# Record an event

> Records something a contact did in your product and creates or updates the contact (names and properties; consent never changes). Events start organization…

Source: https://docs.pidgely.com/api-reference/events/record/

`POST https://api.pidgely.com/events`

Records something a contact did in your product and creates or updates the contact (names and properties; consent never changes). Events start [organization automations](https://docs.pidgely.com/guides/automations/) with the `event` trigger, end them through goals and exit events, resume wait-for-event steps and feed the inactivity trigger. Every plan; `full_access` and `sending_access` keys. See [Events](https://docs.pidgely.com/guides/events/).

Records an event of a contact (`user_signed_up`, `trial_started`, `payment_failed`...) and creates or updates the contact. Events start organization automations (event trigger), end them (goals and exit events), resume wait-for-event steps and feed the inactivity trigger. Full access and sending access keys, every plan. With `idempotency_key` (or the `Idempotency-Key` header), a repeated event within 30 days is not recorded again (`duplicate: true`). Events older than 24 hours are recorded and update the contact's last activity but start no automation.

**Authorization:** `Bearer pdg_…`. Any API key (`full_access` or `sending_access`).

## Body parameters

JSON object.

| Name | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `name` | string | Yes | Display name. Pattern: `^[A-Za-z0-9_.:-]{1,100}$`. |
| `email` | string | Yes | Email address. |
| `contact` | object | No | Creates or updates the contact (names and properties; consent is never changed by events). |
| `contact.first_name` | string | No | First name, up to 200 characters. Available as `{{{FIRST_NAME}}}` in broadcasts. |
| `contact.last_name` | string | No | Last name, up to 200 characters. Available as `{{{LAST_NAME}}}` in broadcasts. |
| `contact.properties` | object (map of any) | No | Custom properties: up to 100 keys matching `^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]{0,49}$`, values string (up to 2,000 characters), number, boolean, or `null` to delete. |
| `properties` | object (map of any) | No | Flat JSON object (strings, numbers, booleans), up to 50 keys and 16 KB. Available in e-mails as `{{{event.<key>}}}`. |
| `occurred_at` | string | No | When it happened (default now; at most 5 minutes in the future). Format: `date-time`. |
| `idempotency_key` | string | No | Up to 256 characters. |

## Request

This endpoint is not in the [SDKs](https://docs.pidgely.com/sdks/) yet; call it over HTTP.

```bash tab="cURL"
curl -X POST 'https://api.pidgely.com/events' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PIDGELY_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "name": "trial_started",
  "email": "ana.souza@example.com",
  "contact": {
    "first_name": "Ana",
    "last_name": "Souza",
    "properties": {
      "plan": "pro",
      "trial_ends_at": "2026-11-05"
    }
  },
  "properties": {
    "plan": "pro",
    "trial_days": 14
  },
  "idempotency_key": "trial-started-8812"
}'
```

## Response

`200 OK`

```json
{
  "object": "event",
  "id": "0199e4a2-7b8c-7d9e-8f0a-1b2c3d4e5f61",
  "name": "trial_started",
  "email": "ana.souza@example.com",
  "contact_id": "0199d7f4-5d7b-7a2c-b4e1-9f3c2a6d8e05",
  "properties": {
    "plan": "pro",
    "trial_days": 14
  },
  "occurred_at": "2026-10-22T12:00:00Z",
  "received_at": "2026-10-22T12:00:00.184Z",
  "duplicate": false
}
```

### Response fields

| Name | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `object` | string | Yes | Object type. One of `event`. |
| `id` | string | Yes | Unique id (UUID). UUID. |
| `name` | string | Yes | Display name. |
| `email` | string | Yes | Email address. |
| `contact_id` | string \| null | Yes | UUID. |
| `properties` | object (map of any) | Yes | Custom properties: up to 100 keys matching `^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]{0,49}$`, values string (up to 2,000 characters), number, boolean, or `null` to delete. |
| `occurred_at` | string | Yes | Format: `date-time`. |
| `received_at` | string | Yes | Format: `date-time`. |
| `duplicate` | boolean | Yes | The idempotency key was already used (the original event is returned). |

## Errors

Errors have the shape `{"statusCode", "name", "message"}`. See [Errors](https://docs.pidgely.com/errors/) for the full list.

| Status | Name | When |
|---|---|---|
| 401 | `missing_api_key`, `restricted_api_key` | No `Authorization: Bearer` header, or a `sending_access` key called an endpoint that needs `full_access`. |
| 403 | `invalid_api_key`, `validation_error` | The API key is invalid or revoked, or the request is not allowed for this account (unverified domain, plan limit, paused account). |
| 422 | `validation_error` | A field is missing or invalid; `message` names it. |
| 429 | `rate_limit_exceeded` | Too many requests per second. Wait for `Retry-After` seconds. |
| 422 | `validation_error` | Invalid `name` or `email`, too many or nested `properties`, or `occurred_at` more than 5 minutes in the future (`field` names it). |