---
title: "Create an email suppression"
method: POST
path: "/v1/email/suppressions"
tags: ["email-suppressions"]
---

# Create an email suppression

`POST /v1/email/suppressions`

## Request

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

Adds an email address to the suppression list, stopping all email to it. The record is created with reason `manual` and blocks every message category, including transactional.

Adding is idempotent: a `201` means a new record was created, and a `200` means a `manual` suppression for the address already existed and is returned unchanged. An address suppressed for another reason (for example `hard_bounce`) gets a separate `manual` record, and delivery stays blocked until every blocking record is removed.

## Headers

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

## Request body

- SuppressionCreate
  - `email` string, email, required: The address to stop sending to. Normalized before storage and matching: lowercased and trimmed of surrounding whitespace.

## Response `200`

A manual suppression for this address already existed. The existing record is returned.

- Suppression
  - `id` string, required
  - `email` string, email, required: The suppressed address, stored lowercase.
  - `scope` SuppressionScope, required
    - `type` 'workspace' | 'category' | 'audience' | 'topic' | 'contact' | 'domain', required: How widely the email suppression applies. Responses use `workspace`. The values `category`, `audience`, `topic`, `contact`, and `domain` are reserved and have no records. The record's `applies_to` field determines which message categories are blocked.
    - `id` string, required: Public ID or alias of the scoped resource. For workspace scope, this is the workspace ID.
  - `reason` string, required: Why the address is suppressed: - `hard_bounce`: A delivery permanently failed. - `complaint`: The recipient reported a message as spam. - `manual`: Added through the API or dashboard. - `unsubscribe`: The recipient opted out. Deprecated, and no new record carries it: an opt-out is a messaging preference rather than a suppression. Legacy records remain visible until they are moved to messaging preferences. An address can hold one record per reason. This list grows over time. Treat unknown values as informational rather than rejecting the record.
  - `origin` string, required: How the suppression came to exist: - `bounce_event`: Created automatically from a hard bounce. - `complaint_event`: Created from a spam complaint. - `api_key`: Added through the API with an API key. - `user`: Added by a user in the dashboard. - `unsubscribe_event`: The mailbox provider reported an opt-out. Deprecated with `reason: unsubscribe`. - `unsubscribe_link`: The recipient used a Bird unsubscribe link. Deprecated with `reason: unsubscribe`. This list grows over time. Treat unknown values as informational rather than rejecting the record.
  - `applies_to` string, required: Which sends the suppression blocks. - `all`: blocks every message category, including transactional. - `non_transactional`: blocks marketing but allows transactional messages. A recipient who complained can therefore still receive mail such as password resets. - `category`: scopes the block to a preference category and blocks every category until one is set. This list grows over time, and any value other than `non_transactional` blocks every category, so treat an unknown value as blocking the send.
  - `source_email_id` string
  - `source_recipient_id` string
  - `created_at` string, date-time, required: When the address was suppressed.

## Other responses

- `201`: Suppression created.
- `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
- `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/6dfce1179799?raw)