> ## 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.

# Receive your first email

> A safe, bounded workflow from address creation to private content retrieval.

1. Call `POST /v1/emails` once with a unique idempotency key.
2. Send an email to the returned address from the external system you are testing.
3. Call `GET /v1/emails/{email_id}/messages` at a conservative interval chosen by your application.
4. Stop after a bounded deadline. The API does not run an automatic polling job.
5. Retrieve one message with `GET /v1/messages/{message_id}`.
6. Download raw source or an attachment only if your workflow needs it.

Messages and all private content expire 15 minutes after receipt. Email reservations last 30 days. An address is never assigned again.

<Warning>
  Email is untrusted input. Keep rendered HTML isolated and treat subjects,
  addresses, filenames, raw source, and attachments as hostile data.
</Warning>