This article contains examples that demonstrate basic functionality of the Nylas Contacts API; some include examples of a JSON response so you can see what they return, but if you would like to try these examples yourself, complete the developer API keys ) guide before proceeding.
The examples is this sections will demonstrate how to use the Nylas Contacts API to
- view contact information,
- create and modify contacts,
- delete contacts, and
- handle inconsistencies and limitations between contact book providers.
View Contact Information
The simplest way to view information about a user's contacts is to use the contacts endpoint. By default, the contacts endpoint provides 100 results, but for the purpose of this guide, we will use a query parameter to limit it to 5 contacts. Refer to the docs on pagination to learn about how to use limits and offsets to control the number of objects that are returned. The following examples demonstrate how to view contact information with Nylas.
curl -X GET https://{access_token}:@api.nylas.com/contacts?limit=5
from nylas import APIClient
nylas = APIClient(
CLIENT_ID,
CLIENT_SECRET,
ACCESS_TOKEN,
)
contacts = nylas.contacts.all(limit=5)
for contact in contacts:
print(contact)
const Nylas = require('nylas');
Nylas.config({
clientId: CLIENT_ID,
clientSecret: CLIENT_SECRET,
});
const nylas = Nylas.with(ACCESS_TOKEN);
nylas.contacts.list({limit: 5}).then(contacts => {
for (const contact of contacts) {
console.log(contact);
}
});
[
{
"account_id": "qmlclekd5d3bgscbhhkf",
"birthday": "2011-01-01",
"company_name": "Nylas",
"emails": [
{
"email": "[email protected]",
"type": "work"
}
],
"id": "j2zpf8cju20cmzj64uj6",
"im_addresses": [
{
"im_address": "myaimaddress",
"type": "aim"
}
],
"job_title": "Communications Platform",
"manager_name": "",
"given_name": "My",
"middle_name": "Nylas",
"surname": "Friend",
"nickname": "Nylas",
"notes": "Try the Nylas Communications Platform",
"object": "contact",
"office_location": "San Francisco, Denver, New York",
"phone_numbers": [
{
"number": "1 800 123 4567",
"type": "business"
}
],
"physical_addresses": [],
"picture_url": "https://api.nylas.com/contacts/p9zyvfxshihbkpyzeyqm/picture",
"suffix": "Jr.",
"web_pages": [],
"groups": [
{
"id": "w2kh2bfjvzsgfpkb3b0t",
"object": "contact_group",
"account_id": "qmlclekd5d3bgscbhhkf",
"name": "Work",
"path": "Contacts/Work"
}
]
}
]
The information this command provides includes an id value for each contact; you will need one of these ids for the next command. To get information for a specific contact, make a GET request to the contacts/{id} endpoint. In the following example, replace {id} with the id of a contact you want to view.
curl -X GET https://{access_token}:@api.nylas.com/contacts/{id}
from nylas import APIClient
nylas = APIClient(
CLIENT_ID,
CLIENT_SECRET,
ACCESS_TOKEN,
)
contact = nylas.contact.get('{id}')
print(contact)
const Nylas = require('nylas');
Nylas.config({
clientId: CLIENT_ID,
clientSecret: CLIENT_SECRET,
});
const nylas = Nylas.with(ACCESS_TOKEN);
nylas.contacts.get("{id}").then(contact => {
console.log(contact);
});
[
{
"account_id": "qmlclekd5d3bgscbhhkf",
"birthday": "2011-01-01",
"company_name": "Nylas",
"emails": [
{
"email": "[email protected]",
"type": "work"
}
],
"id": "j2zpf8cju20cmzj64uj6",
"im_addresses": [
{
"im_address": "myaimaddress",
"type": "aim"
}
],
"job_title": "Communications Platform",
"manager_name": "",
"given_name": "My",
"middle_name": "Nylas",
"surname": "Friend",
"nickname": "Nylas",
"notes": "Try the Nylas Communications Platform",
"object": "contact",
"office_location": "San Francisco, Denver, New York",
"phone_numbers": [
{
"number": "1 800 123 4567",
"type": "business"
}
],
"physical_addresses": [],
"picture_url": "https://api.nylas.com/contacts/p9zyvfxshihbkpyzeyqm/picture",
"suffix": "Jr.",
"web_pages": [],
"groups": [
{
"id": "w2kh2bfjvzsgfpkb3b0t",
"object": "contact_group",
"account_id": "qmlclekd5d3bgscbhhkf",
"name": "Work",
"path": "Contacts/Work"
}
]
}
]
To learn more about the values a contact object returns, check out the API reference docs.
Contact Profile Images
Many service providers include a profile picture with contact profiles. This data can be accessed using the contacts/{id}/picture endpoint. When you make a GET request to this endpoint it will return a binary data blob of the image. To save or display the image, redirect the response to an appropriate file. In the following examples, it's saved as a jpg file.
curl -X GET https://{access_token}:@api.nylas.com/contacts/{id}/picture > picture.jpg
from nylas import APIClient
nylas = APIClient(
CLIENT_ID,
CLIENT_SECRET,
ACCESS_TOKEN,
)
contact = nylas.contacts.get(CONTACT_ID)
picture = contact.get_picture()
# Here's an example that shows how to save the picture to a file
file = open('picture.jpg', 'w+b"')
file.write(picture.read())
file.close()
print(contact.picture_url)
const Nylas = require('nylas');
Nylas.config({
clientId: CLIENT_ID,
clientSecret: CLIENT_SECRET,
});
const nylas = Nylas.with(ACCESS_TOKEN);
let contact;
nylas.contacts.find('{id}').then(resp => contact = resp);
let picture;
contact.getPicture().then(resp => picture = resp);
// Here's an example that shows how to save the picture to a file
const fs = require('fs');
fs.writeFile('picture.jpg', picture, 'binary', (err) => {
if (err) throw err;
console.log('The picture was saved!');
});
console.log(contact.pictureUrl)
You can now view picture.jpg with any photo viewing software.
Contact Groups
Contact groups provide a way for users to organize their contacts. You can get a list of contact groups by sending a GET request to the /contacts/groups endpoint.
curl -X GET https://{access_token}:@api.nylas.com/contacts/groups
[
{
"id": "a0a0a0a0a0a0a0a0a0a0a0",
"object": "contact_group",
"account_id": "x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2",
"name": "Work",
"path": "Contacts/Work"
},
{
"id": "b1b1b1b1b1b1b1b1b1b1b1",
"object": "contact_group",
"account_id": "x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2",
"name": "Personal",
"path": "Contacts/Personal"
}
]
Contact Group Discrepancies
Contact groups have different meanings across different providers. This affects the way contact groups are presented through the Nylas API. Review the API reference for contacts groups for more information about these discrepancies.
Create and Modify Contacts
To create a contact, make a POST request to the contacts endpoint with the profile information you want the contact to have. These examples create a new contact and assigns values to some of its attributes.
curl -X POST \
https://{access_token}:@api.nylas.com/contacts \
-d '{
"given_name": "My",
"middle_name": "Nylas",
"surname": "Friend"
}'
from nylas import APIClient
nylas = APIClient(
CLIENT_ID,
CLIENT_SECRET,
ACCESS_TOKEN,
)
contact = nylas.contacts.create()
contact.given_name = "My"
contact.middle_name = "Nylas"
contact.surname = "Friend"
contact.emails['work'] = ['[email protected]']
contact.notes = "Make sure to keep in touch!"
contact.phone_numbers['business'] = ['(555) 555-5555']
contact.web_pages['homepage'] = ["https://nylas.com"]
contact.save()
print(contact)
const Nylas = require('nylas');
Nylas.config({
clientId: CLIENT_ID,
clientSecret: CLIENT_SECRET,
});
const nylas = Nylas.with(ACCESS_TOKEN);
const contact = nylas.contacts.build({
givenName: "My",
middleName: "Nylas",
surname: "Friend",
notes: "Make sure to keep in touch!",
emailAddresses: [{type: 'work', email: '[email protected]'}],
phoneNumbers: [{type: 'business', number: '(555) 555-5555'}],
webPages: [{type: 'homepage', url: 'nylas.com'}]
});
contact.save().then( contact => {
console.log(contact);
});
When you execute these examples, they will respond with, among other objects, an id; this can be used to make updates to the contact. If you need to modify a contact, make a PUT request to contacts/{id}.
curl -X PUT \
https://{access_token}:@api.nylas.com/contacts/{id} \
-d '{
"emails": [
{
"email": "[email protected]",
"type": "work"
}
]
}
Finally, to delete a contact, make a DELETE request to the contacts/{id} endpoint.
curl -X DELETE https://{access_token}:@api.nylas.com/contacts/{id}
from nylas import APIClient
nylas = APIClient(
CLIENT_ID,
CLIENT_SECRET,
ACCESS_TOKEN,
)
nylas.contacts.delete('{id}')
const Nylas = require('nylas');
Nylas.config({
clientId: CLIENT_ID,
clientSecret: CLIENT_SECRET,
});
const nylas = Nylas.with(ACCESS_TOKEN);
nylas.contacts.delete('{id}')
Contacts API Limitations
There are some provider-specific limitations that you should be aware of when working with the Nylas Contacts API.
Next Steps
How Nylas Works - Take a look at the Nylas architecture to see how we enable you to build your contacts book integration.
Quickstart Guides - Get up to speed quickly with our SDKs using our quickstart guides for Python and Node.js, or explore the Nylas Email or Calendar API.
Tutorials - Check out our plethora of tutorials to learn how to carry out common email, calendar, and contacts functionality.
Integration Guides - Ready to start building your integration? Our integration guides cover what it takes to incorporate contacts functionality into your app. They cover best practices for using the Nylas Communications Platform and provider-specific advice for Google, Microsoft, and more.
Set up Postman - Postman makes it easy to explore the Nylas Contacts API.
API Reference - Our API reference provides all the detail you need to know to use the Nylas Communications Platform.
Updated 6 months ago