Documentation
Sign inGet started
Get started
Guides
API Reference
SDKs
CLI
Knowledge Base
Changelog

Get an email template

GET
/v1/email/templates/{template_ref}
bird email templates get <template-ref>
Response200
{
  "id": "emt_01krdgeqcxet5s7t44vh8rt9mg",
  "workspace_id": "ws_01krdgeqcxet5s7t44vh8rt9mg",
  "slug": "welcome-email",
  "name": "Welcome email",
  "scope": "workspace",
  "status": "active",
  "category": "transactional",
  "source": "html",
  "theme": null,
  "draft_version_id": "emv_01krdgeqcxet5s7t44vh8rt9mg",
  "live_version_id": "emv_01krdgeqcxet5s7t44vh8rt9mg",
  "published_version_id": "emv_01krdgeqcxet5s7t44vh8rt9mg",
  "languages": {
    "en": {
      "status": "live"
    },
    "pt-BR": {
      "status": "live",
      "draft": true
    },
    "de": {
      "status": "draft"
    }
  },
  "default_language": "pt-BR",
  "available_languages": [
    "en"
  ],
  "on_missing_language": "fallback"
}
Returns a template's metadata, language states, sendable languages, draft revision, and draft and published version IDs. Read a version's language to retrieve content.
Accepts a workspace template ID (emt_…) or a built-in system template's bird_ slug. A system template has null for the workspace, draft, revision, and timestamp fields.
Parameters
template_ref
string
The template's id (emt_…) or slug. On read, a built-in system template's bird_ slug also resolves here. Write operations (update, delete) accept a workspace template only, because a system template is immutable.
Response Payload
id
string
required
Template ID.
workspace_id
nullable string
required
The workspace that owns the template. Null for a built-in system template, which no workspace owns.
slug
string
required
The name you send the template by. You can use either the slug or the id when you send. It never changes after the template is created. A built-in system template's slug always starts with bird_.
name
string
required
The template's display name, shown wherever the template is listed. You can change it any time. It defaults to the slug if you do not set one.
description
nullable string
required
What the template is for, in your own words. Null if you have not set one.
scope
string
required
Whether the template is one of our built-in templates (system) or one your workspace created (workspace).
Possible values: system, workspace
status
string
required
Where the template stands as a whole. The same five states on every channel.
  • draft: nothing has ever gone live.
  • pending: nothing is live and at least one language is in review.
  • active: at least one language is live, so something can be sent.
  • rejected: it was reviewed and every language was refused.
  • inactive: nothing is live and nothing is in review, so content was withdrawn or was blocked before anything went live.
A template with one language live is active even while another is still drafted or refused. Read languages for the state of each language and its reason.
Which values a channel reports follows its review model. A channel whose content a third party reviews uses all five. On email and SMS, where content goes live on publish, a template is draft, active or inactive, and pending and rejected are reserved for the review stage coming to both, so a template reaching either is not a breaking change.
Possible values: draft, pending, active, rejected, inactive
category
string
required
Whether the template is for transactional email or marketing email.
Possible values: transactional, marketing
source
string
required
The authoring format the template is written in, fixed at creation. html is finished markup you provide, optionally personalized with Liquid.
Possible values (may grow over time): html
theme
nullable string
required
The visual theme a built-in template is designed in, or null for a template your workspace authored (which has no theme).
draft_version_id
nullable string
required
The current editable draft version. Null for a built-in system template, which has no draft.
live_version_id
nullable string
required
The version a send resolves to, or null if the template has never been published.
published_version_id
nullable string
required
Deprecated: use live_version_id instead, which carries the same value.
revision
nullable integer
required
The draft's revision counter. Send it back on the next update to detect concurrent edits. Null for a built-in system template, which is unversioned.
languages
object
required
Every language this template has, keyed by language tag in BCP-47 form such as en or pt-BR, each with its state. One read tells you which languages are live and which have unpublished edits, without fetching any content.
Content is not here: read a version's languages for that, one language at a time.
default_language
string
required
The language the draft defaults to. This is the language languages is keyed against while you edit, and the language used by sends once you submit this draft.
Until then sends keep using the live version's default, so this can differ from what is being sent right now. available_languages describes the live version for the same reason; read a version to see the default a send currently uses.
available_languages
array of string
required
The languages this template currently supports for sending, as BCP-47 tags. Empty until the template is published, because sends serve published content. The set may shrink for reasons other than editing, so read it rather than assuming it matches what was published. A built-in system template has no publish step and always reports its one language.
on_missing_language
string
required
What a send does when it asks for a language this template does not carry. Defaults to fallback on email.
language_source_required
boolean
required
Whether a send has to name a language. When true, a send that names none is rejected instead of being served the default language, and the template cannot be used for a broadcast, which has no way to name one.
last_submitted_at
nullable string
required
When this template was last submitted. Null if it never has been. Submitting is the only thing that moves this timestamp: rolling back changes which version is live without counting as a submit, so this keeps reporting the last real submit. Read it alongside languages, which says where each language stands.
created_at
nullable string
required
When the template was created. Null for a built-in system template.
updated_at
nullable string
required
When the template was last modified. Null for a built-in system template.

Related resources

Continue with the documentation, guides and examples for this topic. Resources are in English.

Watch the guideHow to build an email templateExplore the capabilityEmail templatesFollow the learning pathBuild your first integrationImplementation guideEmail templates
Try the practice and get an implementation brief