Manage Custom Fields

View and update the contact structure that determines which fields are available on your contacts.

Goal

By the end of this guide you will be able to retrieve your contact structure with its fields and tags, and update it to add or modify custom fields.

Prerequisites

An API key with contacts:write scope (for updating the structure) or contacts:read scope (for read-only access)
Your API base URL (found on the Settings > API Keys page)

Background

A contact structure defines the schema for your contacts. It includes:

A key name and key type — the primary identifier for contacts (typically “Email” of type “email”)
Fields — custom fields like First Name, Last Name, Company, Phone, etc.
Tags — label definitions that can be assigned to contacts

Every contact belongs to exactly one contact structure. Your account has a default contact structure that was created when the account was set up. Note: Creating new contact structures via API key is not supported. Use the Benchmark Email web application to create additional structures if needed. API keys can read and update existing structures.

Steps

1. List all contact structures

Retrieve all contact structures in your account.

curl "<your-api-base-url>/api/contact-structure" \
  -H "X-API-Key: bme_us_a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0k1l2m3n4o5p6q7r8s9t0u1v"

Response (200 OK):

[
  {
    "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e1",
    "label": "Default Contacts",
    "keyName": "Email",
    "keyType": "email",
    "fields": [
      {
        "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d100",
        "label": "First Name",
        "dataType": "text",
        "required": false,
        "predefinedField": "firstName"
      },
      {
        "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d101",
        "label": "Last Name",
        "dataType": "text",
        "required": false,
        "predefinedField": "lastName"
      },
      {
        "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d102",
        "label": "Company",
        "dataType": "text",
        "required": false
      }
    ],
    "tags": [
      {
        "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d300",
        "label": "VIP"
      },
      {
        "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d301",
        "label": "Prospect"
      }
    ]
  }
]

Key takeaway: The _id values of the fields array are what you use when creating or updating contacts and when searching by custom field values.

2. Get a specific contact structure

Retrieve a single contact structure by its ID.

curl "<your-api-base-url>/api/contact-structure/64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e1" \
  -H "X-API-Key: bme_us_a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0k1l2m3n4o5p6q7r8s9t0u1v"

Response (200 OK):

{
  "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e1",
  "label": "Default Contacts",
  "keyName": "Email",
  "keyType": "email",
  "fields": [
    {
      "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d100",
      "label": "First Name",
      "dataType": "text",
      "required": false,
      "predefinedField": "firstName"
    },
    {
      "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d101",
      "label": "Last Name",
      "dataType": "text",
      "required": false,
      "predefinedField": "lastName"
    },
    {
      "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d102",
      "label": "Company",
      "dataType": "text",
      "required": false
    }
  ],
  "tags": [
    { "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d300", "label": "VIP" },
    { "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d301", "label": "Prospect" }
  ],
  "__v": 3
}

3. Update a contact structure

Use PUT to update a contact structure. This replaces the full structure, so include all existing fields plus any changes. Include the current __v value for optimistic concurrency control. Adding a new “Loyalty Tier” field to an existing structure:

curl -X PUT "<your-api-base-url>/api/contact-structure/64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e1" \
  -H "X-API-Key: bme_us_a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0k1l2m3n4o5p6q7r8s9t0u1v" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "label": "Default Contacts",
    "keyName": "Email",
    "fields": [
      {
        "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d100",
        "label": "First Name",
        "dataType": "text",
        "required": false,
        "predefinedField": "firstName"
      },
      {
        "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d101",
        "label": "Last Name",
        "dataType": "text",
        "required": false,
        "predefinedField": "lastName"
      },
      {
        "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d102",
        "label": "Company",
        "dataType": "text",
        "required": false
      },
      {
        "label": "Loyalty Tier",
        "dataType": "text",
        "required": false
      }
    ],
    "tags": [
      { "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d300", "label": "VIP" },
      { "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d301", "label": "Prospect" }
    ],
    "__v": 3
  }'

Response (200 OK):

{
  "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e1",
  "label": "Default Contacts",
  "keyName": "Email",
  "keyType": "email",
  "fields": [
    { "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d100", "label": "First Name", "dataType": "text", "required": false, "predefinedField": "firstName" },
    { "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d101", "label": "Last Name", "dataType": "text", "required": false, "predefinedField": "lastName" },
    { "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d102", "label": "Company", "dataType": "text", "required": false },
    { "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d103", "label": "Loyalty Tier", "dataType": "text", "required": false }
  ],
  "tags": [
    { "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d300", "label": "VIP" },
    { "_id": "64a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d301", "label": "Prospect" }
  ],
  "__v": 4
}

Supported field data types:

text — free-text string
number — numeric value
date — date value
boolean — true/false
recurrent_date — recurring date (month/day)

Predefined fields: Use predefinedField to map standard fields like firstName, lastName. These enable features like merge tags in email campaigns. Important notes:

PUT is a full replacement. Include all existing fields you want to keep, or they will be removed.
When adding a new field, omit _id — the server generates it.
When keeping existing fields, include their _id to preserve them.
Include the current __v value for optimistic concurrency control.
Removing a field that is referenced by a published signup form will return a 400 error with details about which forms are affected.

Common Errors

Status	Error	Cause	Fix
`401`	`UnauthorizedError`	Invalid or inactive API key	Verify your key in Settings > API Keys
`403`	`ForbiddenError`	Key lacks `contacts:write` scope	Update operations require `contacts:write`
`403`	`ForbiddenError`	Attempted to create a new contact structure via API key	Creating contact structures is not available via API key. Use the web application
`400`	`ValidationError`	Missing required properties (`label`, `keyName`), or invalid field `dataType`	Check request body against the schema requirements
`400`	`ContactFieldInUseError`	Tried to remove a field used by a signup form	Update or unpublish the affected form first. The error response includes `debug.affectedForms` with form IDs and names
`404`	`RecordNotFound`	Contact structure ID does not exist	Verify the structure ID
`429`	`TooManyRequestsError`	Rate limit exceeded	Wait for the `Retry-After` period. See Rate Limits

Next Steps

Manage Contacts — create contacts using the field IDs from your structure
Manage Lists — create lists within a contact structure
Search Contacts — search by custom field values
Migration from Legacy — set up your structure before importing data

Get Started

Scenarios

Goal

Prerequisites

Background

Steps

1. List all contact structures

2. Get a specific contact structure

3. Update a contact structure

Common Errors

Next Steps

​Goal

​Prerequisites

​Background

​Steps

​1. List all contact structures

​2. Get a specific contact structure

​3. Update a contact structure

​Common Errors

​Next Steps

Goal

Prerequisites

Background

Steps

1. List all contact structures

2. Get a specific contact structure

3. Update a contact structure

Common Errors

Next Steps