Quick Start Guide

Get started with ClearBounce API in under 5 minutes.

Step 1: Get Your API Key

1. Sign up or log in to ClearBounce
2. Navigate to API section in your dashboard
3. Copy your API key (starts with cb_live_)

Keep Your API Key Secure

Never expose your API key in client-side code or public repositories.

Step 2: Make Your First Request

Using cURL

curl -X POST https://api.clearbounce.net/api/v1/verify \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"email": "test@example.com"}'

Using JavaScript

const response = await fetch('https://api.clearbounce.net/api/v1/verify', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'X-API-Key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({ email: 'test@example.com' })
});

const result = await response.json();
console.log(result);

Using Python

import requests

response = requests.post(
    'https://api.clearbounce.net/api/v1/verify',
    headers={
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        'X-API-Key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
    },
    json={'email': 'test@example.com'}
)

result = response.json()
print(result)

Using PHP

<?php
$ch = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($ch, [
    CURLOPT_URL => 'https://api.clearbounce.net/api/v1/verify',
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_POST => true,
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
        'Content-Type: application/json',
        'X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY'
    ],
    CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode(['email' => 'test@example.com'])
]);

$response = curl_exec($ch);
$result = json_decode($response, true);

print_r($result);

Step 3: Understand the Response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "email": "test@example.com",
    "status": "deliverable",
    "subStatus": "accepted_email",
    "reason": "accepted_email",
    "score": 95,
    "isDeliverable": true,
    "toxicity": 0,
    "checks": {
      "syntax": true,
      "mxRecords": true,
      "smtpValid": true,
      "isDisposable": false,
      "isRoleBased": false,
      "isFreeProvider": false,
      "isCatchAll": false,
      "account": {
        "fullMailbox": false,
        "disabled": false
      }
    },
    "meta": {
      "domain": "example.com",
      "localPart": "test",
      "mxHost": "mail.example.com",
      "provider": "example.com",
      "dnsType": "MX",
      "processingTimeMs": 342
    },
    "riskFactors": []
  },
  "creditsRemaining": 999
}

Key Response Fields

Field	Description
status	Overall result: deliverable, undeliverable, risky, unknown
reason	Human-friendly reason for the result (same as subStatus)
score	Deliverability score from 0-100
isDeliverable	Boolean indicating if email is deliverable (true only for deliverable status)
toxicity	Toxicity score from 0-5
meta.provider	Email service provider
meta.dnsType	DNS record type used (MX or A)
checks.account.fullMailbox	Whether mailbox is full
checks.account.disabled	Whether account is disabled

What's Next?

• Learn about Integration Guidelines for best practices
• Understand Terminology and status codes
• Explore the full API Reference