Brevo Email Marketing API

Manage contacts, send emails, and automate marketing via Brevo's REST API.

Authentication

bash

BREVO_KEY=$(cat ~/.config/brevo/api_key)

All requests require header: api-key: $BREVO_KEY

Base URL

code

https://api.brevo.com/v3

Common Endpoints

Contacts

Action	Method	Endpoint
Create contact	POST	`/contacts`
Get contact	GET	`/contacts/{email}`
Update contact	PUT	`/contacts/{email}`
Delete contact	DELETE	`/contacts/{email}`
List contacts	GET	`/contacts?limit=50&offset=0`
Get blacklisted	GET	`/contacts?emailBlacklisted=true`

Lists

Action	Method	Endpoint
Get all lists	GET	`/contacts/lists`
Create list	POST	`/contacts/lists`
Get list contacts	GET	`/contacts/lists/{listId}/contacts`
Add to list	POST	`/contacts/lists/{listId}/contacts/add`
Remove from list	POST	`/contacts/lists/{listId}/contacts/remove`

Emails

Action	Method	Endpoint
Send transactional	POST	`/smtp/email`
Send campaign	POST	`/emailCampaigns`
Get templates	GET	`/smtp/templates`

Examples

Create/Update Contact

bash

curl -X POST "https://api.brevo.com/v3/contacts" \
  -H "api-key: $BREVO_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "email": "user@example.com",
    "listIds": [10],
    "updateEnabled": true,
    "attributes": {
      "NOMBRE": "John",
      "APELLIDOS": "Doe"
    }
  }'

Get Contact Info

bash

curl "https://api.brevo.com/v3/contacts/user@example.com" \
  -H "api-key: $BREVO_KEY"

Update Contact Attributes

bash

curl -X PUT "https://api.brevo.com/v3/contacts/user@example.com" \
  -H "api-key: $BREVO_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "listIds": [10, 15],
    "attributes": {
      "CUSTOM_FIELD": "value"
    }
  }'

Send Transactional Email

bash

curl -X POST "https://api.brevo.com/v3/smtp/email" \
  -H "api-key: $BREVO_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "sender": {"name": "My App", "email": "noreply@example.com"},
    "to": [{"email": "user@example.com", "name": "John"}],
    "subject": "Welcome!",
    "htmlContent": "<p>Hello {{params.name}}</p>",
    "params": {"name": "John"}
  }'

Send with Template

bash

curl -X POST "https://api.brevo.com/v3/smtp/email" \
  -H "api-key: $BREVO_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "to": [{"email": "user@example.com"}],
    "templateId": 34,
    "params": {
      "NOMBRE": "John",
      "FECHA": "2026-02-01"
    }
  }'

List All Contact Lists

bash

curl "https://api.brevo.com/v3/contacts/lists?limit=50" \
  -H "api-key: $BREVO_KEY"

Add Contacts to List (Bulk)

bash

curl -X POST "https://api.brevo.com/v3/contacts/lists/10/contacts/add" \
  -H "api-key: $BREVO_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "emails": ["user1@example.com", "user2@example.com"]
  }'

Safe Import Pattern

When importing contacts, always respect unsubscribes:

python

import requests

BREVO_KEY = "your-api-key"
HEADERS = {'api-key': BREVO_KEY, 'Content-Type': 'application/json'}
BASE = 'https://api.brevo.com/v3'

def get_blacklisted():
    """Get all unsubscribed/blacklisted emails"""
    blacklisted = set()
    offset = 0
    while True:
        r = requests.get(
            f'{BASE}/contacts?limit=100&offset={offset}&emailBlacklisted=true',
            headers=HEADERS
        )
        contacts = r.json().get('contacts', [])
        if not contacts:
            break
        for c in contacts:
            blacklisted.add(c['email'].lower())
        offset += 100
    return blacklisted

def safe_import(emails, list_id):
    """Import contacts respecting unsubscribes"""
    blacklisted = get_blacklisted()
    
    for email in emails:
        if email.lower() in blacklisted:
            print(f"Skipped (unsubscribed): {email}")
            continue
        
        r = requests.post(f'{BASE}/contacts', headers=HEADERS, json={
            'email': email,
            'listIds': [list_id],
            'updateEnabled': True
        })
        
        if r.status_code in [200, 201, 204]:
            print(f"Imported: {email}")
        else:
            print(f"Error: {email} - {r.text[:50]}")

Contact Attributes

Brevo uses custom attributes for contact data:

json

{
  "attributes": {
    "NOMBRE": "John",
    "APELLIDOS": "Doe",
    "FECHA_ALTA": "2026-01-15",
    "PLAN": "premium",
    "CUSTOM_FIELD": "any value"
  }
}

Create attributes in Brevo dashboard: Contacts → Settings → Contact attributes.

Response Codes

Code	Meaning
200	Success (GET)
201	Created (POST)
204	Success, no content (PUT/DELETE)
400	Bad request (check payload)
401	Invalid API key
404	Contact/resource not found

Best Practices

•Always check blacklist before importing contacts
•Use updateEnabled: true to update existing contacts instead of failing
•Use templates for consistent transactional emails
•Batch operations when adding many contacts to lists
•Store list IDs in config, not hardcoded
•Log imports for audit trail

Automations

Brevo automations trigger on:

•Contact added to list
•Contact attribute updated
•Email opened/clicked
•Custom events via API

Trigger automation manually:

bash

curl -X POST "https://api.brevo.com/v3/contacts/import" \
  -H "api-key: $BREVO_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "listIds": [10],
    "emailBlacklist": false,
    "updateExistingContacts": true,
    "emptyContactsAttributes": false,
    "jsonBody": [
      {"email": "user@example.com", "attributes": {"NOMBRE": "John"}}
    ]
  }'

Useful Queries

bash

# Count contacts in list
curl "https://api.brevo.com/v3/contacts/lists/10" -H "api-key: $BREVO_KEY" | jq '.totalSubscribers'

# Get recent contacts
curl "https://api.brevo.com/v3/contacts?limit=10&sort=desc" -H "api-key: $BREVO_KEY"

# Check if email exists
curl "https://api.brevo.com/v3/contacts/user@example.com" -H "api-key: $BREVO_KEY"

# Get account info
curl "https://api.brevo.com/v3/account" -H "api-key: $BREVO_KEY"