> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL. > For a complete documentation index, see https://developers.brevo.com/llms.txt. > For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://developers.brevo.com/_mcp/server. ## What is inbound parsing? Receiving email is harder for developers than sending it, because there's no easy way to retrieve the actual message from unstructured incoming emails. Developers commonly describe processing incoming emails as "a real pain" or "a headache". This leads to poor user experiences when emails meant to be replied to (for example, messages from buyers on a marketplace) come from a no-reply address and feature a "Reply" button that pushes the user into a cumbersome reply flow on an app or website. ## Inbound parsing at Brevo Brevo's parsing technology comes from the acquisition of MailClark, whose technology has converted millions of unstructured emails into formatted chat messages since 2015. Using algorithms and machine learning, the actual message and signatures are extracted from raw emails and converted into Markdown. Emails are received and processed on our end, then delivered to you as a structured JSON payload (described in the next chapter) via a webhook. ## Setting up your Inbound parsing webhook ### Preparing your domain For the setup, determine two things first: * The **receiving domain** (or subdomain) for the emails to be parsed. It must differ from the domain used for sending email. We recommend creating a subdomain such as `reply.yourdomain.com`. * The **webhook URL** that Brevo will call to send events when an inbound email has been parsed. Make sure your domain is [verified with Brevo](https://help.sendinblue.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000185270). Next, delegate the receiving domain to Brevo. Update your DNS configuration for `reply.yourdomain.com` so emails sent to this domain are received on Brevo servers. Add the following two records: | Record domain | Record Type | Record Priority | Record value | | :--------------------- | :---------- | :-------------- | :------------------------- | | `reply.yourdomain.com` | MX | 10 | `inbound1.sendinblue.com.` | | `reply.yourdomain.com` | MX | 20 | `inbound2.sendinblue.com.` | DNS changes can take several hours to propagate, so apply this configuration as early as possible. ### Creating the webhook The same endpoints used to [create, get, update and delete webhooks](/reference/get-webhooks) for Marketing and Transactional events also manage Inbound parsing webhooks. The differences compared to events-related webhooks, shown in the sample POST request below, are: * Use `inbound` for `type` and `inboundEmailProcessed` for `events` * Specify your receiving `domain` ```json POST https://api.brevo.com/v3/webhooks //example { "type": "inbound", "events": ["inboundEmailProcessed"], "url":"https://hook.znapi.cc/ix0v9y", //Your ingress "domain": "reply.yourdomain.com", "description":"Webhook to receive replies" } ``` With this configuration, any email sent to `*@reply.yourdomain.com` is received by our API, parsed, converted to JSON, and POSTed to `http://example.domain.com/1brxxxxxx5p1`. ## Parsed email payload The JSON body contains a top-level `items` array listing the received emails. Each email has the following properties: | Inbound email property | Data type | Description | | ---------------------------- | ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `Uuid` | string\[] | A list of recipients `UUID` (can be used with the [Public API](#future-public-api-endpoints)) | | `MessageId` | string | The `Message-ID` header of the inbound email. | | `InReplyTo` | ?string | `Message-ID` of the original email this one replies to (if applicable) | | `From` | Mailbox | Author of the email (the person who sent it) | | `To` | Mailbox\[] | The primary recipients of the email | | `Recipients` | Mailbox\[] | RCPT TO recipients | | `Cc` | Mailbox\[] | The secondary/informational recipients of the email | | `ReplyTo` | ?Mailbox | Where replies to this email should be sent (if different than the author in the `From` property) | | `SentAtDate` | string | The `Date` header of the inbound email (format should be RFC822) | | `Subject` | string | The `Subject` header of the inbound email | | `RawHtmlBody` | ?string | The HTML version of the inbound email | | `RawTextBody` | ?string | The text version of the inbound email | | `ExtractedMarkdownMessage` | string | The markdown version that was extracted by the Brevo parsing (without the signature) | | `ExtractedMarkdownSignature` | ?string | The signature that was recognized by the Brevo parsing | | `Spam.Score` | float | Spam is an object with a Score property. It is calculating using *rspamd* (it's not extracted from the headers). | | `Attachments` | Attachment\[] | The list of attachments included in the inbound email. | | `Headers` | array of string or \[]string | The complete headers list of the inbound email. Headers that appear once will be sent as a `string`. Headers that appear multiple times will be sent as an array of `string[]` | ### The Mailbox object | Mailbox property | Data type | Description | | :--------------- | :-------- | :-------------------------- | | `Address` | string | Email address of the person | | `Name` | ?string | Name of the person | ### The Attachment object Use the `DownloadToken`(see below) to [retrieve attachments using this endpoint](/reference/get-inbound-email-attachment). | Attachment property | Data type | Description | | :------------------ | :-------- | :--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `Name` | string | Name of the attachment | | `ContentType` | string | Content-Type of the attachment | | `ContentLength` | integer | Estimated size of the attachment | | `ContentID` | string | ID used to reference the content in the HTML version (if applicable, e.g. inline images) | | `DownloadToken` | string | Token needed to fetch the attachment | ### Sample payload ```json Webhook JSON payload { "items": [ { "Uuid": [ "1a825d56-029b-4a41-b8e4-61670463431b" ], "MessageId": "", "InReplyTo": "", "From": { "Name": "Antoine Lefeuvre", "Address": "antoine@mailclark.ai" }, "To": [ { "Name": "Terry Estill", "Address": "test@clubble.me" } ], "Recipients": [ "test-2023-08-02@sib-inbound.esperat.fr" ], "Cc": [], "ReplyTo": null, "SentAtDate": "Tue, 1 Sep 2020 09:53:21 +0200", "Subject": "Re: Summer brochure 2021", "RawHtmlBody": "
Hi Terry,
Nice to hear from you, I hope you're well.
Sure, our summer brochure is already out \ud83d\ude0e! I've attached it together with our winter brochure\u00a0<\/b>\u26c4.

I've heard you're a massive fan of rubber ducks<\/a>, so I wanted to share with you this picture I took this summer. Amazing, eh?<\/i>
\"duck1.png\"
<\/div>
Any questions (about the brochures, not the ducks \ud83d\ude1c), I'd\u00a0be happy to help.

Speak soon,\u00a0\u00a0
Antoine Lefeuvre<\/b>
Co-founder & Product Manager at MailClark<\/a>
antoine@mailclark.ai<\/a>
Twitter<\/a> LinkedIn<\/a>
Sent with MailClark<\/i>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
On Tue, 1 Sep 2020 at 09:43, Terry Estill <test@clubble.me<\/a>> wrote:
<\/div>
\n \n \n \n
\n

Hi there, I hope things with you are good.
\n
\n I was wondering whether your brochure for the summer next year was\n already available. I'm willing to start planning asap.
\n
\n Best,
\n <\/p>\n

--
\n Terry Estill<\/strong>\u2014Cofounder & CEO
\n The Wheat Assembly - Le Club Bl\u00e9<\/em>
\n test@clubble.me<\/a>
\n www.clubble.me<\/a><\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n", "RawTextBody": "Hi Terry,\nNice to hear from you, I hope you're well.\nSure, our summer brochure is already out \ud83d\ude0e! I've attached it *together\nwith our winter brochure *\u26c4.\n\nI've heard you're a massive fan of rubber ducks\n, so I wanted to share\nwith you this picture I took this summer. *Amazing, eh?*\n[image: duck1.png]\n\nAny questions (about the brochures, not the ducks \ud83d\ude1c), I'd be happy to help.\n\nSpeak soon,\n*Antoine Lefeuvre*\nCo-founder & Product Manager at MailClark \nantoine@mailclark.ai\nTwitter LinkedIn\n\n*Sent with MailClark*\n\n\nOn Tue, 1 Sep 2020 at 09:43, Terry Estill wrote:\n\n> Hi there, I hope things with you are good.\n>\n> I was wondering whether your brochure for the summer next year was already\n> available. I'm willing to start planning asap.\n>\n> Best,\n> --\n> *Terry Estill*\u2014Cofounder & CEO\n> *The Wheat Assembly - Le Club Bl\u00e9*\n> test@clubble.me\n> www.clubble.me\n>\n", "ExtractedMarkdownMessage": "Hi Terry, \nNice to hear from you, I hope you're well. \nSure, our summer brochure is already out \ud83d\ude0e! I've attached it **together with our winter brochure**\u00a0\u26c4. \n\nI've heard you're a massive fan of [rubber ducks](https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rubber_duck_debugging), so I wanted to share with you this picture I took this summer. *Amazing, eh?* \n\n[duck1.png](ii_kejngtlh0) \n\nAny questions (about the brochures, not the ducks \ud83d\ude1c), I'd\u00a0be happy to help. \n\nSpeak soon,\u00a0\u00a0 \n", "ExtractedMarkdownSignature": "**Antoine Lefeuvre** \nCo-founder & Product Manager at [MailClark](https:\/\/mailclark.ai) \n[antoine@mailclark.ai](mailto:antoine@mailclark.ai) \n[Twitter](https:\/\/twitter.com\/jiraisurfer) [LinkedIn](https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/lefeuvre) \n*Sent with MailClark*", "SpamScore": 3.3, "Attachments": [ { "Name": "duck1.png", "ContentType": "image\/png", "ContentLength": 330518, "ContentID": "ii_kejngtlh0", "DownloadToken": "abc" }, { "Name": "summer2021.pdf", "ContentType": "application\/pdf", "ContentLength": 168910, "ContentID": "f_kejnjyug1", "DownloadToken": "def" }, { "Name": "winter2020-2021.pdf", "ContentType": "application\/pdf", "ContentLength": 113007, "ContentID": "f_kejnjyv02", "DownloadToken": "xyz" } ], "Headers": { "Return-Path": "", "Delivered-To": "test@clubble.me", "Received": [ "from spool.mail.gandi.net (spool5.mail.gandi.net [217.70.178.214]) by nmboxes20.sd4.0x35.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7115220256 for ; Tue, 1 Sep 2020 07:53:43 +0000 (UTC)", "from sender4-of-o51.zoho.com (sender4-of-o51.zoho.com [136.143.188.51]) by spool.mail.gandi.net (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 4B618D80F65 for ; Tue, 1 Sep 2020 07:53:41 +0000 (UTC)", "from mail-ot1-f42.google.com (mail-ot1-f42.google.com [209.85.210.42]) by mx.zohomail.com with SMTPS id 1598946814954566.0226921077056; Tue, 1 Sep 2020 00:53:34 -0700 (PDT)", "by mail-ot1-f42.google.com with SMTP id a65so390247otc.8 for ; Tue, 01 Sep 2020 00:53:34 -0700 (PDT)" ], "ARC-Seal": "i=1; a=rsa-sha256; t=1598946818; cv=none; d=zohomail.com; s=zohoarc; b=A7jKTJCD9ieoEKAPtoZpyxtuJQp8ek0cIqCbf2HUvJkkVYmXIhI6jiLtYaR6Sm0Et5r\/E5vFPowt6RjFtWaDaz7UoW9CIiePJkEkGHgHhQ343s2IUWlADGGsCEPskwCvlJvn3tVSiABgQLIsf6FaqfkDZEOYtejRC786Jlb8eT8=", "ARC-Message-Signature": "i=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed\/relaxed; d=zohomail.com; s=zohoarc; t=1598946818; h=Content-Type:Date:From:In-Reply-To:MIME-Version:Message-ID:References:Subject:To; bh=CgBV\/y5azQ9uDe+uFDrdGKiTQx6DwkxdL1XwOip9ZEU=; b=XuCp2CYwXDNo5dDdBML4beYI+IUT4+81Pr78RmDWpoaQfumm22YX3TF2tjITVtYnqmUDbLUoR4bBmPgrPIUWxsOc+omLlpg2FyjXO8Xyw\/MCazKZhrUuHaIvsMbV\/QOZLavGITgKtTVw8iMg2M1hVz8Ay8VKqG\/oFkbJxbzdZh8=", "ARC-Authentication-Results": "i=1; mx.zohomail.com; dkim=pass header.i=mailclark.ai; spf=pass smtp.mailfrom=antoine@mailclark.ai; dmarc=pass header.from= header.from=", "DKIM-Signature": "v=1; a=rsa-sha256; q=dns\/txt; c=relaxed\/relaxed; t=1598946818; s=zoho; d=mailclark.ai; i=antoine@mailclark.ai; h=MIME-Version:References:In-Reply-To:From:Date:Message-ID:Subject:To:Content-Type; bh=CgBV\/y5azQ9uDe+uFDrdGKiTQx6DwkxdL1XwOip9ZEU=; b=i4YJj1RFryuXbHDh8E9oKZv3+e6Kzat5oAxwuLZV4w\/t2b1rTBP\/qGMArXvuSRAz lNZvfJj4Kf7VD7nQMRrm8EdXGyuWPvVfjBU9PQjFs\/6GkANzLJW5PGGXZrlDXFIpiHH e5tmnYmFSfplAMsyZokpm5oDjT2whR34YZCGcUOg=", "X-Gm-Message-State": "AOAM530ChFmHzQDIPhTYzy4S5fs4ciUbgttaJYjt92mK62LXV52RGa7h zEkGPJ3KsDnCA7b9DrENpVFt\/zojNvW+Ha4nVbU=", "X-Google-Smtp-Source": "ABdhPJxFuLbNc8G\/rGIwkCPsDITPakKQW3VZe3+48by7auFyBNSjppLNydYymK21mcORQgOG5fYNeJkXu3+EPkerxj0=", "X-Received": "by 2002:a9d:58c8:: with SMTP id s8mr541588oth.292.1598946813444; Tue, 01 Sep 2020 00:53:33 -0700 (PDT)", "MIME-Version": "1.0", "References": "", "In-Reply-To": "", "From": "Antoine Lefeuvre ", "Date": "Tue, 1 Sep 2020 09:53:21 +0200", "X-Gmail-Original-Message-ID": "", "Message-ID": "", "Subject": "Re: Summer brochure 2021", "To": "Terry Estill ", "Content-Type": "multipart\/mixed", "X-Zoho-Virus-Status": "1", "X-ZohoMailClient": "External", "X-GND-Status": "LEGIT", "Received-SPF": "pass (spool5: domain of mailclark.ai designates 136.143.188.51 as permitted sender) client-ip=136.143.188.51; envelope-from=antoine@mailclark.ai; helo=sender4-of-o51.zoho.com;" } } ] } ``` ## Logs and inbound email parsing activity Two endpoints let you access logs and monitor inbound parsing activity: 1. [List and filter received emails by date and/or sender](/reference/get-inbound-email-events) via your Inbound parsing webhook. 2. [Get full details for a particular email](/reference/get-inbound-email-events-by-uuid) received via your Inbound parsing webhook. ## Ongoing improvement Given the diversity of email apps, languages, and formatting, a 100% success rate on inbound parsing is impossible. We continuously improve the parsing engine, and you can contribute by reporting parsing failures. Depending on the cause of the parsing failure, we may or may not be able to correct a given error. For example, if quoted replies aren't stripped because an email app uses an unusual format, we can integrate that format into our algorithm and fix the issue once the parsing engine is updated. On the other hand, if a segment is wrongly identified as a signature, we may not be able to correct that specific case because signature detection uses machine learning. Your failure reports still help our data scientists fine-tune what they "teach" the model. Send your failure report to contact at brevo.com with the following details: * **Subject line: Inbound Parsing API Failure** * JSON payload (or relevant excerpt of the payload + UUID) * Reason for failure: * Quoted replies not removed from `ExtractedMarkdownMessage` * Signature not removed `ExtractedMarkdownMessage` * Truncated `ExtractedMarkdownMessage` * Truncated or empty `ExtractedMarkdownSignature` * Message content wrongly detected as `ExtractedMarkdownSignature`