Create Contact

Add a new contact to your organization. Contacts are the foundation of your marketing — every email and SMS campaign targets contacts.

Endpoint

POST /contacts

Returns: 201 Created

Headers

Header	Value	Required
Authorization	Bearer <your-api-key>	Yes
Content-Type	application/json	Yes

Body Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
email	string	Conditional	Contact's email address. Required if phone_number is not provided.
phone_number	string	Conditional	Phone number in E.164 format (e.g., +966512345678). Required if email is not provided.
first_name	string	No	First name. Max 100 characters.
last_name	string	No	Last name. Max 100 characters.
properties	object	No	Custom property key-value pairs. Keys must match your organization's custom property schema.
list_ids	string[]	No	Array of list IDs to add the contact to upon creation.

At Least One Contact Method

You must provide at least one of email or phone_number. You may provide both.

Custom Properties

Custom properties let you store additional data on contacts. Define your property schema in the Arsel Dashboard under Contacts > Properties before sending values.

{
  "properties": {
    "company": "Acme Inc",
    "age": 30,
    "is_vip": true,
    "birthdate": "1995-06-15"
  }
}

---

Response

{
  "id": "01957e3a-4b5c-7d8e-9f0a-1b2c3d4e5f6a",
  "email": "john.doe@example.com",
  "phone_number": "+201234567890",
  "first_name": "John",
  "last_name": "Doe",
  "source": "api",
  "properties": {
    "company": "Acme Inc"
  },
  "is_suppressed": false,
  "created_at": "2026-03-08T12:00:00.000Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-03-08T12:00:00.000Z"
}

Field	Type	Description
id	string	Unique contact ID (UUIDv7)
email	string | null	Contact email address
phone_number	string | null	Contact phone number
first_name	string | null	First name
last_name	string | null	Last name
source	string	How the contact was created: api, manual, import, transactional
properties	object	Custom property values
is_suppressed	boolean	true if the contact has unsubscribed, bounced, or been manually suppressed
created_at	string	ISO 8601 timestamp
updated_at	string	ISO 8601 timestamp

tip

Contacts created via the API have their source set to api automatically.

---

Examples

Basic Contact

cURL

curl -X POST "https://api.arsel.sa/v1/contacts" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer be_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "email": "john.doe@example.com",
    "first_name": "John",
    "last_name": "Doe"
  }'

JavaScript

const response = await fetch("https://api.arsel.sa/v1/contacts", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    Authorization: "Bearer be_your_api_key",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    email: "john.doe@example.com",
    first_name: "John",
    last_name: "Doe",
  }),
});

const contact = await response.json();
console.log(contact.id);

Python

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.arsel.sa/v1/contacts",
    headers={
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
        "Authorization": "Bearer be_your_api_key",
    },
    json={
        "email": "john.doe@example.com",
        "first_name": "John",
        "last_name": "Doe",
    },
)

contact = response.json()
print(contact["id"])

C#

using var client = new HttpClient();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("Authorization", "Bearer be_your_api_key");

var payload = new
{
    email = "john.doe@example.com",
    first_name = "John",
    last_name = "Doe"
};

var json = System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer.Serialize(payload);
var content = new StringContent(json, System.Text.Encoding.UTF8, "application/json");
var response = await client.PostAsync("https://api.arsel.sa/v1/contacts", content);
var result = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
Console.WriteLine(result);

PHP

<?php
$ch = curl_init("https://api.arsel.sa/v1/contacts");
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, [
    "Content-Type: application/json",
    "Authorization: Bearer be_your_api_key"
]);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, json_encode([
    "email" => "john.doe@example.com",
    "first_name" => "John",
    "last_name" => "Doe"
]));
$response = curl_exec($ch);
echo $response;
curl_close($ch);

With Custom Properties and Lists

cURL

curl -X POST "https://api.arsel.sa/v1/contacts" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer be_your_api_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "email": "sara@example.com",
    "phone_number": "+966512345678",
    "first_name": "Sara",
    "last_name": "Ahmed",
    "properties": {
      "company": "Acme Inc",
      "job_title": "Marketing Manager",
      "city": "Riyadh"
    },
    "list_ids": ["01957e3a-4b5c-7d8e-9f0a-1b2c3d4e5f6a"]
  }'

JavaScript

const response = await fetch("https://api.arsel.sa/v1/contacts", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    Authorization: "Bearer be_your_api_key",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    email: "sara@example.com",
    phone_number: "+966512345678",
    first_name: "Sara",
    last_name: "Ahmed",
    properties: {
      company: "Acme Inc",
      job_title: "Marketing Manager",
      city: "Riyadh",
    },
    list_ids: ["01957e3a-4b5c-7d8e-9f0a-1b2c3d4e5f6a"],
  }),
});

const contact = await response.json();
console.log(contact.id);

Python

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.arsel.sa/v1/contacts",
    headers={
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
        "Authorization": "Bearer be_your_api_key",
    },
    json={
        "email": "sara@example.com",
        "phone_number": "+966512345678",
        "first_name": "Sara",
        "last_name": "Ahmed",
        "properties": {
            "company": "Acme Inc",
            "job_title": "Marketing Manager",
            "city": "Riyadh",
        },
        "list_ids": ["01957e3a-4b5c-7d8e-9f0a-1b2c3d4e5f6a"],
    },
)

print(response.json())

C#

using var client = new HttpClient();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("Authorization", "Bearer be_your_api_key");

var payload = new
{
    email = "sara@example.com",
    phone_number = "+966512345678",
    first_name = "Sara",
    last_name = "Ahmed",
    properties = new
    {
        company = "Acme Inc",
        job_title = "Marketing Manager",
        city = "Riyadh"
    },
    list_ids = new[] { "01957e3a-4b5c-7d8e-9f0a-1b2c3d4e5f6a" }
};

var json = System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer.Serialize(payload);
var content = new StringContent(json, System.Text.Encoding.UTF8, "application/json");
var response = await client.PostAsync("https://api.arsel.sa/v1/contacts", content);
Console.WriteLine(await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync());

PHP

<?php
$ch = curl_init("https://api.arsel.sa/v1/contacts");
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, [
    "Content-Type: application/json",
    "Authorization: Bearer be_your_api_key"
]);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, json_encode([
    "email" => "sara@example.com",
    "phone_number" => "+966512345678",
    "first_name" => "Sara",
    "last_name" => "Ahmed",
    "properties" => [
        "company" => "Acme Inc",
        "job_title" => "Marketing Manager",
        "city" => "Riyadh"
    ],
    "list_ids" => ["01957e3a-4b5c-7d8e-9f0a-1b2c3d4e5f6a"]
]));
$response = curl_exec($ch);
echo $response;
curl_close($ch);

---

Error Responses

422 Validation Error

{
  "status_code": 422,
  "name": "validation_error",
  "message": "At least one of email or phone_number must be provided"
}

409 Conflict

{
  "status_code": 409,
  "name": "conflict",
  "message": "A contact with this email already exists in your organization"
}

401 Unauthorized

{
  "status_code": 401,
  "name": "unauthorized",
  "message": "Invalid or missing API key"
}

403 Usage Limit

{
  "status_code": 403,
  "name": "usage_limit_exceeded",
  "message": "You have reached your contact limit. Please upgrade your plan."
}