# Create a message

## Example Request & Response


```curl
$ curl https://api.intercom.io/messages \-X POST \-H 'Authorization:Bearer <Your access token>' \-H 'Accept: application/json' \-H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d{  "message_type": "email",  "subject": "Hey",  "body": "Ponies, cute small horses or something more sinister?",  "template": "plain",  "from": {    "type": "admin",    "id": "394051"  },  "to": {    "type": "user",    "id": "536e564f316c83104c000020"  }}
```


```curl
HTTP/1.1 200 OK{  "type": "admin_message",  "id": "2001",  "created_at": 1401916877,  "message_type": "email",  "subject" : "Hey",  "body" : "Ponies, cute small horses or something more sinister?",  "template": "plain",  "owner": {    "email": "email@example.com",    "id": "394051",    "name": "Wash",    "type": "admin"  }}
```


```ruby
intercom.messages.create(  :message_type => 'email',  :subject  => 'This Land',  :body     => "Har har har! Mine is an evil laugh!",  :template => "plain", # or "personal",  :from => {    :type => "admin",    :id   => "394051"  },  :to => {    :type => "user",    :id => "536e564f316c83104c000020"  })
```


```php
<?php$intercom->messages->create([    "message_type" => "email",    "subject" => "Plato Quote",    "body" => "And what, Socrates, is the food of the soul?",    "from" => [        "type" => "admin",        "id" => "814860"    ],    "to" => [        "type" => "user",        "email" => "socrates@email.com"    ]]);?>
```


```java
User user = new User()  .setId("5310d8e8598c9a0b24000005");Admin admin = new Admin()  .setId("394051");AdminMessage adminMessage = new AdminMessage()  .setAdmin(admin)  .setUser(user)  .setSubject("This Land")  .setBody("Har har har! Mine is an evil laugh!")  .setMessageType("email")  .setTemplate("plain"); // or personalConversation.create(adminMessage);
```

You can create a message that has been initiated by an admin. The conversation can be either an in-app message or an email.

Delay after contact creation
There can be a short delay between when a contact is created and when a contact becomes available to be messaged through the API. A `404 Not Found` error will be returned in this case.

### Request Body Parameters

| Parameter | Type | Required? | Description |
|  --- | --- | --- | --- |
| message_type | String | Yes | The kind of message being created. Values: `inapp` or `email` |
| subject | String | Yes, if `message_type: email`. | The title of the email. |
| body | String | Yes | The content of the message.[Limited HTML](https://developerblog.intercom.com/how-to-send-html-emails-with-the-intercom-conversations-api-748eb2784b1) and plaintext are supported. |
| template | String | Yes, if `message_type: email`. | The style of the outgoing message.Possible values `plain` or `personal`. |
| from | Object | Yes | See From Object below for more. |
| to | Object | Yes | See To Object below for more. |


#### From Object

| Attribute | Type | Required? | Description |
|  --- | --- | --- | --- |
| type | String | Yes | Always `admin`. |
| id | String | Yes | The identifier for the admin which is given by Intercom. |


#### To Object

| Attribute | Type | Required? | Description |
|  --- | --- | --- | --- |
| type | String | Yes | The role associated to the contact - `user` or `lead`. |
| id | String | Yes | The identifier for the contact which is given by Intercom. |


### Response

This will return the [Message](/docs/references/2.0/rest-api/messages/messages-model) that has been created.

Retrieving Associated Conversations
As this is a message, there will be no conversation present until the contact responds. Once they do, you will have to search for a contact's conversations with the `id` of the message.