Email Validation Quick Start Guide for Individual Validation

Email Validation verifies email addresses by checking syntax, domain validity, and mailbox existence to ensure emails reach real recipients.

Coverage

Global: Validates email addresses worldwide with 97% accuracy for mailbox verification
Domain verification: Checks if domains can send and receive emails
Mailbox validation: Pings mailboxes to verify they accept emails at the specified account
Risk assessment: Identifies disposable, temporary, role-based, and high-risk email addresses

Available Endpoints

Email Validation provides two primary API endpoints:

Individual Validate - Validate a single email address in real-time
Batch Validate - Validate multiple email addresses in a single request

Getting Started

Create an API key if you don’t have one
Choose the appropriate endpoint for your use case
Make your first request using the endpoint documentation above

Here’s a simple example request for the Individual Validate endpoint:

curl --request GET \
  --url https://api.addressy.com/EmailValidation/Interactive/Validate/v2.00/json6.ws

import requests

url = "https://api.addressy.com/EmailValidation/Interactive/Validate/v2.00/json6.ws"

response = requests.get(url)

print(response.json())

const url = 'https://api.addressy.com/EmailValidation/Interactive/Validate/v2.00/json6.ws';
const options = {method: 'GET', body: undefined};

try {
  const response = await fetch(url, options);
  const data = await response.json();
  console.log(data);
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
}

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://api.addressy.com/EmailValidation/Interactive/Validate/v2.00/json6.ws",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "GET",
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
  echo "cURL Error #:" . $err;
} else {
  echo $response;
}

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"net/http"
	"io"
)

func main() {

	url := "https://api.addressy.com/EmailValidation/Interactive/Validate/v2.00/json6.ws"

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", url, nil)

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

	fmt.Println(res)
	fmt.Println(string(body))

}

HttpResponse<String> response = Unirest.get("https://api.addressy.com/EmailValidation/Interactive/Validate/v2.00/json6.ws")
  .asString();

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://api.addressy.com/EmailValidation/Interactive/Validate/v2.00/json6.ws")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(url)

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body

What Email Validation Returns

Email Validation provides:

Validation status indicating whether the email address is valid, catch-all, invalid, or timed out
Email components (user account and domain) separated for analysis
Risk assessment score (High, Medium, Low, or Unknown)
Flags for disposable/temporary addresses and fraud risk indicators
Validation duration for performance monitoring

Response should be in the following format:

{
  "Items": [
    {
      "ResponseCode": "Valid",
      "ResponseMessage": "Email address was fully validated",
      "EmailAddress": "enquiries@gbgplc.com",
      "UserAccount": "enquiries",
      "Domain": "gbgplc.com",
      "IsDisposableOrTemporary": false,
      "IsComplainerOrFraudRisk": false,
      "Duration": 0.245,
      "Reason": "",
      "Risk": "Low"
    }
  ]
}

And you can use this information below to interpret the response fields:

Response Fields

Validation Results

Field	Type	Description
`ResponseCode`	string	Validation outcome: Valid (fully validated including mailbox), Valid_CatchAll (domain validated but mailbox couldn’t be verified), Invalid (address is invalid), or Timeout (validation couldn’t complete within timeout)
`ResponseMessage`	string	Textual description of the ResponseCode returned
`Reason`	string	Explanation for why the email wasn’t valid (populated when ResponseCode is Invalid)
`Risk`	string	Risk score: High, Medium, Low, or Unknown. Aggregated analysis indicating likelihood of email bounce. Higher risk means greater bounce probability

Email Components

Field	Type	Description
`EmailAddress`	string	The complete email address that verification was attempted on
`UserAccount`	string	The account portion of the email address (before the @ symbol)
`Domain`	string	The domain portion of the email address (after the @ symbol)

Quality Indicators

Field	Type	Description
`IsDisposableOrTemporary`	boolean	Whether the email is a disposable/temporary mailbox (shouldn’t be used for marketing communications)
`IsComplainerOrFraudRisk`	boolean	This field is no longer valid and will always return false
`Duration`	number	Time taken for validation in seconds (maximum 15 seconds). Recommended timeout is at least 5 seconds to minimize Timeout responses

Request Parameters

Required Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`Key`	string	Your API key to authenticate to the service
`Email`	string	The email address to verify

Optional Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`Timeout`	integer	Time in milliseconds for validation attempt (1-15000). Values outside this range default to 15000. Recommended: at least 5000ms to reduce Timeout responses
`AdditionalFields`	string	Option to return additional fields beyond the standard response

Error Response Fields

When an error occurs, the API returns an error response with the following structure:

Field	Type	Description
`Error`	string	The error ID
`Description`	string	A description of the error
`Cause`	string	The cause of the error
`Resolution`	string	Actions to resolve the error

Common Error Codes

Status Code	Meaning	Common Causes
400	Bad Request	Invalid parameters, malformed request, missing required Email parameter
401	Unauthorized	Invalid or missing API key
403	Forbidden	API key doesn’t have permission for Email Validation, or daily limit exceeded
500	Internal Server Error	Server-side issue, temporary service disruption

Tip: Check the Resolution field for specific steps to fix the error. For more details on error responses, see Individual Validate in API documentation.

Note: Email Validation checks if an email address can receive messages but does not link to individual identities. Privacy is maintained throughout the validation process.

Try Email Validation

Test Email Validation using the Individual Validate Playground to make your first request.

FAQ

How does Email Validation work - are addresses checked against a database?

Email Validation follows a multi-step verification process:

Syntax check: Ensures the address format is valid (contains @ symbol, proper domain structure)
Domain verification: Confirms the domain can send and receive emails
Mailbox ping: Tests whether the mailbox accepts emails at the specified account (97% accuracy)
Proprietary integrations: Verifies catch-all status, disposable/temporary domains, and other mailbox characteristics through direct provider integrations

This process doesn’t rely on a static database but performs real-time verification against live email infrastructure.

What does a 'catch all' response code mean?

A Valid_CatchAll ResponseCode indicates the email domain accepts emails to ANY email account, making it impossible to fully validate the specific mailbox. This occurs due to:

Firewall restrictions on the mail server
Domain configuration that accepts all incoming mail

You’ll need to decide whether to send emails to these addresses based on your use case. While the domain is verified, the specific mailbox existence cannot be confirmed.

How does the Risk field work?

The Risk field provides an aggregated assessment of bounce likelihood:

High: Greater likelihood that emails will bounce
Medium: Moderate bounce risk
Low: Low bounce probability
Unknown: Insufficient data to assess risk

This score analyzes all returned email fields to help you decide whether to send to a particular address. Use it alongside other fields like IsDisposableOrTemporary for informed decision-making.

What types of information are returned in Email Validation results?

Beyond validation status, Email Validation returns:

Whether an email is disposable or temporary
If the domain is high-risk for sending email
Risk score (High, Medium, Low, Unknown)
Validation duration for performance monitoring
Email components (user account and domain separated)

Note: The ability to detect role-based addresses (support@, marketing@) and mailbox full status may vary by endpoint. See the Individual Validate API documentation for complete field details.

Overview

Location Solutions

Data Validation

Resources

Email Validation Quick Start Guide for Individual Validation

Coverage

Available Endpoints

Getting Started

What Email Validation Returns

Validation Results

Email Components

Quality Indicators

Required Parameters

Optional Parameters

Common Error Codes

Try Email Validation

FAQ

​Coverage

​Available Endpoints

​Getting Started

​What Email Validation Returns

​Validation Results

​Email Components

​Quality Indicators

​Required Parameters

​Optional Parameters

​Common Error Codes

​Try Email Validation

​FAQ

Coverage

Available Endpoints

Getting Started

What Email Validation Returns

Validation Results

Email Components

Quality Indicators

Required Parameters

Optional Parameters

Common Error Codes

Try Email Validation

FAQ