Render a template's source for a kind without keeping it

POST /email-templates/render

Render a template's source for a kind (a layout around previewKind's email) without keeping it — the editor's live preview, and how an agent checks a draft before saving it: answers the subject, the inbox preview, the html and its plain-text twin, rendered against data (as the kind's template data schema carries it) or the kind's sample.

422 TemplateInvalid with the stage, reason and line. A template is a TSX module in react-email's dialect: it exports subject (a string, or a function of the data), optionally preview, and the email as its default export — a function of the kind's template data returning react-email components (Html, Body, Container, Section, Row, Column, Heading, Text, Button, Link, Img, Hr, …) and plain HTML elements, imported from @manifold/email with the helpers money, date and plural (GET /email-templates/catalog answers the full declarations). It runs in a sandbox — no network, files, timers or other modules, 250 ms and 16 MB a render — and what it returns is held to the dialect: no script, event handler or class, links https:/http:/mailto:/tel:, images https:. Appends nothing: a render is a read of what the source would send, and the request row is acknowledged rather than committed. No idempotency key: a render records nothing, so a retry is simply another render.

Access

Requires settings:write or notifications:write.

Any one of these scopes is enough.

How scopes come from roles: Scopes and roles. Getting a token: Authentication and app tokens.

Retries

No idempotency key: a render records nothing, so a retry is simply another render.

Why every write carries a key: Idempotency and retries.

Facts appended

None. This call records nothing in a journal.

What a fact is: Facts and the journal.

AI agent tool

Agents call this as notifications_preview_email_template (Notifications: Preview an email template), in the notifications toolset.

Connecting an agent: AI agents.

Example

curl

curl -X POST 'https://notifications.getmanifold.io/email-templates/render' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $MANIFOLD_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "kind": "invoice",
  "source": "import { Container, Heading, Text, money } from \"@manifold/email\";\nexport const subject = (data) => `Invoice ${data.invoice.number} from ${data.shop.name}`;\nexport default function Invoice(data) {\n  return (\n    <Container>\n      <Heading>Thanks, {data.customer?.firstName ?? \"there\"}</Heading>\n      <Text>{money(data.invoice.totals.totalCents, data.invoice.currency)} is due.</Text>\n    </Container>\n  );\n}\n"
}'

JavaScript (fetch)

const response = await fetch("https://notifications.getmanifold.io/email-templates/render", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.MANIFOLD_TOKEN}`, "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "kind": "invoice",
    "source": "import { Container, Heading, Text, money } from \"@manifold/email\";\nexport const subject = (data) => `Invoice ${data.invoice.number} from ${data.shop.name}`;\nexport default function Invoice(data) {\n  return (\n    <Container>\n      <Heading>Thanks, {data.customer?.firstName ?? \"there\"}</Heading>\n      <Text>{money(data.invoice.totals.totalCents, data.invoice.currency)} is due.</Text>\n    </Container>\n  );\n}\n"
  }),
});
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`${response.status}: ${await response.text()}`);
const answer = await response.json();

Request body · application/json

{
  "kind": "invoice",
  "source": "import { Container, Heading, Text, money } from \"@manifold/email\";\nexport const subject = (data) => `Invoice ${data.invoice.number} from ${data.shop.name}`;\nexport default function Invoice(data) {\n  return (\n    <Container>\n      <Heading>Thanks, {data.customer?.firstName ?? \"there\"}</Heading>\n      <Text>{money(data.invoice.totals.totalCents, data.invoice.currency)} is due.</Text>\n    </Container>\n  );\n}\n"
}

Response · 200 · application/json

{
  "subject": "Invoice INV-1042 from Ridgeline Outdoor",
  "html": "<!DOCTYPE html …>",
  "text": "THANKS, MAYA\n\n$618.30 is due.",
  "durationMs": 41
}

The panel writes this call in other languages. It does not send it: Manifold's APIs do not take calls from a web page on another site, so run the call from your own code or terminal. The whole API as OpenAPI: notifications-manager.openapi.json. Base URL https://notifications.getmanifold.io.

Errors

Every refusal is a status and a JSON body whose _tag names it. A refused call changes nothing.

`401`

Refusal	What it means	What to do
`Unauthorized` reason	The token is missing, expired or not one Manifold issued.	Get a fresh token and send the call again.
`TokenAlreadyUsed` tokenId	A single-use app token was already spent.	Mint a new token for this call.

`402`

Refusal	What it means	What to do
`SubscriptionRequired` status	The organization's subscription has lapsed, so writes are refused.	An owner settles billing. Reads still work meanwhile.

`403`

Refusal	What it means	What to do
`TenantRequired` userId	The token names no organization.	Choose the organization, then get a new token.
`ScopeRequired` required	The token's roles do not grant the scope this call needs.	Ask an owner or admin for a role that grants it.

`409`

Refusal	What it means	What to do
`MirroredFromSource` source	This area is fed by your source system until the organization goes live.	Make the change in the source system, or go live first.

`422`

Refusal	What it means	What to do
`TemplateInvalid` stage, reason, line, column	With the `stage`, reason and `line`.	Fix the request. Sending it again unchanged gets the same answer.

`503`

Refusal	What it means	What to do
`RequestLogUnavailable` tokenId, reason	The service could not record the request, so it did nothing.	Send the same request again shortly.

How refusals work everywhere: Errors.

Used in

Design your own emails, step 4: Preview a draft