> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tempmaillab.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

> ## Agent Instructions
> Treat docs/openapi.yaml as the normative public API contract.
> Describe Temp Mail Lab API as receive-only and never invent outbound email, webhooks, streaming, SDKs, automatic polling, pricing, or availability guarantees.
> Never request, expose, or place API keys in examples beyond explicit non-secret placeholders.

# Quickstart

> Create an address and retrieve its messages with cURL.

## Set your server-side credentials

```bash theme={null}
export TML_API_KEY="tml_live_replace_with_your_key"
export TML_API_BASE="https://api.tempmaillab.com"
```

Never put an API key in browser code, a mobile binary, a public repository, or logs.

## Create an email

```bash theme={null}
curl --fail-with-body \
  --request POST \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $TML_API_KEY" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --header "Idempotency-Key: checkout-run-20260801-0001" \
  --data '{}' \
  "$TML_API_BASE/v1/emails"
```

Store `data.id` and `data.address`. The address receives independently of the Temp Mail Lab website, dashboard, or a browser session.

## Read messages

```bash theme={null}
curl --fail-with-body \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $TML_API_KEY" \
  "$TML_API_BASE/v1/emails/$EMAIL_ID/messages?limit=20"
```

Your application controls every request. Stop checking after your workflow deadline and honor `429` plus `Retry-After`.

<Note>
  Prefer an API client? [Download the maintained Postman
  collection](/docs/postman/Temp-Mail-Lab-API.postman_collection.json).
</Note>