## Retrieve an email

`$ lightfield email retrieve`

**get** `/v1/emails/{id}`

Retrieves a single email by its ID. Email fields are redacted based on the caller-specific privacy resolution, and the response includes a read-only `accessLevel`.

**[Required scope](/using-the-api/scopes/):** `emails:read`

**[Rate limit category](/using-the-api/rate-limits/):** Read

### Parameters

- `--id: string`

  Unique identifier of the email to retrieve.

### Returns

- `email_retrieve_response: object { id, accessLevel, createdAt, 6 more }`

  - `id: string`

    Unique identifier for the entity.

  - `accessLevel: "FULL" or "METADATA"`

    The caller's resolved access level for this email.

    - `"FULL"`

    - `"METADATA"`

  - `createdAt: string`

    ISO 8601 timestamp of when the entity was created.

  - `fields: map[object { value, valueType } ]`

    Map of field names to their typed values. System fields are prefixed with `$` (e.g. `$name`, `$email`); custom attributes use their bare slug.

    - `value: string or number or boolean or 3 more`

      The field value, or null if unset.

      - `union_member_0: string`

      - `union_member_1: number`

      - `union_member_2: boolean`

      - `union_member_3: array of string`

      - `Address: object { city, country, latitude, 5 more }`

        - `city: optional string`

          City name.

        - `country: optional string`

          2-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code.

        - `latitude: optional number`

          Latitude coordinate.

        - `longitude: optional number`

          Longitude coordinate.

        - `postalCode: optional string`

          Postal or ZIP code.

        - `state: optional string`

          State or province.

        - `street: optional string`

          Street address line 1.

        - `street2: optional string`

          Street address line 2.

      - `FullName: object { firstName, lastName }`

        - `firstName: optional string`

          The contact's first name.

        - `lastName: optional string`

          The contact's last name.

    - `valueType: "ADDRESS" or "CHECKBOX" or "CURRENCY" or 12 more`

      The data type of the field.

      - `"ADDRESS"`

      - `"CHECKBOX"`

      - `"CURRENCY"`

      - `"DATETIME"`

      - `"EMAIL"`

      - `"FULL_NAME"`

      - `"MARKDOWN"`

      - `"MULTI_SELECT"`

      - `"NUMBER"`

      - `"SINGLE_SELECT"`

      - `"SOCIAL_HANDLE"`

      - `"TELEPHONE"`

      - `"TEXT"`

      - `"URL"`

      - `"HTML"`

  - `httpLink: string`

    URL to view the entity in the Lightfield web app, or null.

  - `objectType: "email"`

    Always `email`.

    - `"email"`

  - `relationships: map[object { cardinality, objectType, values } ]`

    Map of relationship names to their associated entities. System relationships are prefixed with `$` (e.g. `$owner`, `$contact`).

    - `cardinality: string`

      Whether the relationship is `has_one` or `has_many`.

    - `objectType: string`

      The type of the related object (e.g. `account`, `contact`).

    - `values: array of string`

      IDs of the related entities.

  - `updatedAt: string`

    ISO 8601 timestamp of when the entity was last updated, or null.

  - `externalId: optional string`

    External identifier for the entity, or null if unset.

### Example

```cli
lightfield email retrieve \
  --api-key 'My API Key' \
  --id id
```

#### Response

```json
{
  "id": "eml_cm0abc456def789",
  "accessLevel": "FULL",
  "createdAt": "2026-05-01T09:00:00.000Z",
  "fields": {
    "$subject": {
      "value": "Following up on our chat",
      "valueType": "TEXT"
    },
    "$sentAt": {
      "value": "2026-05-01T08:30:00.000Z",
      "valueType": "DATETIME"
    },
    "$from": {
      "value": [
        "sales@acme.com"
      ],
      "valueType": "EMAIL"
    },
    "$to": {
      "value": [
        "lead@example.com"
      ],
      "valueType": "EMAIL"
    },
    "$cc": {
      "value": [
        "string"
      ],
      "valueType": "EMAIL"
    },
    "$bcc": {
      "value": [
        "string"
      ],
      "valueType": "EMAIL"
    },
    "$privacySetting": {
      "value": "string",
      "valueType": "TEXT"
    },
    "$body": {
      "value": "<p>Hi there,</p><p>Following up on our chat earlier this week.</p>",
      "valueType": "HTML"
    }
  },
  "httpLink": null,
  "objectType": "email",
  "relationships": {
    "$account": {
      "cardinality": "has_many",
      "objectType": "account",
      "values": [
        "acc_cm4stu901uvw234"
      ]
    },
    "$contact": {
      "cardinality": "has_many",
      "objectType": "contact",
      "values": [
        "con_cm2ghi789jkl012"
      ]
    }
  },
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-01T10:00:00.000Z",
  "externalId": "externalId"
}
```