> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://developers.mobile-text-alerts.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://developers.mobile-text-alerts.com/tutorials/manage-subscribers/bulk-create-update-subscribers.md). # Bulk Create/Update Subscribers When creating or updating many subscribers at one time with the [Create Subscriber](/tutorials/manage-subscribers.md#create-subscriber-api-endpoint) and [Update Subscriber ](/tutorials/manage-subscribers.md#update-subscriber-api-endpoint)endpoints you can quickly exhaust the available [rate limit](/api-basics/rate-limits.md). The [Bulk Create Subscribers](#bulk-create-subscribers) and [Bulk Update Subscribers](#bulk-update-subscribers) endpoints are recommended for handling large subscriber changes via the API, this can save on both request round trip time and overall API call volume. ## Bulk Create Subscribers This endpoint is used to create (or update and create) many subscriber accounts in one request. ### `CreateOnly` Parameter If set to `true` the `createOnly` path parameter indicates the only action should be to create new subscribers and will not update records of existing subscribers. If set to `false` then both creating or updating (if the subscriber exists) actions will be performed. ### Subscriber Request Body Records of subscribers should be in an array. *Required Fields for new subscribers:* `email` *or* `number`
NameTypeDescription
firstNamestringFirst name of the subscriber.
lastNamestringLast name of the subscriber.
number(required if no email)number/stringPhone number of the subscriber. E.164 formatted strings are recommended to avoid confusion.
email (required if no number)stringEmail address of the subscriber.
e164Numberstring

E.164 international telephone number of the subscriber. If supplied, will be used over number .

E.164 Format:

[+] [country code] [subscriber number including area code] (max. 15 digits)

groupIdsnumber[]List of group ids of the groups the subscriber belongs to.
subscriberFieldsdictionary: subscriberFieldIds:string as the keys and data: string corresponding values

A dictionary of key value pairs of additional custom subscriber attributes for the subscriber.

Example: 

"subscriberFields": {
    "2000": "January 1st, 2000",
    "2001": "Custom Field Data"
}
## Bulk Create Subscribers > \# Record Limit > \\ > > \ > This endpoint will accept a maximum of \`1,000\` records in a single request. Records of subscribers should be in an array. The \`createOnly\` field indicates if the action is creating new subscribers only (doesn't accept records of existing subscribers) or the action is creating or updating (accept records of existing subscribers and update info according to the records). > \ > \ > \ > \# Rate Limiting\ > \ > This endpoint overrides the general rate limit with an account rate limit. Requests are limited by the authenticated account instead of the IP address. This endpoint is limited to \`15\` requests every \`15\` seconds ```json {"openapi":"3.0.0","info":{"title":"Mobile Text Alerts API","version":"8.0.0"},"servers":[{"url":"https://api.mobile-text-alerts.com/v3"}],"security":[{"bearerAuth":[]}],"components":{"securitySchemes":{"bearerAuth":{"type":"http","scheme":"bearer","bearerFormat":"apiKey"}},"schemas":{"BulkCreateSubscribers.Response":{"allOf":[{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/IApiResponse"},{"type":"object","properties":{"data":{"type":"object","properties":{"totalRecordCount":{"type":"number"},"createdRecordCount":{"type":"number"},"errorRecordCount":{"type":"number"},"createdRecords":{"type":"array","items":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/IPublicNumber"}},"errorRecords":{"type":"array","items":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkCreateSubscribers.ErrorRecord"}}},"required":["totalRecordCount","createdRecordCount","errorRecordCount","createdRecords","errorRecords"]}},"required":["data"]}]},"IApiResponse":{"type":"object","properties":{"success":{"type":"boolean"},"error":{"type":"string"},"message":{"type":"string"},"data":{}}},"IPublicNumber":{"type":"object","properties":{"id":{"type":"number"},"firstName":{"type":"string"},"lastName":{"type":"string"},"email":{"type":"string"},"number":{"type":"number"},"e164Number":{"type":"string"},"date":{"oneOf":[{"format":"date-time","type":"string"},{"type":"string"}]},"countryId":{"type":"number"},"groups":{"type":"array","items":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/IPublicGroupName"}},"subscriberFieldData":{"type":"array","items":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/IPublicSubscriberFieldDatum"}},"signupMethod":{"type":"number","nullable":true},"longNumber":{"type":"number"},"carrierId":{"type":"number"}},"required":["id","firstName","lastName","email","number","date","countryId","groups","subscriberFieldData","signupMethod","longNumber","carrierId"]},"IPublicGroupName":{"type":"object","properties":{"id":{"type":"number"},"name":{"type":"string"},"addedToGroupAt":{"oneOf":[{"format":"date-time","type":"string"},{"type":"string"}]}},"required":["id","name"]},"IPublicSubscriberFieldDatum":{"type":"object","properties":{"id":{"type":"number"},"subscriberFieldId":{"type":"number"},"data":{"type":"string"}},"required":["id","subscriberFieldId","data"]},"BulkCreateSubscribers.ErrorRecord":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/CreateSubscriber.RequestAndWitherror"},"CreateSubscriber.RequestAndWitherror":{"allOf":[{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/CreateSubscriber.Request"},{"type":"object","properties":{"error":{"type":"string"}},"required":["error"]}]},"CreateSubscriber.Request":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/INewNumber"},"INewNumber":{"type":"object","properties":{"firstName":{"type":"string"},"lastName":{"type":"string"},"email":{"type":"string"},"number":{"oneOf":[{"type":"number"},{"type":"string"}]},"e164Number":{"type":"string"},"groupIds":{"type":"array","items":{"type":"number"}},"subscriberFields":{"type":"object","additionalProperties":{"type":"string"}},"employeeNumber":{"type":"string"},"welcomeMessage":{"type":"string"}}},"BulkCreateSubscribers.Request":{"type":"array","items":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/CreateSubscriber.Request"}}},"responses":{"BadRequestError":{"description":"BadRequestError","content":{"application/json":{"schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"httpCode":{"type":"number","enum":[400]},"message":{"type":"string"},"timestamp":{"type":"string","format":"date-time"},"type":{"type":"string","enum":["bad_request_error"]},"name":{"type":"string","enum":["MTABadRequestError"]},"requestId":{"type":"string","format":"uuid"}}}}}},"UnauthorizedError":{"description":"UnauthorizedError","content":{"application/json":{"schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"httpCode":{"type":"number","enum":[401]},"message":{"type":"string"},"timestamp":{"type":"string","format":"date-time"},"type":{"type":"string","enum":["unauthorized_error"]},"name":{"type":"string","enum":["MTAUnauthorizedError"]},"requestId":{"type":"string","format":"uuid"}}}}}},"ForbiddenError":{"description":"ForbiddenError","content":{"application/json":{"schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"httpCode":{"type":"number","enum":[403]},"message":{"type":"string"},"timestamp":{"type":"string","format":"date-time"},"type":{"type":"string","enum":["forbidden_error"]},"name":{"type":"string","enum":["MTAForbiddenError"]},"requestId":{"type":"string","format":"uuid"},"reason":{}}}}}},"RateLimitError":{"description":"RateLimitError","content":{"application/json":{"schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"httpCode":{"type":"number","enum":[429]},"message":{"type":"string"},"timestamp":{"type":"string","format":"date-time"},"type":{"type":"string","enum":["rate_limit_error"]},"name":{"type":"string","enum":["MTARateLimitError"]},"requestId":{"type":"string","format":"uuid"}}}}}},"InternalServerError":{"description":"InternalServerError","content":{"application/json":{"schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"httpCode":{"type":"number","enum":[500]},"message":{"type":"string"},"timestamp":{"type":"string","format":"date-time"},"type":{"type":"string","enum":["internal_server_error"]},"name":{"type":"string","enum":["MTAInternalServerError"]},"requestId":{"type":"string","format":"uuid"}}}}}}}},"paths":{"/subscribers/bulk":{"post":{"tags":["Subscribers"],"summary":"Bulk Create Subscribers","description":"# Record Limit\r\n\r\nThis endpoint will accept a maximum of `1,000` records in a single request. Records of subscribers should be in an array. The `createOnly` field indicates if the action is creating new subscribers only (doesn't accept records of existing subscribers) or the action is creating or updating (accept records of existing subscribers and update info according to the records).\r\n\n\n# Rate Limiting\n\nThis endpoint overrides the general rate limit with an account rate limit. Requests are limited by the authenticated account instead of the IP address. This endpoint is limited to `15` requests every `15` seconds","operationId":"subscribers_bulk_create_subscribers","responses":{"200":{"description":"Success","headers":{"RateLimit-Limit":{"description":"The maximum number of requests that the consumer is permitted to make per window","schema":{"type":"integer"}},"RateLimit-Remaining":{"description":"The number of requests remaining in the current rate limit window","schema":{"type":"integer"}},"RateLimit-Reset":{"description":"The remaining window before the rate limit resets in milliseconds","schema":{"type":"integer"}},"Retry-After":{"description":"The number of seconds to wait before retrying the request","schema":{"type":"integer"}},"X-RateLimit-Limit":{"description":"The maximum number of requests that the consumer is permitted to make per window","schema":{"type":"integer"}},"X-RateLimit-Remaining":{"description":"The number of requests remaining in the current rate limit window","schema":{"type":"integer"}},"X-RateLimit-Reset":{"description":"The remaining window before the rate limit resets in milliseconds","schema":{"type":"integer"}},"X-Request-ID":{"description":"A unique identifier for the request","schema":{"type":"string","format":"uuid"}}},"content":{"application/json":{"schema":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkCreateSubscribers.Response"}}}},"400":{"$ref":"#/components/responses/BadRequestError"},"401":{"$ref":"#/components/responses/UnauthorizedError"},"403":{"$ref":"#/components/responses/ForbiddenError"},"429":{"$ref":"#/components/responses/RateLimitError"},"500":{"$ref":"#/components/responses/InternalServerError"}},"requestBody":{"content":{"application/json":{"schema":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkCreateSubscribers.Request"}}},"required":true},"parameters":[{"name":"createOnly","in":"query","required":false,"schema":{"type":"string"}}]}}}} ``` ## Bulk Update Subscribers This endpoint is used to update many subscriber accounts in one request. The `number` field is used to identify the subscriber record to be updated , if no `number` is provided then `email` will be used an identifier. One of these fields must be provided to identify the subscriber record to be updated. ### Subscriber Request Body Records of subscribers should be in an array.
NameTypeDescription
firstNamestringFirst name of the subscriber.
lastNamestringLast name of the subscriber.
numbernumberPhone number of the subscriber. E.164 formatted strings are recommended to avoid confusion.
email stringEmail address of the subscriber.
e164Numberstring

E.164 international telephone number of the subscriber. If supplied, will be used over number .

E.164 Format:

[+] [country code] [subscriber number including area code] (max. 15 digits)

groupIdsnumber[]List of group ids of the groups the subscriber belongs to.
subscriberFieldsdictionary: subscriberFieldIds:string as the keys and data: string corresponding values

A dictionary of key value pairs of additional custom subscriber attributes for the subscriber.

Example: 

"subscriberFields": {
    "2000": "January 1st, 2000",
    "2001": "Custom Field Data"
}
## Bulk Update Subscribers > \# Record Limit > \\ > > \ > This endpoint will accept a maximum of \`1,000\` records in a single request. > \ > \ > \ > \# Rate Limiting\ > \ > This endpoint overrides the general rate limit with an account rate limit. Requests are limited by the authenticated account instead of the IP address. This endpoint is limited to \`15\` requests every \`15\` seconds ```json {"openapi":"3.0.0","info":{"title":"Mobile Text Alerts API","version":"8.0.0"},"servers":[{"url":"https://api.mobile-text-alerts.com/v3"}],"security":[{"bearerAuth":[]}],"components":{"securitySchemes":{"bearerAuth":{"type":"http","scheme":"bearer","bearerFormat":"apiKey"}},"schemas":{"BulkUpdateSubscribers.Response":{"allOf":[{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/IApiResponse"},{"type":"object","properties":{"data":{"type":"object","properties":{"totalRecordCount":{"type":"number"},"updatedRecordCount":{"type":"number"},"errorRecordCount":{"type":"number"},"updatedRecords":{"type":"array","items":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.ResponseRecord"}},"errorRecords":{"type":"array","items":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.ErrorRecord"}}},"required":["totalRecordCount","updatedRecordCount","errorRecordCount","updatedRecords","errorRecords"]}},"required":["data"]}]},"IApiResponse":{"type":"object","properties":{"success":{"type":"boolean"},"error":{"type":"string"},"message":{"type":"string"},"data":{}}},"BulkUpdateSubscribers.ResponseRecord":{"oneOf":[{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.ResponseDataWithId"},{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.ResponseDataWithPhoneNumber"},{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.ResponseDataWithEmail"}]},"BulkUpdateSubscribers.ResponseDataWithId":{"allOf":[{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.BaseResponseDataType"},{"type":"object","properties":{"id":{"type":"number"}},"required":["id"]}]},"BulkUpdateSubscribers.BaseResponseDataType":{"type":"object","properties":{"record":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/IPublicNumber"}},"required":["record"]},"IPublicNumber":{"type":"object","properties":{"id":{"type":"number"},"firstName":{"type":"string"},"lastName":{"type":"string"},"email":{"type":"string"},"number":{"type":"number"},"e164Number":{"type":"string"},"date":{"oneOf":[{"format":"date-time","type":"string"},{"type":"string"}]},"countryId":{"type":"number"},"groups":{"type":"array","items":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/IPublicGroupName"}},"subscriberFieldData":{"type":"array","items":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/IPublicSubscriberFieldDatum"}},"signupMethod":{"type":"number","nullable":true},"longNumber":{"type":"number"},"carrierId":{"type":"number"}},"required":["id","firstName","lastName","email","number","date","countryId","groups","subscriberFieldData","signupMethod","longNumber","carrierId"]},"IPublicGroupName":{"type":"object","properties":{"id":{"type":"number"},"name":{"type":"string"},"addedToGroupAt":{"oneOf":[{"format":"date-time","type":"string"},{"type":"string"}]}},"required":["id","name"]},"IPublicSubscriberFieldDatum":{"type":"object","properties":{"id":{"type":"number"},"subscriberFieldId":{"type":"number"},"data":{"type":"string"}},"required":["id","subscriberFieldId","data"]},"BulkUpdateSubscribers.ResponseDataWithPhoneNumber":{"allOf":[{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.BaseResponseDataType"},{"type":"object","properties":{"phoneNumber":{"type":"string"}},"required":["phoneNumber"]}]},"BulkUpdateSubscribers.ResponseDataWithEmail":{"allOf":[{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.BaseResponseDataType"},{"type":"object","properties":{"email":{"type":"string"}},"required":["email"]}]},"BulkUpdateSubscribers.ErrorRecord":{"oneOf":[{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.ErrorDataWithId"},{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.ErrorDataWithPhoneNumber"},{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.ErrorDataWithEmail"}]},"BulkUpdateSubscribers.ErrorDataWithId":{"allOf":[{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.BaseErrorDataType"},{"type":"object","properties":{"id":{"type":"number"}},"required":["id"]}]},"BulkUpdateSubscribers.BaseErrorDataType":{"type":"object","properties":{"error":{"type":"string"}},"required":["error"]},"BulkUpdateSubscribers.ErrorDataWithPhoneNumber":{"allOf":[{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.BaseErrorDataType"},{"type":"object","properties":{"phoneNumber":{"type":"string"}},"required":["phoneNumber"]}]},"BulkUpdateSubscribers.ErrorDataWithEmail":{"allOf":[{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.BaseErrorDataType"},{"type":"object","properties":{"email":{"type":"string"}},"required":["email"]}]},"BulkUpdateSubscribers.Request":{"type":"array","items":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.RequestRecord"}},"BulkUpdateSubscribers.RequestRecord":{"oneOf":[{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.RequestWithId"},{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.RequestWithPhoneNumber"},{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.RequestWithEmail"}]},"BulkUpdateSubscribers.RequestWithId":{"allOf":[{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.BaseRequest"},{"type":"object","properties":{"id":{"type":"number"}},"required":["id"]}]},"BulkUpdateSubscribers.BaseRequest":{"type":"object","properties":{"record":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/UpdateSubscriber.Request"}},"required":["record"]},"UpdateSubscriber.Request":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/CreateSubscriber.Request"},"CreateSubscriber.Request":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/INewNumber"},"INewNumber":{"type":"object","properties":{"firstName":{"type":"string"},"lastName":{"type":"string"},"email":{"type":"string"},"number":{"oneOf":[{"type":"number"},{"type":"string"}]},"e164Number":{"type":"string"},"groupIds":{"type":"array","items":{"type":"number"}},"subscriberFields":{"type":"object","additionalProperties":{"type":"string"}},"employeeNumber":{"type":"string"},"welcomeMessage":{"type":"string"}}},"BulkUpdateSubscribers.RequestWithPhoneNumber":{"allOf":[{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.BaseRequest"},{"type":"object","properties":{"phoneNumber":{"type":"string"}},"required":["phoneNumber"]}]},"BulkUpdateSubscribers.RequestWithEmail":{"allOf":[{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.BaseRequest"},{"type":"object","properties":{"email":{"type":"string"}},"required":["email"]}]}},"responses":{"BadRequestError":{"description":"BadRequestError","content":{"application/json":{"schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"httpCode":{"type":"number","enum":[400]},"message":{"type":"string"},"timestamp":{"type":"string","format":"date-time"},"type":{"type":"string","enum":["bad_request_error"]},"name":{"type":"string","enum":["MTABadRequestError"]},"requestId":{"type":"string","format":"uuid"}}}}}},"UnauthorizedError":{"description":"UnauthorizedError","content":{"application/json":{"schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"httpCode":{"type":"number","enum":[401]},"message":{"type":"string"},"timestamp":{"type":"string","format":"date-time"},"type":{"type":"string","enum":["unauthorized_error"]},"name":{"type":"string","enum":["MTAUnauthorizedError"]},"requestId":{"type":"string","format":"uuid"}}}}}},"ForbiddenError":{"description":"ForbiddenError","content":{"application/json":{"schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"httpCode":{"type":"number","enum":[403]},"message":{"type":"string"},"timestamp":{"type":"string","format":"date-time"},"type":{"type":"string","enum":["forbidden_error"]},"name":{"type":"string","enum":["MTAForbiddenError"]},"requestId":{"type":"string","format":"uuid"},"reason":{}}}}}},"RateLimitError":{"description":"RateLimitError","content":{"application/json":{"schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"httpCode":{"type":"number","enum":[429]},"message":{"type":"string"},"timestamp":{"type":"string","format":"date-time"},"type":{"type":"string","enum":["rate_limit_error"]},"name":{"type":"string","enum":["MTARateLimitError"]},"requestId":{"type":"string","format":"uuid"}}}}}},"InternalServerError":{"description":"InternalServerError","content":{"application/json":{"schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"httpCode":{"type":"number","enum":[500]},"message":{"type":"string"},"timestamp":{"type":"string","format":"date-time"},"type":{"type":"string","enum":["internal_server_error"]},"name":{"type":"string","enum":["MTAInternalServerError"]},"requestId":{"type":"string","format":"uuid"}}}}}}}},"paths":{"/subscribers/bulk":{"patch":{"tags":["Subscribers"],"summary":"Bulk Update Subscribers","description":"# Record Limit\r\n\r\nThis endpoint will accept a maximum of `1,000` records in a single request.\r\n\n\n# Rate Limiting\n\nThis endpoint overrides the general rate limit with an account rate limit. Requests are limited by the authenticated account instead of the IP address. This endpoint is limited to `15` requests every `15` seconds","operationId":"subscribers_bulk_update_subscribers","responses":{"200":{"description":"Success","headers":{"RateLimit-Limit":{"description":"The maximum number of requests that the consumer is permitted to make per window","schema":{"type":"integer"}},"RateLimit-Remaining":{"description":"The number of requests remaining in the current rate limit window","schema":{"type":"integer"}},"RateLimit-Reset":{"description":"The remaining window before the rate limit resets in milliseconds","schema":{"type":"integer"}},"Retry-After":{"description":"The number of seconds to wait before retrying the request","schema":{"type":"integer"}},"X-RateLimit-Limit":{"description":"The maximum number of requests that the consumer is permitted to make per window","schema":{"type":"integer"}},"X-RateLimit-Remaining":{"description":"The number of requests remaining in the current rate limit window","schema":{"type":"integer"}},"X-RateLimit-Reset":{"description":"The remaining window before the rate limit resets in milliseconds","schema":{"type":"integer"}},"X-Request-ID":{"description":"A unique identifier for the request","schema":{"type":"string","format":"uuid"}}},"content":{"application/json":{"schema":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.Response"}}}},"400":{"$ref":"#/components/responses/BadRequestError"},"401":{"$ref":"#/components/responses/UnauthorizedError"},"403":{"$ref":"#/components/responses/ForbiddenError"},"429":{"$ref":"#/components/responses/RateLimitError"},"500":{"$ref":"#/components/responses/InternalServerError"}},"requestBody":{"content":{"application/json":{"schema":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/BulkUpdateSubscribers.Request"}}},"required":true}}}}} ``` --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://developers.mobile-text-alerts.com/tutorials/manage-subscribers/bulk-create-update-subscribers.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.