---
name: "email_release_inbox"
area: "email"
title: "Release an inbox"
price: "free"
method: "POST"
url: "https://api.conecto.chat/v1/tools/email_release_inbox"
mcp_server: "https://api.conecto.chat/mcp/email"
auth: "Authorization: Bearer <conecto_sk_ key>"
docs_url: "https://conecto.chat/tools/email/email_release_inbox"
---

# Release an inbox (`email_release_inbox`)

Stops renting an inbox: mail sent to it later bounces, and its stored messages stay readable.

Stop renting an inbox. Mail sent to it afterwards bounces; its stored messages stay readable.

Price: Free. A call that fails costs nothing.

## Use it when

An address is no longer used.

## Say this to your agent

> We don't use events@ any more. Give that address up.

## Inputs

| Name | Type | Required | Description | Allowed values | Default |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| `inbox` | string | yes | Up to 254 characters. |  |  |

## Example

Written for Halverson Cycle & Repair, a bike shop with a repair workshop in Portland, Oregon.

MCP: call `email_release_inbox` on the MCP server `https://api.conecto.chat/mcp/email` with these arguments:

```json
{
  "inbox": "events@halverson-cycle-repair.useconecto.com"
}
```

REST:

```bash
curl https://api.conecto.chat/v1/tools/email_release_inbox \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CONECTO_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"inbox": "events@halverson-cycle-repair.useconecto.com"}'
```

## Response

```json
{
  "call_id": "5f0c8a2e-3b7d-4c1e-9a64-2d8e1f7b0c93",
  "tool": "email_release_inbox",
  "status": "succeeded",
  "replayed": false,
  "cost_usd": "$0.00",
  "balance_usd": "$19.75",
  "result": {
    "released": "events@halverson-cycle-repair.useconecto.com"
  }
}
```

`result`: released: the address.

## Errors

| Code | Status | When | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| `not_found` | 404 | No active inbox of the business has that address. | Call email_list_inboxes and use one of its addresses. |

The refusals every tool can give (401 key, 402 balance, 429 limits) are on the errors page: https://conecto.chat/docs/errors.md

## Related

- [email_create_inbox](https://conecto.chat/tools/email/email_create_inbox.md): A new email address for the business on its own subdomain, which sends and receives at once. $1.00 a call.
- [email_list_inboxes](https://conecto.chat/tools/email/email_list_inboxes.md): The business's inboxes, whether each opens tickets or saves attachments, and when each renews. Free up to 1,000,000 reads a month.
- [email_update_inbox](https://conecto.chat/tools/email/email_update_inbox.md): Changes an inbox's sender name, switches saving its attachments to the file store on or off, or changes how much it saves a day. $0.001 a call.
- [email_send](https://conecto.chat/tools/email/email_send.md): Sends an email from one of the business's inboxes, with files from the store attached, or answers a received message in its thread. $0.001 per recipient, plus $0.001 per started MB of attachments for each recipient ($0.001 to one person without attachments), up to $0.52.
- [email_list_messages](https://conecto.chat/tools/email/email_list_messages.md): Messages in the business's inboxes, newest first: received, sent or both, for one inbox, one sender or since a time. Free up to 1,000,000 reads a month.
- [email_get_message](https://conecto.chat/tools/email/email_get_message.md): One message in full: its text, HTML and attachment names. Free up to 1,000,000 reads a month.
- [email_get_thread](https://conecto.chat/tools/email/email_get_thread.md): Every message of one conversation, oldest first. Free up to 1,000,000 reads a month.
- [email_update_thread](https://conecto.chat/tools/email/email_update_thread.md): Marks an email thread open, waiting, handled or archived, and sets its labels. $0.001 a call.
- [email_save_attachments](https://conecto.chat/tools/email/email_save_attachments.md): Saves the files attached to one received email into the file store, each linked to the email. $0.001 per file saved.