Upsert a contact
Creates or updates a contact by email. attributes are shallow-merged onto any existing attributes.
bearerAuth writeAuthorizationBearer <token>An API key from the dashboard under Settings → API keys, sent as Authorization: Bearer aem_….
Authorization has two independent axes.
The scope is ranked — a key satisfies any requirement at or below its own tier:
read— see messages, contacts and metrics. Changes nothing, and cannot send.write— everythingreaddoes, plus managing templates, contacts, automations, segments and suppressions. This is what editing a template needs.admin— everythingwritedoes, plus sending configuration: domains, senders, webhook registration, kill switch, daily cap, brand.
There is no approve scope. It was a rung once; it is not one now, and a key requested with it is rejected.
The approval grant (can_approve) is a separate boolean, not a rung. Delivering mail to a real inbox needs write and the grant. Keeping them on separate axes is what makes the review gate a control rather than a convention: a key that may propose is not automatically a key that may approve its own proposal.
Give your application the lowest tier that works. Most need write and the grant — the dashboard mints that combination as Send + manage; Manage only is the same rung with the grant withheld.
Scope: write
application/json- body
email*stringContact's email address (the identity key).
^(?:[A-Za-z0-9_'+\-]+\.)*[A-Za-z0-9_'+\-]*[A-Za-z0-9_+-]@(?:[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9\-]*\.)+[A-Za-z]{2,}$emailexternal_id?stringYour own stable id for this contact.
1 <= length <= 255attributes?Custom attributes. Shallow-merged onto any existing attributes.
tags?array<>Label set for the contact (replaces the existing set when provided). Segments/automations match tags with the contains operator on contact.tags.
items <= 50Existing contact updated.
application/json- response
id*stringcreated*booleantrue if a new contact was created, false if an existing one was updated.
curl -X POST 'https://sendandretain.com/api/v1/contacts' \ -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \ -d '{ "email": "[email protected]", "external_id": "user_8f21", "attributes": { "plan": "Pro", "firstName": "Jane" }}'{ "id": "ct_7Kd2", "created": false}