mailtrap/managing-contacts

Managing Mailtrap contacts

Overview

Before generating API request bodies: check the Contacts OpenAPI spec for current field names, required parameters, and nested structures.

Contacts are the marketing database: lists, segments, custom fields, and imports for campaign audiences and related workflows. The Contacts API automates create/update and can feed CRM or CDP sync (your code, or tools like Zapier, Make, n8n — see Import contacts).

Suppressions (hard bounces, spam complaints, unsubscribes on the sending side) live in the sending product and block delivery for those addresses on your streams. That is applied separately from marketing filters (segments, list membership, consent flags) that decide who is eligible for campaigns. For sending-side blocks, see Suppressions and skill sending-emails.

Related skills: authorizing-api-requests (tokens, env vars, account_id resolution), sending-emails (live send paths).

When to use

• Programmatic contact management (create, update, bulk import)
• Sync with CRMs or data warehouses
• Contact list cleanup and CSV import
• Updating contacts with custom fields or firing custom events for automations
• Segments and custom fields for audience building

Authorization

All endpoints below need Authorization: Bearer $MAILTRAP_API_TOKEN and an $MAILTRAP_ACCOUNT_ID in the path. See skill authorizing-api-requests for token scope, storage, and the one-liner that resolves $MAILTRAP_ACCOUNT_ID from GET https://mailtrap.io/api/accounts.

Endpoints (replace placeholders)

| Action | Method | URL | Reference | | -------------------------------------- | ------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Create / get / update / delete contact | various | https://mailtrap.io/api/accounts/$MAILTRAP_ACCOUNT_ID/contacts | Contacts | | Bulk import (async job) | POST | https://mailtrap.io/api/accounts/$MAILTRAP_ACCOUNT_ID/contacts/imports | Bulk import | | Contact lists | various | https://mailtrap.io/api/accounts/$MAILTRAP_ACCOUNT_ID/contacts/lists | Contact lists | | Custom fields | various | https://mailtrap.io/api/accounts/$MAILTRAP_ACCOUNT_ID/contacts/fields | Contact fields | | Custom events | POST | https://mailtrap.io/api/accounts/$MAILTRAP_ACCOUNT_ID/contacts/{contact_identifier}/events | Contact events | | Export contacts | various | https://mailtrap.io/api/accounts/$MAILTRAP_ACCOUNT_ID/contacts/exports | Export contacts |

• Rate limit (typical): 200 requests per 60 seconds per account — prefer bulk import for large loads.
• Bulk import limit: up to 50,000 contacts per import request (async job); poll import status with GET .../contacts/imports/{import_id}. See Bulk import.

Examples (curl)

Single contact create (with custom fields)

curl -X POST "https://mailtrap.io/api/accounts/$MAILTRAP_ACCOUNT_ID/contacts" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $MAILTRAP_API_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "contact": {
      "email": "[email protected]",
      "fields": {"first_name": "John", "last_name": "Smith", "company": "Example Inc"},
      "list_ids": [1, 2, 3]
    }
  }'

Bulk import (array of contacts)

curl -X POST "https://mailtrap.io/api/accounts/$MAILTRAP_ACCOUNT_ID/contacts/imports" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $MAILTRAP_API_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "contacts": [
      {"email": "[email protected]", "fields": {"first_name": "John"}, "list_ids_included": [1, 2]},
      {"email": "[email protected]", "fields": {"first_name": "Jane"}, "list_ids_included": [1]}
    ]
  }'

Custom event (event name + payload)

curl -X POST "https://mailtrap.io/api/accounts/$MAILTRAP_ACCOUNT_ID/contacts/{contact_identifier}/events" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $MAILTRAP_API_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"name": "UserLogin", "params": {"user_id": 101, "is_active": true}}'

Concepts

• Lists — explicitly defined list of contacts.
• Segments — dynamic groups; see Segments.
• Custom fields — properties like first and last name or membership level; see Custom fields.
• Custom events — POST .../events with an event name and params object for automations.

CRM and sync

• API: suitable for real-time or scheduled sync from your CRM or database.
• No-code: Zapier, Make.com, n8n per Import contacts – third-party tools.

Campaigns use case

Contacts power marketing campaigns: you maintain clean lists, consent, and attributes here; campaign authoring and scheduling are product features documented in Campaigns.

Common mistakes

| Mistake | Fix | | --------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Hitting rate limits with one-by-one creates | Use /contacts/imports for bulk loads (respect 50k per request) and backoff | | Treating marketing contacts as sending suppressions | Use Suppressions for blocked recipients on send streams |