Check at the point of entry.
Offer a possible typo correction for the person to accept. Keep the original input until they decide, and repeat the lookup when the input changes.
Integrate Email Lookup ↗EmailRecipient validation
Email validation.
Catch the small mistake.
Check an address before an important message depends on it. Read the verdict, offer a useful correction, and handle uncertain results deliberately.
A small correction. A better beginning.
Inspect a synthetic address, then decide how your application should handle its evidence.
fieldnotes.
Join the studio.
Try alex@gmial.com, alex@gmail.com, neutral@example.com, role@example.com, missing@example.com, or unknown@example.com. Other addresses have no example result.
LOOKUP / SYNTHETIC EVIDENCERead Lookup result meanings ↗
Keep the verdict in context.
Not inspected. Inspect the current address before making a validity decision.
This example has no result for this address. No result can be inferred and no Lookup request was made.
Offer the suggested correction. The customer chooses whether to accept it; after acceptance, inspect the changed address again.
The address-quality evidence is favorable. Check possession, consent and suppressions separately.
This result needs review. Ask the customer to confirm the address; a risk flag or inconclusive mailbox is not proof of delivery.
Continue only with separate possession verification under your reviewed application policy. The uncertainty remains in the record.
Do not send to this example mailbox. Invite the customer to correct the address.
Unknown future verdict. Preserve the result and seek confirmation or another supported signal without automatically accepting or rejecting it.
Companies that trust Bird across their communications.
Read Bird customer storiesUseful evidence before you send.
Keep uncertainty visible.
A risky or unknown verdict needs a deliberate application policy. Validation does not confer marketing permission or override suppression and preference records.
Understand sending restrictions ↗Know more about the address before you send.
Understand address quality before you choose to send.
Smart validation process
Use a single-address lookup to receive a verdict, a confidence score and any risk flags. Your application decides what to do with that evidence.
Comprehensive checks
Inspect syntax and domain problems, mailbox verdicts and typo suggestions. Distinguish an undeliverable address from one that could not be confirmed.
Real-time protection
Prevent invalid email submissions on forms. Get smart suggestions for common typos, helping users provide correct email addresses during signup.
Apply your signup policy
Use role and disposable-address flags in your signup policy. A free-provider flag identifies a consumer mailbox; it does not make that address invalid.
Confidence with context
Read delivery confidence alongside the result. The separate valid boolean checks format and domain setup, so it cannot establish that a mailbox exists.
Scale your email validation
Use the API, SDKs or CLI to check addresses in your workflow. Reuse a POST idempotency key within its documented replay window when retrying the same lookup.
One lookup. A clearer sending decision.
Submit one bare email address, without a display name, and preserve the local part before the @. Read the result, confidence, reason and flags before applying your signup policy. Acceptance here means accepting the address into your workflow; sending still requires consent, preferences and suppression checks.
An answer your application can use.
Offer corrections for the person to confirm. Keep risky, inconclusive and future verdicts subject to a deliberate policy.
validate-address.ts
const answer = await bird.lookup.email({ email: "info@example.com" });
const decision =
answer.result === "undeliverable"
? { action: "reject", reason: answer.reason }
: answer.result === "typo"
? { action: "offer_correction", address: answer.did_you_mean }
: answer.result === "valid"
? { action: "continue_signup" }
: {
action: "review",
result: answer.result,
confidence: answer.delivery_confidence,
flags: answer.flags,
};
console.log(decision);
Run an email lookup with CLI or MCP and inspect the verdict and risk signals. Use those signals in your application policy; they do not verify the person behind an address.
Each answered lookup is billed, including undeliverable results. There is no list-upload or batch endpoint: integrate individual lookups and follow rate limits. Failed requests without an answer are distinct from billed verdicts.
What your validation results tell you.
Use the documented verdict with confidence and risk flags. Handle future result values without treating them as errors.
Valid.
The mailbox is reported as accepting mail. Continue to honor consent, preferences and suppression records.
Undeliverable.
The address does not accept mail. Inspect the reason for a syntax, domain or recipient problem before sending.
Risky.
The address may accept mail but carries risk signals, such as a role or disposable address. Review its flags against your sending policy.
Typo.
The address looks misspelled. Offer the suggested correction for the person to confirm; do not silently replace the address they submitted.
Neutral.
The mailbox could not be confirmed either way, often because the domain responds the same way for different recipients. Use confidence and your sending policy.
Where validation fits in your workflow.
Check addresses during signup or incorporate individual lookups into your list-import process. Let people confirm typo suggestions. Revisit address quality when an older audience returns, and keep your contact, suppression and preference records consistent.
Put it into practice.
Continue with the documentation, guides and examples for this topic. Resources are in English.
Questions about recipient validation
How do I validate an email address with Bird?
Use Email Lookup with an API key scoped for lookup. Submit one address and read its result, delivery confidence, risk flags and any typo suggestion. The dashboard, SDKs and CLI provide ways to try the same lookup.
Which verdicts should my integration handle?
The documented results are valid, neutral, risky, undeliverable and typo. Treat result as an open vocabulary and handle future values using delivery confidence. The separate valid boolean checks address form and domain setup, not whether the mailbox exists.
What should I do with a typo or neutral result?
Offer a typo suggestion for the person to confirm; never silently replace their address. Neutral means the mailbox could not be confirmed either way. Combine the result and confidence with your consent and sending policy.
Does validation guarantee delivery or permission to email?
No. A lookup helps assess address quality at that moment. It does not establish consent, remove opt-out preferences or guarantee inbox placement. Continue to honor suppression and preference records.
Can I upload a list here?
This page introduces the single-address Lookup workflow. For a larger list, integrate individual lookups into your import process and review the results. Contact sales to discuss volume; this page does not offer an unsupported bulk-upload product.
How should I format an address?
Submit a bare address, such as person@example.com, without a display name. Keep the local part before the @ unchanged rather than lowercasing the whole address.
How do result, confidence and valid differ?
Result describes the mailbox verdict. Delivery confidence adds evidence for your application policy, including when a result is inconclusive or unfamiliar. The valid boolean only checks address form and domain setup; it does not prove the mailbox exists.
What do reasons and flags tell me?
An undeliverable result includes a reason to investigate, such as an address, domain or recipient problem. Flags describe properties such as role, disposable or free-provider addresses. Treat flags as an open vocabulary; a free-provider flag alone does not make an address invalid.
Which lookups are billed?
Answered lookups are billed, including an undeliverable verdict. A failed request without a lookup answer is different from a negative result. Consult current Lookup pricing and reuse a POST idempotency key within its documented replay window when retrying the same request.
Put address quality into practice
Use validation alongside your contact data, sending preferences and delivery controls.
Separate validation from verification
Work through address quality, possession and permission in a signup flow.
Contacts and audiences
Keep validated addresses with the profiles and segments you use for campaigns.
Suppressions
Apply opt-outs and suppression rules as well as address checks.
Deliverability
Review address quality as part of your wider sending setup.
Inbox Insights
Investigate estimated inbox placement after checking recipient quality.
Sending API
Connect validation results to your application’s sending workflow.
Email overview
Explore sending, campaigns and the rest of Bird Email.
Lookup pricing
Review published rates for the lookups your application needs.
Phone number lookup
Check number information before choosing a messaging route.
Talk to our email team
Check addresses before your next send.
Discuss validation volumes, integration and where checks belong in your email workflow. You can also start testing with the API.
Create your account to run an Email Lookup. Review the result before deciding to send.