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What are Scribble's address requirements?

Use a US address with a recipient name, street line, city, two-letter state and ZIP or ZIP+4. Scribble checks the format; it does not verify that mail can be delivered there.

On this page

#The rules, exactly

Address field rules
FieldRuleRejected example
NameNon-empty.(blank)
Line 1Non-empty street line.(blank)
Line 2Optional.—
CityNon-empty.(blank)
StateExactly two characters, a US state or territory code.New York, Calif.
ZIP12345 or 12345-6789.1000, NW1 6XE
CountryUS (default). Anything else is not mailed.GB

#What happens to a bad address

  1. At import

    The row is flagged in triage with a message that says what to do — Add a street address, Use the two-letter code — and offers to fix what it can.

  2. At the API boundary

    POST /api/v1/cards returns 422 invalid_recipient and names the missing fields. Nothing is created and nothing is charged.

  3. At production

    Anything that gets past both lands as Held with a plain-language reason, and is never written. A held card costs no credit.

    You’ll know it worked when The card appears under Sent cards → Needs you with a reason like No street address. or "1000" is not a US ZIP code.

Held reasons you will see
ReasonMeaning
No recipient name.The name field was empty.
No street address.Line 1 was empty.
No city.City was empty.
No state.State was empty.
No ZIP code.ZIP was empty.
"…" is not a US ZIP code.ZIP was present but not five digits or ZIP+4.
There is nothing to write on this card.The message and the inside layout were both empty, so the pen would have had nothing to do.

#The return address

Set a return address before sending. It gives undeliverable mail a way back to you. Choose the correct saved address in the sending form; see return addresses.

#Common questions

Can Scribble mail internationally?
No. Every address is validated as a US address, and a non-US country code is not accepted through campaigns, automations or the API.
Can Scribble mail to a PO box?
A PO box passes validation as a street line, and USPS delivers to PO boxes, so it works. It is not separately validated.
Will Scribble tell me if an address is undeliverable?
Not before mailing, because nothing verifies deliverability today. We do not track delivery either, so the signal you have is a card coming back to your return address — which is why having one on file matters.
What about apartment numbers?
Put them in line 2 if you have a separate column, or on the end of line 1. Both are written on the envelope.

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