Get a contact by External ID

REST API Reference

Request

You can fetch the details of a single contact by external ID. Note that this endpoint only supports users and not leads.

Merged contacts return 410 Gone

If the contact with this external ID has been merged into another contact, the API returns HTTP 410 Gone with a Link header pointing to the canonical (merged-into) contact. See GET /contacts/{id} for details on the response format.

Requires the read_single_user, read_users_companies or read_write_users OAuth scope.

Security

bearerAuth

Path

external_idstringrequired

The external ID of the user that you want to retrieve

Example:cdd29344-5e0c-4ef0-ac56-f9ba2979bc27

Query

include_merge_historyboolean

Pass true to include the contact's merge history in the response. Returned for contacts of any role, with at most the 10 most recent merges.

Default:false

escape_identityboolean

By default, name and email values in the response, including nested ones such as social profile names, are HTML-escaped (for example, & is returned as &). Custom attributes and tags are never escaped. Pass false to return them unescaped.

Default:true

Intercom-Versionstring(intercom_version)

Intercom API version.
If you omit the header, the API uses the version set in your app package, and 1.0 if none is set.

Enum:"1.0""1.1""1.2""1.3""1.4""2.0""2.1""2.2""2.3""2.4"

Example:2.17

curl -i -X GET \
  'https://api.intercom.io/contacts/find_by_external_id/cdd29344-5e0c-4ef0-ac56-f9ba2979bc27?include_merge_history=false&escape_identity=true' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_TOKEN_HERE>' \
  -H 'Intercom-Version: 2.17'

Responses

successful

Bodyapplication/json

typestring

The type of object.

Example:"contact"

idstring

The unique identifier for the contact which is given by Intercom.

Example:"5ba682d23d7cf92bef87bfd4"

external_idstring or null

The unique identifier for the contact which is provided by the Client.

Example:"f3b87a2e09d514c6c2e79b9a"

workspace_idstring

The id of the workspace which the contact belongs to.

Example:"ecahpwf5"

rolestring

The role of the contact.

Example:"user"

emailstring

The contact's email.

Example:"joe@example.com"

email_domainstring

The contact's email domain.

Example:"example.com"

email_verifiedboolean

Whether the contact has proved they own their current email address. true only when this address was marked verified through the Contacts API (email_verified: true on create or update) and has not changed since; it becomes false again if the contact's email changes, until the new address is verified. Intercom reuses a lead with a verified email when it later matches an inbound email, or an outbound conversation or ticket, to that address, instead of creating a new lead. In List contacts and Search contacts responses it is left out only if the contact can't be loaded, for example when it is deleted while the request runs.

Example:true

phonestring or null

The contacts phone.

Example:"+1123456789"

namestring or null

The contacts name.

Example:"John Doe"

owner_idstring or null

The id of an admin that has been assigned account ownership of the contact.

Example:"321"

has_hard_bouncedboolean

Whether the contact has had an email sent to them hard bounce.

Example:true

marked_email_as_spamboolean

Whether the contact has marked an email sent to them as spam.

Example:true

unsubscribed_from_emailsboolean

Whether the contact is unsubscribed from emails.

Example:true

created_atinteger, (date-time)

(Unix timestamp in seconds) The time when the contact was created.

Example:1571672154

updated_atinteger, (date-time)

(Unix timestamp in seconds) The time when the contact was last updated.

Example:1571672154

signed_up_atinteger or null, (date-time)

(Unix timestamp in seconds) The time specified for when a contact signed up.

Example:1571672154

last_seen_atinteger or null, (date-time)

(Unix timestamp in seconds) The time when the contact was last seen (either where the Intercom Messenger was installed or when specified manually).

Example:1571672154

last_replied_atinteger or null, (date-time)

(Unix timestamp in seconds) The time when the contact last messaged in.

Example:1571672154

last_contacted_atinteger or null, (date-time)

(Unix timestamp in seconds) The time when the contact was last messaged.

Example:1571672154

last_email_opened_atinteger or null, (date-time)

(Unix timestamp in seconds) The time when the contact last opened an email.

Example:1571672154

last_email_clicked_atinteger or null, (date-time)

(Unix timestamp in seconds) The time when the contact last clicked a link in an email.

Example:1571672154

language_overridestring or null

A preferred language setting for the contact, used by the Intercom Messenger even if their browser settings change.

Example:"en"

browserstring or null

The name of the browser which the contact is using.

Example:"Chrome"

browser_versionstring or null

The version of the browser which the contact is using.

Example:"80.0.3987.132"

browser_languagestring or null

The language set by the browser which the contact is using.

Example:"en-US"

osstring or null

The operating system which the contact is using.

Example:"Mac OS X"

android_app_namestring or null

The name of the Android app which the contact is using.

Example:"Intercom"

android_app_versionstring or null

The version of the Android app which the contact is using.

Example:"5.0.0"

android_devicestring or null

The Android device which the contact is using.

Example:"Pixel 3"

android_os_versionstring or null

The version of the Android OS which the contact is using.

Example:"10"

android_sdk_versionstring or null

The version of the Android SDK which the contact is using.

Example:"28"

android_last_seen_atinteger or null, (date-time)

(Unix timestamp in seconds) The time when the contact was last seen on an Android device.

Example:1571672154

ios_app_namestring or null

The name of the iOS app which the contact is using.

Example:"Intercom"

ios_app_versionstring or null

The version of the iOS app which the contact is using.

Example:"5.0.0"

ios_devicestring or null

The iOS device which the contact is using.

Example:"iPhone 11"

ios_os_versionstring or null

The version of iOS which the contact is using.

Example:"13.3.1"

ios_sdk_versionstring or null

The version of the iOS SDK which the contact is using.

Example:"13.3.1"

ios_last_seen_atinteger or null, (date-time)

(Unix timestamp in seconds) The last time the contact used the iOS app.

Example:1571672154

custom_attributesobject

The custom attributes which are set for the contact.

avatarstring or null, (uri)

An image URL containing the avatar of a contact.

Example:"https://example.org/128Wash.jpg"

tagsobject or null(Contact Tags)

An object containing tags meta data about the tags that a contact has. Up to 10 will be displayed here. Use the url to get more.

notesobject(Contact notes)

An object containing notes meta data about the notes that a contact has. Up to 10 will be displayed here. Use the url to get more.

companiesobject(Contact companies)

An object with metadata about companies attached to a contact . Up to 10 will be displayed here. Use the url to get more.

locationobject(Contact Location)

An object containing location meta data about a Intercom contact.

social_profilesobject(Social Profile)

An object containing social profiles that a contact has.

opted_out_subscription_typesobject(Contact Subscription Types)

An object containing Subscription Types meta data about the SubscriptionTypes that a contact has.

opted_in_subscription_typesobject(Contact Subscription Types)

An object containing Subscription Types meta data about the SubscriptionTypes that a contact has.

utm_campaignstring or null

The utm_campaign value recorded for the contact.

Example:"spring_launch"

utm_contentstring or null

The utm_content value recorded for the contact.

Example:"banner_ad"

utm_mediumstring or null

The utm_medium value recorded for the contact.

Example:"email"

utm_sourcestring or null

The utm_source value recorded for the contact.

Example:"newsletter"

utm_termstring or null

The utm_term value recorded for the contact.

Example:"support_software"

referrerstring or null

The URL of the page the contact came from, as recorded by the Messenger.

Example:"https://example.com/pricing"

sms_consentboolean

Whether the contact has consented to receive SMS messages.

Example:false

unsubscribed_from_smsboolean

Whether the contact is unsubscribed from SMS messages.

Example:false

enabled_push_messagingboolean or null

Whether the contact has a mobile device registered to receive push messages.

Example:true

merge_historyArray of objects or null(Merge History Item)

A list of contacts that were merged into this contact, most recent first, capped at 10. Only included in the response when include_merge_history=true is passed as a query parameter.

Response

{
  "type": "contact",
  "id": "6762f0df1bb69f9f2193bb84",
  "workspace_id": "this_is_an_id307_that_should_be_at_least_",
  "external_id": "70",
  "role": "user",
  "email": "joe@bloggs.com",
  "email_domain": "bloggs.com",
  "email_verified": false,
  "phone": null,
  "name": "Joe Bloggs",
  "avatar": null,
  "owner_id": null,
  "social_profiles": {
    "type": "list",
    "data": []
  },
  "has_hard_bounced": false,
  "marked_email_as_spam": false,
  "unsubscribed_from_emails": false,
  "created_at": 1734537439,
  "updated_at": 1734537439,
  "signed_up_at": 1734537439,
  "last_seen_at": null,
  "last_replied_at": null,
  "last_contacted_at": null,
  "last_email_opened_at": null,
  "last_email_clicked_at": null,
  "language_override": null,
  "browser": null,
  "browser_version": null,
  "browser_language": null,
  "os": null,
  "location": {
    "type": "location",
    "country": null,
    "region": null,
    "city": null,
    "country_code": null,
    "continent_code": null
  },
  "android_app_name": null,
  "android_app_version": null,
  "android_device": null,
  "android_os_version": null,
  "android_sdk_version": null,
  "android_last_seen_at": null,
  "ios_app_name": null,
  "ios_app_version": null,
  "ios_device": null,
  "ios_os_version": null,
  "ios_sdk_version": null,
  "ios_last_seen_at": null,
  "custom_attributes": {},
  "tags": {
    "type": "list",
    "data": [],
    "url": "/contacts/6762f0df1bb69f9f2193bb84/tags",
    "total_count": 0,
    "has_more": false
  },
  "notes": {
    "type": "list",
    "data": [],
    "url": "/contacts/6762f0df1bb69f9f2193bb84/notes",
    "total_count": 0,
    "has_more": false
  },
  "companies": {
    "type": "list",
    "data": [],
    "url": "/contacts/6762f0df1bb69f9f2193bb84/companies",
    "total_count": 0,
    "has_more": false
  },
  "opted_out_subscription_types": {
    "type": "list",
    "data": [],
    "url": "/contacts/6762f0df1bb69f9f2193bb84/subscriptions",
    "total_count": 0,
    "has_more": false
  },
  "opted_in_subscription_types": {
    "type": "list",
    "data": [],
    "url": "/contacts/6762f0df1bb69f9f2193bb84/subscriptions",
    "total_count": 0,
    "has_more": false
  },
  "utm_campaign": null,
  "utm_content": null,
  "utm_medium": null,
  "utm_source": null,
  "utm_term": null,
  "referrer": null,
  "sms_consent": false,
  "unsubscribed_from_sms": false,
  "enabled_push_messaging": null
}