint returns, kept so you can see what produced the delivered copy and not only the result.

track_opensboolean required

Whether open tracking is enabled for this send.

track_clicksboolean required

Whether click tracking is enabled for this send.

created_atstring date-time required

When the send request was accepted.

thread_idstring nullable

Thread this message belongs to, or null when the message is not part of one.

in_reply_to_message_idstring
delivered_atstring date-time nullable

When all recipients reached a terminal delivered state, or null if not yet fully delivered.

scheduled_atstring date-time

When this message is scheduled to send, for a send created with a future send time. Absent for an immediate send. Stays set after the scheduled send fires.

Example response

{
  "id": "em_01krdgeqcxet5s7t44vh8rt9mg",
  "from": {
    "email": "onboarding@messagebird.dev",
    "name": "Bird"
  },
  "to": [
    {
      "email": "delivered@messagebird.dev"
    }
  ],
  "subject": "Hello from Bird",
  "category": "marketing",
  "status": "accepted",
  "broadcast_id": "eb_01krdgeqcxet5s7t44vh8rt9mg",
  "accepted_count": 1,
  "processed_count": 0,
  "delivered_count": 0,
  "bounced_count": 0,
  "complained_count": 0,
  "deferred_count": 0,
  "rejected_count": 0,
  "open_count": 0,
  "click_count": 0,
  "track_opens": false,
  "track_clicks": false,
  "created_at": "2026-07-01T12:00:00Z"
}

Changes

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