Core concepts

Overview

The Inbox API manages DM conversations across messaging platforms. Understanding these core entities will help you build effective integrations.

Multi-Platform Future: The API currently supports X (Twitter) DMs. Instagram and LinkedIn are coming in Q2 2026. The data model is platform-agnostic — see Supported platforms.

Key entities

Threads

A thread represents a DM conversation between one of your account links and a prospect.

{
  "id": "l44e15irdq4db30i77cgphhx",
  "platform": "twitter",
  "platformId": "1566123362161725440:1876543210987654321",
  "done": false,
  "assigneeId": null,
  "lastMessageTimestamp": "2025-01-15T15:30:00.000Z",
  "computedSortTimestamp": "2025-01-15T15:30:00.000Z",
  "createdAt": "2025-01-10T10:00:00.000Z",
  "status": "active",
  "variant": "xChat",
  "accountLinkId": "df6jbw4h36qm5d9iu2sgn7kx",
  "isSyncing": false,
  "isRequest": false,
  "typingIndicatorsEnabled": null,
  "lastMessage": {
    "id": "p8rvk2m5j0xn4wq7ybftcael",
    "content": "Sounds great, let's schedule a call!",
    "authorId": "hzcai5t59nn9vsck3rbuepyg",
    "createdAt": "2025-01-15T15:30:00.000Z",
    "userId": null,
    "campaignId": null
  },
  "prospect": { "..." }
}

Key fields:

Field	Description
`id`	Inbox thread ID — use this for all API operations
`platform`	The platform this thread belongs to (currently `"twitter"`)
`platformId`	The X conversation ID (formatted as `smallerUserId:largerUserId`)
`done`	Whether the thread is archived
`assigneeId`	Team member assigned to this thread (null if unassigned)
`status`	`"active"` (visible in inbox) or `"idle"` (hidden, e.g. Quick Peek previews)
`variant`	`"unencrypted"` (legacy DMs) or `"xChat"` (encrypted DMs)
`accountLinkId`	Which connected X account this thread belongs to
`isRequest`	Whether this is a message request from an unknown prospect
`lastMessage`	Preview of the most recent message
`prospect`	The full prospect object (with context) embedded in the thread

Messages

Messages are individual DMs sent or received in a thread.

{
  "id": "p8rvk2m5j0xn4wq7ybftcael",
  "platform": "twitter",
  "platformId": "1876543210987654322",
  "threadId": "l44e15irdq4db30i77cgphhx",
  "teamId": "hzcai5t59nn9vsck3rbuepyg",
  "authorId": "df6jbw4h36qm5d9iu2sgn7kx",
  "userId": "r3km7xj9wq5p2bvnhfdteoly",
  "campaignId": null,
  "content": "Thanks for reaching out! I'd love to learn more about your project.",
  "origin": "api",
  "createdAt": "2025-01-15T10:30:00.000Z",
  "updatedAt": null,
  "isEdited": false,
  "entities": null,
  "attachment": null,
  "reactions": [],
  "replyData": null,
  "forwardData": null
}

Key fields:

Field	Description
`content`	The message text
`authorId`	Either the `accountLinkId` or the prospect’s `externalId` — identifies the sender within Inbox (not a platform ID)
`userId`	Inbox user ID if sent from Inbox by a team member. `null` if the message is from the prospect, was sent from the X client, or was otherwise sent outside of Inbox. A `null` value does not necessarily mean the message is from the prospect — it just means it wasn’t sent from Inbox.
`origin`	Where the message originated: `"external"` (pulled from X), `"internal"` (sent from the Inbox UI or a campaign), `"api"` (sent via the API), or `null`
`campaignId`	Non-null if the message was sent by a campaign (these have `origin: "internal"`)
`isEdited`	Whether the message has been edited

There is no direction field on messages. Check authorId against your account link IDs to determine the sender. See Working with messages — Determining message direction for details.

Prospects

A prospect represents an external user on a messaging platform.

{
  "platform": "twitter",
  "platformId": "1876543210987654321",
  "externalId": "hzcai5t59nn9vsck3rbuepyg",
  "documentId": 858224163,
  "displayName": "Jordan Rivera",
  "username": "jordanrivera",
  "handle": "@jordanrivera",
  "image": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/.../photo.jpg",
  "imageNormalized": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/.../photo.jpg",
  "bio": "Head of Growth at TechCo. Building the future of SaaS.",
  "location": "San Francisco, CA",
  "profileUrl": "https://x.com/jordanrivera",
  "websiteUrl": "https://techco.com",
  "websiteDomain": "techco.com",
  "verified": "none",
  "profileType": "personal",
  "isProtected": false,
  "followerCount": 12400,
  "followingCount": 892,
  "postCount": 3420,
  "engagementCount": 8100,
  "listedCount": 18,
  "platformCreatedAt": "2019-03-15T08:00:00.000Z",
  "firstSeenAt": "2024-07-09T14:08:49.000Z",
  "lastUpdatedAt": "2025-01-15T10:30:00.000Z",
  "lastEnrichedAt": "2025-01-15T10:30:00.000Z",
  "lastActiveAt": "2025-01-14T12:00:00.000Z",
  "source": "cached",
  "isFresh": true,
  "isStale": false,
  "confidence": 0.85,
  "platformData": {
    "isVerifiedBlue": false,
    "isVerifiedGold": false,
    "isVerifiedGray": false,
    "professionalCategory": null,
    "urlEntities": [],
    "bannerUrl": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_banners/...",
    "tweetsCount": 3420,
    "favoritesCount": 8100,
    "rawData": null
  }
}

Key differences from what you might expect:

Field	Not this	It’s this
Display name	`name`	`displayName`
Bio	`description`	`bio`
Avatar	`profileImageUrl`	`image` (or `imageNormalized` for highest quality)
Followers	`followersCount`	`followerCount` (singular)
Verified	`true` / `false`	`"verified"` (blue check), `"business"` (gold), `"government"` (gray), or `"none"`
Profile type	—	`"personal"`, `"business"`, or `"government"`
Source	—	`"cached"`, `"indexed"`, `"live"`, or `"merged"`

Prospects are shared across all account links in your team. When retrieved as part of a thread or via the prospects endpoints, they include a context object with your team’s custom data.

Prospect context

When you retrieve a prospect (via threads or the prospects API), the response includes a context object:

{
  "context": {
    "tags": ["t8rvk2m5j0xn4wq7ybftcael"],
    "statusId": "s3km7xj9wq5p2bvnhfdteoly",
    "valuation": 50000,
    "notes": "Decision maker at TechCo. Follow up next week."
  }
}

Field	Type	Description
`tags`	`string[]`	Array of tag IDs applied to this prospect
`statusId`	`string \| null`	Pipeline status ID
`valuation`	`number \| null`	Deal value
`notes`	`string \| null`	Free-text notes

Update context with PATCH /prospects/{prospectId}/context:

await client.patch(`/prospects/${prospectId}/context`, {
  notes: "Interested in Enterprise plan",
  valuation: 50000,
  statusId: "s3km7xj9wq5p2bvnhfdteoly",
  addTags: ["t8rvk2m5j0xn4wq7ybftcael"],
  removeTags: ["old_tag_id_here"],
});

Tags are modified with addTags and removeTags — there is no tagIds field. See Tags & statuses for details.

Account links

An account link is an X account connected to your team.

{
  "id": "df6jbw4h36qm5d9iu2sgn7kx",
  "platform": "twitter",
  "platformId": "1566123362161725440",
  "name": "Acme Corp",
  "username": "acmecorp",
  "image": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/.../photo.jpg",
  "createdAt": "2024-06-01T12:00:00.000Z",
  "status": "active",
  "syncedAt": "2025-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
}

Use account links to:

Send messages from specific accounts
Filter threads by account
Manage multi-account workflows

Statuses

Statuses represent pipeline stages for a prospect.

{
  "id": "s3km7xj9wq5p2bvnhfdteoly",
  "name": "Qualified",
  "color": "#f59e0b",
  "createdAt": "2024-06-01T12:00:00.000Z"
}

A prospect can have only one status at a time. Use statuses for linear progression (e.g., New → Qualified → Won). Use tags for non-linear attributes.

Members

Members are users on your team.

{
  "id": "r3km7xj9wq5p2bvnhfdteoly",
  "userId": "usr4hn8xj2wq5p1bvnhfdteo",
  "name": "Alex Chen",
  "email": "alex@acmecorp.com",
  "image": "https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/...",
  "role": "admin",
  "createdAt": "2024-06-01T12:00:00.000Z",
  "updatedAt": null
}

Roles are "owner", "admin", or "user". Member IDs are used for assigning threads and filtering by assignee.

The dual ID system

Inbox uses two types of IDs for platform-related objects:

Inbox ID (id)

e.g. l44e15irdq4db30i77cgphhxThe internal Inbox ID (CUID2 format). Use this for all API operations.

Platform ID (platformId)

e.g. 1876543210987654321The original ID from X. Use this for lookups and constructing X URLs.

// Use Inbox IDs for API operations
await client.get(`/threads/${thread.id}/messages`);

// Use Platform IDs for lookups
await client.get("/threads/lookup", {
  params: {
    externalPlatformId: "1876543210987654321",
    accountLinkId: account.id,
  },
});

Helpful X URLs

You can use platform IDs to construct direct links to X:

Link type	URL pattern
User profile (by ID)	`https://x.com/i/user/{platformId}`
User profile (by username)	`https://x.com/{username}`
Tweet/Post	`https://x.com/anyusername/status/{tweetId}`
DM conversation	`https://x.com/i/chat/{conversationPlatformId}`

The user-by-ID link (/i/user/{platformId}) is the most reliable since usernames can change. For tweet URLs, X ignores the username — only the tweet ID matters.

Thread status vs Inbox views

The thread status field ("active" or "idle") controls whether the thread is visible in the inbox. Active threads appear in inbox views; idle threads are hidden (e.g., threads created via Quick Peek that haven’t had a real conversation yet). This is separate from inbox views, which are filtered using the inbox query parameter:

`inbox` value	Description
`"default"`	Active conversations needing attention
`"no-reply"`	The prospect sent the last message and is awaiting your reply
`"requests"`	New message requests from unknown prospects
`"archived"`	Threads marked as done (`done: true`)

Filter by inbox view:

// Active conversations
const { data } = await client.get("/threads", {
  params: { inbox: "default" },
});

// Threads where the prospect is awaiting your reply
const { data: noReply } = await client.get("/threads", {
  params: { inbox: "no-reply" },
});

// Archived threads
const { data: archived } = await client.get("/threads", {
  params: { inbox: "archived" },
});

Response shapes

Different endpoints return data in different shapes. Here’s what to expect:

Pattern	Endpoints	Shape
Single object	`GET /threads/{id}`, `POST /threads`, `GET /threads/lookup`	Returns the object directly
Array	`GET /tags`, `GET /statuses`, `GET /account-links`, `GET /members`	Returns an array directly
Paginated	`GET /threads`, `GET /threads/{id}/messages`	Returns `{ threads, nextCursor }` or `{ messages, nextCursor }`

// Direct object — no wrapper
const { data: thread } = await client.get(`/threads/${threadId}`);
console.log(thread.id);

// Direct array — no wrapper
const { data: tags } = await client.get("/tags");
console.log(tags.length);

// Paginated — has wrapper
const { data } = await client.get("/threads");
console.log(data.threads.length, data.nextCursor);

Pagination

List endpoints use cursor-based pagination:

const allThreads = [];
let cursorId: string | undefined;
let cursorTimestamp: string | undefined;

do {
  const { data } = await client.get("/threads", {
    params: {
      limit: 100,
      ...(cursorId && { cursorId, cursorTimestamp }),
    },
  });

  allThreads.push(...data.threads);

  cursorId = data.nextCursor?.id;
  cursorTimestamp = data.nextCursor?.timestamp;
} while (cursorId);

Use the flat cursorId and cursorTimestamp parameters instead of bracket notation (cursor[id]). The bracket notation form is deprecated.

Entity relationships

Team
├── Members (team users)
├── Account Links (connected X accounts)
├── Tags (labels for prospects)
├── Statuses (pipeline stages)
└── Prospects (external X users)
    ├── Context (tags, status, notes, valuation)
    └── Threads (one per account link + prospect pair)
        └── Messages

A prospect can have multiple tags but only one status
A thread belongs to exactly one account link and one prospect
A prospect can have threads across multiple account links

Next steps

Managing threads

Thread operations and filtering

Working with messages

Send and receive messages

Working with prospects

Manage prospect data and context

Tags & statuses

Organize with tags and pipeline stages

Getting started

Fundamentals

Configuration

Overview

Key entities

Threads

Messages

Prospects

Prospect context

Account links

Tags

Statuses

Members

The dual ID system

Inbox ID (id)

Platform ID (platformId)

Helpful X URLs

Thread status vs Inbox views

Response shapes

Entity relationships

Next steps

Managing threads

Working with messages

Working with prospects

Tags & statuses

Getting started

Fundamentals

Configuration

​Overview

​Key entities

​Threads

​Messages

​Prospects

​Prospect context

​Account links

​Tags

​Statuses

​Members

​The dual ID system

Inbox ID (id)

Platform ID (platformId)

​Helpful X URLs

​Thread status vs Inbox views

​Response shapes

​Pagination

​Entity relationships

​Next steps

Managing threads

Working with messages

Working with prospects

Tags & statuses

Overview

Key entities

Threads

Messages

Prospects

Prospect context

Account links

Tags

Statuses

Members

The dual ID system

Helpful X URLs

Thread status vs Inbox views

Response shapes

Pagination

Entity relationships

Next steps