# messages.send

Send a message to another connected business on Economico, including support messages. This queues delivery to the recipient; use only on the user's instruction.

## What it does

Send a message to a business this one has a relationship with on Economico, named as a party in these books. Today that relationship is the Economico service agreement, so this is how an agent files a support request (something is broken, unclear or you are stuck) or a feature suggestion (something Economico cannot do yet) with the Economico team: omit `to` and it goes to Economico. A demo business writes to Economico only, with topic support or feature_suggestion, a few times a day at most, and gets no reply.

Reply to a message you received with `inReplyTo` (the recipient, topic and a Re: subject follow from it), and point at the documents it concerns — an invoice, a statement, an agreement — with `about`; the recipient's books find their own copy by content. The message is recorded in this business's history with status `sent` (queued) and delivered into the recipient's books, whose owners are emailed; its record then says `delivered`, or `undeliverable` with the reason, so report delivery only once it does.

Describe the problem in your own words with the context needed to act; never include secrets or credentials, because the message is kept permanently in both businesses' histories.

## Before you send it

An authorized OAuth connection may call it, including a headless client. Effective membership, application grant and token permissions still apply. Describe `messages.send` through `GET /v1/catalog/commands/{name}` before acting.

This command does not accept `source_document_id` in its envelope. Any input evidence requirements remain as documented below.

## Inputs

Put these fields inside the envelope's `input` object. The outer envelope names the command, a stable `idempotency_key` and `effective_at`; [request and recovery rules](/docs/api/) explain those separately. Use exact minor-unit integer strings for monetary fields. Take existing IDs from prior reads or command results; choose a new identity only where the command asks for one.

Required means required within its containing object; an optional parent can be omitted.

| Field | Type | Required | Meaning and accepted values |
|---|---|---|---|
| `to` | string | No | The recipient's party id in these books; it must be a party this business holds a platform-bound agreement with. Omit it to write to Economico (the only recipient a demo business has; the result then names no party). Minimum length: `1`. |
| `topic` | string | No | support: something is broken, unclear or you are stuck. feature_suggestion: a capability Economico does not have yet. general: anything else. Choose `"support"`, `"feature_suggestion"`, `"general"`. Example: `"feature_suggestion"`. |
| `inReplyTo` | string | No | The id of a message this business received. The reply goes to its sender; topic and subject default from it. Minimum length: `1`. |
| `about` | array | No | Document ids in these books the message is about, such as an invoice you received. Items: string. Maximum items: `10`. |
| `subject` | string | No |  Minimum length: `1`. Maximum length: `200`. Example: `"Import CSV bank statements"`. |
| `body` | string | Yes |  Minimum length: `1`. Maximum length: `5000`. Example: `"I wanted to import last month's bank statement as CSV and found no command for it."`. |
| `context` | object | No | Optional structured detail about what you were doing, such as the tool or workflow you attempted.  |

## After acceptance

When the command emits events, its documented effects and receipt are recorded in the command transaction. The response returns `commandId`, `replayed`, the command-specific `result` below and emitted `events` with their IDs and CIDs. A command is not automatically a cash movement or revenue recognition: use the behavior above to determine what this command records.

Inspect `result` and the affected records or reports before continuing. Save returned identifiers for later calls. Fetch `GET /v1/commands/{id}` with `commandId` to recover the accepted receipt; retry the same intent with the same idempotency key if the response was lost. Some commands can succeed with `events: []` and return a transient result and `commandId` without persisting a receipt. A lookup of that ID can return null; retain the returned result and verify the affected record. Retrying can re-evaluate the current state rather than replay a stored result. A domain `no_change` is a separate success outcome with no persisted receipt.

### Result fields

Required means required within its containing object; an optional parent can be omitted.

| Field | Type | Required | Meaning and accepted values |
|---|---|---|---|
| `messageId` | string | Yes |  Minimum length: `1`. |
| `direction` | string | Yes |  Choose `"outbound"`. |
| `status` | string | Yes |  Choose `"sent"`. |
| `to` | string | No |  Minimum length: `1`. |
| `toName` | string | Yes |   |
| `relationship` | object | Yes |   |
| `relationship.contractId` | string | No |   |
| `relationship.agreementId` | string | No |   |
| `relationship.connectionId` | string | No |   |
| `relationship.demo` | boolean | No |  Must be `true`. |
| `topic` | string | Yes |  Choose `"support"`, `"feature_suggestion"`, `"general"`. |
| `subject` | string | Yes |   |
| `body` | string | Yes |   |
| `context` | object | No |   |
| `about` | array | No |  Items: object. |
| `about[].cid` | string | Yes |   |
| `about[].kind` | string | Yes |   |
| `about[].title` | string | No |   |
| `about[].documentId` | string | No |   |
| `inReplyTo` | object | No |   |
| `inReplyTo.messageId` | string | Yes |   |
| `inReplyTo.sourceMessageId` | string | Yes |   |
| `sentAt` | string | Yes |  Format: date-time. |


[All commands](/docs/command-reference/) · [Operation and errors](/docs/api-reference/operations/commands-execute/) · [Reusable schemas](/docs/api-reference/components/)

Keep credentials out of prompts; rehearse writes only in a disposable sandbox.

## Exact request schema


```json
{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "name": {
      "const": "messages.send"
    },
    "input": {
      "type": "object",
      "additionalProperties": false,
      "properties": {
        "to": {
          "type": "string",
          "minLength": 1,
          "description": "The recipient's party id in these books; it must be a party this business holds a platform-bound agreement with. Omit it to write to Economico (the only recipient a demo business has; the result then names no party)."
        },
        "topic": {
          "enum": [
            "support",
            "feature_suggestion",
            "general"
          ],
          "description": "support: something is broken, unclear or you are stuck. feature_suggestion: a capability Economico does not have yet. general: anything else."
        },
        "inReplyTo": {
          "type": "string",
          "minLength": 1,
          "description": "The id of a message this business received. The reply goes to its sender; topic and subject default from it."
        },
        "about": {
          "type": "array",
          "maxItems": 10,
          "items": {
            "type": "string",
            "minLength": 1
          },
          "description": "Document ids in these books the message is about, such as an invoice you received."
        },
        "subject": {
          "type": "string",
          "minLength": 1,
          "maxLength": 200
        },
        "body": {
          "type": "string",
          "minLength": 1,
          "maxLength": 5000
        },
        "context": {
          "type": "object",
          "maxProperties": 20,
          "propertyNames": {
            "minLength": 1,
            "maxLength": 64
          },
          "additionalProperties": {
            "type": "string",
            "maxLength": 500
          },
          "description": "Optional structured detail about what you were doing, such as the tool or workflow you attempted."
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "body"
      ]
    },
    "idempotency_key": {
      "type": "string",
      "minLength": 1,
      "maxLength": 256
    },
    "effective_at": {
      "type": "string",
      "format": "date-time",
      "pattern": "^(?:(?:\\d\\d[2468][048]|\\d\\d[13579][26]|\\d\\d0[48]|[02468][048]00|[13579][26]00)-02-29|\\d{4}-(?:(?:0[13578]|1[02])-(?:0[1-9]|[12]\\d|3[01])|(?:0[469]|11)-(?:0[1-9]|[12]\\d|30)|(?:02)-(?:0[1-9]|1\\d|2[0-8])))T(?:(?:[01]\\d|2[0-3]):[0-5]\\d:[0-5]\\d(?:\\.\\d+)?(?:Z))$"
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "name",
    "input",
    "idempotency_key",
    "effective_at"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false
}
```

## Accepted command receipt


```json
{
  "type": "object",
  "required": [
    "commandId",
    "replayed",
    "result",
    "events"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "commandId": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "replayed": {
      "type": "boolean"
    },
    "imported": {
      "const": true,
      "description": "The command's events are history from before the business joined Economico, recorded as an import: free of monthly events."
    },
    "result": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "messageId": {
          "type": "string",
          "minLength": 1
        },
        "direction": {
          "enum": [
            "outbound"
          ]
        },
        "status": {
          "enum": [
            "sent"
          ]
        },
        "to": {
          "type": "string",
          "minLength": 1
        },
        "toName": {
          "type": "string"
        },
        "relationship": {
          "type": "object",
          "properties": {
            "contractId": {
              "type": "string"
            },
            "agreementId": {
              "type": "string"
            },
            "connectionId": {
              "type": "string"
            },
            "demo": {
              "const": true
            }
          }
        },
        "topic": {
          "enum": [
            "support",
            "feature_suggestion",
            "general"
          ]
        },
        "subject": {
          "type": "string"
        },
        "body": {
          "type": "string"
        },
        "context": {
          "type": "object",
          "additionalProperties": {
            "type": "string"
          }
        },
        "about": {
          "type": "array",
          "items": {
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {
              "cid": {
                "type": "string"
              },
              "kind": {
                "type": "string"
              },
              "title": {
                "type": "string"
              },
              "documentId": {
                "type": "string"
              }
            },
            "required": [
              "cid",
              "kind"
            ]
          }
        },
        "inReplyTo": {
          "type": "object",
          "properties": {
            "messageId": {
              "type": "string"
            },
            "sourceMessageId": {
              "type": "string"
            }
          },
          "required": [
            "messageId",
            "sourceMessageId"
          ]
        },
        "sentAt": {
          "type": "string",
          "format": "date-time"
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "messageId",
        "direction",
        "status",
        "toName",
        "relationship",
        "topic",
        "subject",
        "body",
        "sentAt"
      ]
    },
    "events": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "id": {
            "type": "integer"
          },
          "cid": {
            "type": "string"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
```

## Example request


```json
{
  "name": "messages.send",
  "input": {
    "topic": "feature_suggestion",
    "subject": "Import CSV bank statements",
    "body": "I wanted to import last month's bank statement as CSV and found no command for it.",
    "context": {
      "tool": "documents.receive"
    }
  },
  "effective_at": "2026-09-01T00:00:00Z",
  "idempotency_key": "messages.send-example-0"
}
```

## Example request


```json
{
  "name": "messages.send",
  "input": {
    "inReplyTo": "msg_01J00000000000000000000000",
    "body": "Thanks — the corrected invoice is attached to our books now.",
    "about": [
      "doc_01J00000000000000000000000"
    ]
  },
  "effective_at": "2026-09-01T00:00:00Z",
  "idempotency_key": "messages.send-example-1"
}
```