---
title: API Reference
description: Complete Plunk API documentation
---

## Base URL

```
{{API_URL}}
```

All API requests use this base URL.

## Authentication

Include your API key in the `Authorization` header:

```bash
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
```

- **Secret Key (sk_*)** — Required for all endpoints except `/v1/track`
- **Public Key (pk_*)** — Only works with `/v1/track` for client-side event tracking

## Making requests

### Send transactional email

```bash
curl -X POST {{API_URL}}/v1/send \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_your_secret_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "to": "user@example.com",
    "subject": "Hello",
    "body": "<p>Your message here</p>"
  }'
```

### Track event

```bash
curl -X POST {{API_URL}}/v1/track \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer pk_your_public_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "email": "user@example.com",
    "event": "signed_up"
  }'
```

### Create contact

```bash
curl -X POST {{API_URL}}/contacts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_your_secret_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "email": "user@example.com",
    "subscribed": true,
    "data": {
      "firstName": "John",
      "plan": "pro"
    }
  }'
```

## Response format

All API responses follow a standardized format for easy parsing and error handling.

### Success response

Public API endpoints (`/v1/send`, `/v1/track`):

```json
{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "contact": "cnt_abc123",
    "event": "evt_xyz789",
    "timestamp": "2025-11-30T10:30:00.000Z"
  }
}
```

Dashboard API endpoints (contacts, templates, campaigns):

```json
{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "id": "cnt_abc123",
    "email": "user@example.com",
    "createdAt": "2025-11-30T10:30:00.000Z"
  }
}
```

List endpoints with pagination:

```json
{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "items": [...],
    "nextCursor": "abc123",
    "hasMore": true,
    "total": 1000
  }
}
```

### Error response

All errors include detailed information to help you debug issues:

```json
{
  "success": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "VALIDATION_ERROR",
    "message": "Request validation failed",
    "statusCode": 422,
    "requestId": "f47ac10b-58cc-4372-a567-0e02b2c3d479",
    "errors": [
      {
        "field": "email",
        "message": "Invalid email",
        "code": "invalid_string"
      }
    ],
    "suggestion": "One or more fields have incorrect types. Check that strings are quoted, numbers are unquoted, and booleans are true/false."
  },
  "timestamp": "2025-11-30T10:30:00.000Z"
}
```

**Error fields:**
- `code` — Machine-readable error code for programmatic handling
- `message` — Human-readable description
- `statusCode` — HTTP status code
- `requestId` — Unique ID for debugging (include when contacting support)
- `errors` — Field-level validation details (when applicable)
- `suggestion` — Helpful guidance for fixing the error

See the [Error Codes documentation](/api-reference/errors) for complete details and examples.

## Pagination

List endpoints support cursor-based pagination:

```bash
GET /contacts?limit=100&cursor=abc123
```

**Parameters:**
- `limit` — Number of items per page (default: 20, max: 100)
- `cursor` — Pagination cursor from previous response

**Response:**
```json
{
  "items": [...],
  "nextCursor": "def456",
  "hasMore": true,
  "total": 10000
}
```

Use `nextCursor` for the next page. When `hasMore` is false, you've reached the end.

## Rate limits

Plunk enforces reasonable rate limits to ensure service quality:

- **Email sending** — 14 emails/second (AWS SES default)
- **API requests** — 1000 requests/minute per project
- **Bulk operations** — Automatically queued for processing

If you exceed limits, you'll receive a `429 Too Many Requests` response.

## Error codes

The API uses standard HTTP status codes along with machine-readable error codes:

**400 Bad Request** — Invalid request parameters or malformed request body

**401 Unauthorized** — Missing or invalid API key

**403 Forbidden** — Not authorized to access this resource or project disabled

**404 Not Found** — Resource doesn't exist

**422 Unprocessable Entity** — Request validation failed (see `errors` array for details)

**429 Too Many Requests** — Rate limit exceeded

**500 Internal Server Error** — An unexpected error occurred (contact support with request ID)

For a complete list of error codes and troubleshooting guidance, see the [Error Codes documentation](/api-reference/errors).

## API endpoints

### Public API (transactional)

**POST /v1/send** — Send transactional email(s)
- Accepts single or multiple recipients
- Template or inline content
- Variable substitution

**POST /v1/track** — Track event for contact
- Creates/updates contact
- Tracks custom event
- Can use public key

### Contacts

**GET /contacts** — List all contacts
**POST /contacts** — Create new contact
**GET /contacts/:id** — Get contact details
**PATCH /contacts/:id** — Update contact
**DELETE /contacts/:id** — Delete contact

### Templates

**GET /templates** — List all templates
**POST /templates** — Create new template
**GET /templates/:id** — Get template details
**PATCH /templates/:id** — Update template
**DELETE /templates/:id** — Delete template

### Campaigns

**GET /campaigns** — List all campaigns
**POST /campaigns** — Create new campaign
**GET /campaigns/:id** — Get campaign details
**PATCH /campaigns/:id** — Update campaign
**POST /campaigns/:id/send** — Send or schedule campaign
**POST /campaigns/:id/cancel** — Cancel scheduled campaign
**POST /campaigns/:id/test** — Send test email
**GET /campaigns/:id/stats** — Get campaign analytics

### Segments

**GET /segments** — List all segments
**POST /segments** — Create new segment
**GET /segments/:id** — Get segment details
**PATCH /segments/:id** — Update segment
**DELETE /segments/:id** — Delete segment
**GET /segments/:id/contacts** — List segment members

### Workflows

**GET /workflows** — List all workflows
**POST /workflows** — Create new workflow
**GET /workflows/:id** — Get workflow details
**PATCH /workflows/:id** — Update workflow
**DELETE /workflows/:id** — Delete workflow
**GET /workflows/:id/executions** — List workflow executions

### Events

**GET /events** — List all events
**GET /events/names** — List unique event names

### Domains

**GET /domains** — List verified domains
**POST /domains** — Add domain for verification
**DELETE /domains/:id** — Remove domain

## Client libraries

### Node.js

```javascript
const PLUNK_SECRET_KEY = process.env.PLUNK_SECRET_KEY;

async function sendEmail(to, subject, body) {
  const response = await fetch('{{API_URL}}/v1/send', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${PLUNK_SECRET_KEY}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ to, subject, body })
  });

  const data = await response.json();

  if (!data.success) {
    throw new Error(`[${data.error.code}] ${data.error.message}`);
  }

  return data.data;
}
```

### Python

```python
import os
import requests

PLUNK_SECRET_KEY = os.environ['PLUNK_SECRET_KEY']

def send_email(to, subject, body):
    response = requests.post(
        '{{API_URL}}/v1/send',
        headers={
            'Authorization': f'Bearer {PLUNK_SECRET_KEY}',
            'Content-Type': 'application/json'
        },
        json={'to': to, 'subject': subject, 'body': body}
    )

    data = response.json()

    if not data.get('success'):
        error = data['error']
        raise Exception(f"[{error['code']}] {error['message']}")

    return data['data']
```

### cURL

```bash
curl -X POST {{API_URL}}/v1/send \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PLUNK_SECRET_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"to": "user@example.com", "subject": "Hello", "body": "Message"}'
```

## What's next

- [Send your first email](/getting-started/quick-start)
- [View detailed endpoint docs](/api-reference/public-api)
- [Check error codes](/api-reference/errors)