POST /find_personal_email • Credits: 5 credits per call

The RichAPI Find Personal Email API returns a person's personal email address, such as a private Gmail or Outlook mailbox. Send one LinkedIn profile URL in the linkedin_url parameter to POST https://api.richapi.ai/api/v1/find_personal_email. The response holds two fields: first_personal_email and message. One call costs 5 credits ($0.10). RichAPI charges those 5 credits for every 200 response, even for a response that holds no address.

What does the Find Personal Email API do?

The Find Personal Email API answers one question: which private mailbox belongs to this person? You already know the person's LinkedIn profile. You send that profile URL, and RichAPI returns the personal address that its data provider holds for that profile. The API needs no name, no company, and no domain. It reads the LinkedIn profile URL alone. The call is synchronous, so one HTTP request returns the result. There is no job identifier and there is no polling step.

Find Personal Email or Email Finder: which one do you need?

The Find Personal Email API and the Email Finder API return different kinds of address at the same price. Find Personal Email returns a private mailbox. Email Finder returns a work mailbox at the person's employer. Pick the endpoint that matches the mailbox you want to reach.

Feature	Find Personal Email	Email Finder
Kind of address returned	Personal, that is a private mailbox	Work, that is a company mailbox
Path	`/find_personal_email`	`/email_finder`
Accepted input	`linkedin_url` only	`first_name` plus `last_name` plus `company_domain`, or `linkedin_url`
Provider model	One data provider	Waterfall across several data providers
Cost per call	5 credits, that is $0.10	5 credits, that is $0.10
Cost for a call that finds no address	5 credits on a `200` response	0 credits
Response shape	Flat object: `first_personal_email`, `message`	Envelope: `success`, `result`, `provider`, `providers_tried`, `execution_log`
Names the provider that answered	No	Yes, in the `provider` field

The billing row is the important difference. Email Finder runs a waterfall, and RichAPI charges a waterfall call only for a call that finds an address. Find Personal Email runs no waterfall, so the standard RichAPI rule applies: RichAPI charges every 2xx response.

What are the privacy duties for a personal email address?

The Find Personal Email API returns a private mailbox address that belongs to a natural person. A personal address carries more privacy risk than a work address, and more data protection law applies to it. You are responsible for a lawful basis for the lookup, for the storage of the address, and for every message that you send to it. This article states what the endpoint returns. It gives no legal advice.

Which endpoint does the Find Personal Email API use?

Method: POST
URL: https://api.richapi.ai/api/v1/find_personal_email
Authentication: x-api-key header
Response: synchronous JSON
Credits: 5 credits per call
Success status: 200

How to send a Find Personal Email request

Copy your API key from the RichAPI dashboard.
Set the x-api-key header to your API key.
Set the Content-Type header to application/json.
Set the linkedin_url parameter to the person's LinkedIn profile URL.
Send a POST request to https://api.richapi.ai/api/v1/find_personal_email.
Read first_personal_email in the response.
If first_personal_email is empty, read message for the reason.

CAUTION: RichAPI charges 5 credits for every 200 response from Find Personal Email. A response that holds an empty first_personal_email costs the same 5 credits.

cURL

curl -X POST https://api.richapi.ai/api/v1/find_personal_email   
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"   
  -H "Content-Type: application/json"   
  -d '{
    "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/johndoe"
  }'

Python

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.richapi.ai/api/v1/find_personal_email",
    headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
    json={"linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/johndoe"},
    timeout=60,
)
response.raise_for_status()
data = response.json()

if data.get("first_personal_email"):
    print(data["first_personal_email"])
else:
    print(data.get("message"))

Node.js

const response = await fetch("https://api.richapi.ai/api/v1/find_personal_email", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    linkedin_url: "https://www.linkedin.com/in/johndoe",
  }),
});

const data = await response.json();

if (data.first_personal_email) {
  console.log(data.first_personal_email);
} else {
  console.log(data.message);
}

Which parameters does the Find Personal Email API accept?

The Find Personal Email API accepts one parameter. It reads one LinkedIn profile per call.

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
`linkedin_url`	string	Yes	`""`	The LinkedIn profile URL of the person, for example `https://www.linkedin.com/in/johndoe`.

The request body must hold linkedin_url and no other key. A body that holds an unknown key returns 400 with the message Unknown input field(s): <name>. A body without linkedin_url returns 400 with the message Missing required field: linkedin_url. Neither 400 costs a credit.

Which name does each RichAPI surface use for the input?

The parameter name is linkedin_url in the request body, in the dashboard, in the MCP tool find_personal_email, and in the n8n operation find_personal_email.

Surface	Name to use
RichAPI request body	`linkedin_url`
RichAPI dashboard and automation editor	`linkedin_url`
MCP tool and n8n operation	`linkedin_url`

What does the Find Personal Email API return?

The Find Personal Email API returns a flat JSON object with two fields. The following block is an example response for a profile with a known personal address.

{
  "first_personal_email": "[email protected]",
  "message": "Personal email found"
}

What does each Find Personal Email response field mean?

Field	Type	Description
`first_personal_email`	string	The personal email address that the data provider holds for the LinkedIn profile. When the provider holds no address, the value is empty.
`message`	string	The status message for the lookup. When `first_personal_email` is empty, read this message for the reason.

How much does the Find Personal Email API cost?

The Find Personal Email API costs 5 credits per call. One credit costs $0.02 on the 1,000 and 5,000 credit packs, so one call costs $0.10 there. Larger packs cost less per credit. RichAPI charges the 5 credits on every 2xx response, whatever the value of first_personal_email.

Calls	Credits	Cost
1	5	$0.10
100	500	$10.00
1,000	5,000	$100.00
10,000	50,000	$1,000.00

Budget for the full call volume and not for the hit count. A run of 1,000 lookups costs 5,000 credits, that is $100.00, at any hit rate. An Email Finder miss is free. So the same 1,000 lookups through the Email Finder API at a 60 percent hit rate cost 3,000 credits, that is $60.00.

When does the Find Personal Email API charge credits?

The Find Personal Email API follows the standard RichAPI billing rule. RichAPI charges the 5 credits for a 2xx response and charges 0 credits for every other status.

Outcome	Response	Credits charged
An address is found.	`200` with a value in `first_personal_email`	5
No address is found, and the provider answers with a `2xx` status.	`200` with an empty `first_personal_email`	5
The request body failed validation.	`400`	0
The API key is missing, wrong, or without access.	`401` or `403`	0
The organization has too few credits, or the team hit its monthly spend limit.	`402`	0
The API or the provider failed.	`5xx`	0

Find Personal Email is not a waterfall endpoint. The rule that makes a miss free applies to Email Finder API and Phone Finder API.

Which errors does the Find Personal Email API return?

Status	Meaning	What to do
`400`	The request body is missing `linkedin_url`, holds an unknown key, or is not valid JSON.	Read the `error` field and the `supported_fields` field in the response. Send `linkedin_url` alone.
`401`	The API key is missing, wrong or revoked.	Send a valid key in the `x-api-key` header.
`402`	`Insufficient credits`: the organization has too few credits for this call. Or `Monthly spend limit reached`: the team hit its monthly spend limit.	Buy credits in the RichAPI dashboard, or ask the organization owner to raise the spend limit, then send the request again.
`403`	`Endpoint not available on your plan`: this API key has no access to this endpoint.	Call `GET /api/v1/my-endpoints` to list the endpoints this key can use. Contact support for access.
`405`	The request used a method other than `POST`.	Send the request again with `POST`.
`429`	Too many requests.	Read the `Retry-After` header. Wait that many seconds, then send the request again.
`500`	The API failed.	Send the request again. If the failure repeats, contact support.
`502`	RichAPI did not reach the data provider.	Wait a few minutes, then send the request again.

RichAPI charges no credits for any of these errors.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Find Personal Email API charge credits for a call that finds no email?

Yes. The Find Personal Email API charges 5 credits for every 200 response, even for a response with an empty first_personal_email. This differs from the Email Finder API, which charges 0 credits for a miss because it runs a provider waterfall.

What is the difference between Find Personal Email and Email Finder?

The Find Personal Email API returns a private mailbox address from a LinkedIn profile URL. The Email Finder API returns a work mailbox address at the person's employer, from a name plus a company domain or from a LinkedIn URL. Both cost 5 credits per call.

Which input does the Find Personal Email API need?

The Find Personal Email API needs one parameter: linkedin_url. Send the LinkedIn profile URL of the person, for example https://www.linkedin.com/in/johndoe. The API accepts no name, no company, and no domain.

How much does the Find Personal Email API cost per lookup?

The Find Personal Email API costs 5 credits per lookup, that is $0.10 at $0.02 per credit. A run of 1,000 lookups costs 5,000 credits, that is $100.00, at any hit rate.

Is the Find Personal Email API synchronous?

Yes. The Find Personal Email API returns the address in the same HTTP response. There is no job identifier and there is no polling step. Set a client timeout of 60 seconds.

Can I check whether the personal email address is deliverable?

Yes. Pass the value of first_personal_email to the Email Verifier API at 2 credits per address. The Find Personal Email API returns the address alone and runs no deliverability check.

Does a repeat lookup for the same profile cost credits again?

Yes. Every 2xx response costs 5 credits, and a repeat lookup for the same LinkedIn profile URL is a new call. Cache the result on your side to avoid a second charge for the same person.