Scribble contacts API: create and list contacts

For developers

POST /api/v1/contacts creates or updates a contact, upserting on external_id so a nightly sync does not create duplicates. GET /api/v1/contacts lists the address book and filters by email or external id. An update replaces every field, so send the complete record every time.

On this page

#POST`/api/v1/contacts`

Create a contact, or replace one matched by external_id.

Requires scope contacts:write

Body parameters

Field	Type	Description
`external_id`	string	Your system's identifier. When present, Scribble updates the matching contact instead of creating a new one. Omit it and every call creates a duplicate.
`name`required	string	Or `first_name` and `last_name`. Given only `name`, the first word becomes the first name and the rest the last name.
`first_name`	string	Preferred over `name`.
`last_name`	string	Preferred over `name`.
`company`	string	Available as `{{company}}`.
`job_title`	string	Available as `{{job_title}}`.
`email`	string	Never mailed to. It is the key the do-not-mail list matches on.
`phone`	string	Stored, never used.
`address`	object	`line1`, `line2`, `city`, `state`, `zip`, `country`. State is upper-cased, country defaults to `US`.
`birthday`	string	`MM-DD` or `YYYY-MM-DD`. Only the month and day are stored, whatever you send.
`work_anniversary`	string	`YYYY-MM-DD`. The year is kept, because it is what makes `{{years}}` work.

Upsert a contact

curl -X POST https://scribblecards.com/api/v1/contacts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "external_id": "crm-8812",
    "first_name": "Priya",
    "last_name": "Raman",
    "email": "priya@northgate.example",
    "company": "Northgate",
    "job_title": "Head of People",
    "birthday": "1990-03-14",
    "work_anniversary": "2021-06-01",
    "address": {
      "line1": "1 Fifth Avenue",
      "line2": "Apt 12B",
      "city": "New York",
      "state": "ny",
      "zip": "10003"
    }
  }'

201 Created

{
  "id": "602dba69-aa5f-4d58-9e9c-2197bd33c5e6",
  "object": "contact",
  "external_id": "crm-8812",
  "name": "Priya Raman",
  "first_name": "Priya",
  "last_name": "Raman",
  "company": "Northgate",
  "job_title": "Head of People",
  "email": "priya@northgate.example",
  "address": {
    "line1": "1 Fifth Avenue",
    "line2": "Apt 12B",
    "city": "New York",
    "state": "NY",
    "zip": "10003",
    "country": "US",
    "status": "unverified"
  },
  "birthday": "03-14",
  "work_anniversary": "2021-06-01",
  "created_at": "2026-08-05T09:38:52.022303+00:00",
  "updated_at": "2026-08-05T09:38:52.022303+00:00"
}

201 on create, 200 on update. The contact id is stable across updates.
state is upper-cased for you: ny became NY in the response above.
birthday comes back as MM-DD. The year you sent was discarded.
address.status is always unverified. Scribble checks the shape of an address, not its deliverability. See address requirements.
phone is accepted but is not returned.
There is no matching on email, deliberately: two people who share an inbox would be silently merged, which is worse than a duplicate.

#GET`/api/v1/contacts`

List the address book, newest first.

Requires scope contacts:read

Query parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`limit`	integer	Default 50, maximum 200.
`email`	string	Case-insensitive exact match.
`external_id`	string	Exact match. This is the reconciliation query for a sync.

Read one contact back by your own id

curl "https://scribblecards.com/api/v1/contacts?external_id=crm-8812" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..."

200 OK

{
  "object": "list",
  "has_more": false,
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "602dba69-aa5f-4d58-9e9c-2197bd33c5e6",
      "object": "contact",
      "external_id": "crm-8812",
      "name": "Priya Raman",
      "first_name": "Priya",
      "last_name": "Raman",
      "company": "Northgate",
      "job_title": "Head of People",
      "email": "priya@northgate.example",
      "address": {
        "line1": "1 Fifth Avenue",
        "line2": "Apt 12B",
        "city": "New York",
        "state": "NY",
        "zip": "10003",
        "country": "US",
        "status": "unverified"
      },
      "birthday": "03-14",
      "work_anniversary": "2021-06-01",
      "created_at": "2026-08-05T09:38:52.022303+00:00",
      "updated_at": "2026-08-05T09:38:52.022303+00:00"
    }
  ]
}

#What the contacts API cannot do

Delete. contacts:write explicitly excludes deletion. Remove people from lists in the app, or add them to the do-not-mail list.
Manage lists. There is no list endpoint. Membership is managed in the app.
Fetch a single contact by id. Use GET /api/v1/contacts?external_id=….
Add someone to the do-not-mail list.

For the full sync recipe including rate limiting and reconciliation, see keeping contacts in sync.

Last checked against the product on 2026-08-05. Something wrong or missing? Tell us.