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

# Ensure a transactional email has a draft

> Ensure a transactional email has a draft email message ready for editing, creating one from the published version if no draft currently exists.

If a draft email message already exists, it is returned unchanged. Otherwise a new empty draft is created (seeded from the most recent published version when present).

Use the returned `draftEmailMessageId` and `draftEmailMessageContentRevisionId` when calling [Update an email message](/docs/api-reference/update-email-message) to edit the draft's content.


## OpenAPI

````yaml /openapi.json post /v1/transactional-emails/{transactionalId}/draft
openapi: 3.1.0
info:
  title: Loops OpenAPI Spec
  description: This is the OpenAPI Spec for the [Loops API](https://loops.so/docs/api).
  version: 1.21.0
servers:
  - url: https://app.loops.so/api
security: []
tags:
  - name: API key
  - name: Audience segments
    description: View audience segments
  - name: Campaigns
    description: Create and manage email campaigns
  - name: Campaign groups
    description: Organize campaigns into groups
  - name: Components
    description: View email components
  - name: Configuration
    description: View configuration settings
  - name: Contacts
    description: Manage contacts in your audience
  - name: Contact properties
    description: Manage contact properties
  - name: Email messages
    description: Manage email message content for campaigns
  - name: Events
    description: Trigger workflows with events
  - name: Event patterns
    description: View workflow event patterns
  - name: Mailing lists
    description: View mailing lists
  - name: Themes
    description: View email themes
  - name: Transactional emails
    description: Create, manage, and send transactional emails
  - name: Transactional groups
    description: Organize transactional emails into groups
  - name: Uploads
    description: Upload image assets
  - name: Workflows
    description: View and mutate workflow graphs
  - name: Workflow nodes
    description: View and mutate workflow nodes
paths:
  /v1/transactional-emails/{transactionalId}/draft:
    parameters:
      - name: transactionalId
        in: path
        required: true
        description: The ID of the transactional email.
        schema:
          type: string
    post:
      tags:
        - Transactional emails
      summary: Ensure a draft email message
      description: >-
        Ensure the transactional email has a draft email message. If a draft
        already exists it is returned unchanged; otherwise a new empty draft is
        created (seeded from the most recent published version when present).
        Use `POST /v1/email-messages/{emailMessageId}` to edit the draft's
        content.
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Draft ready.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/TransactionalDraftResponse'
        '400':
          description: Invalid `transactionalId` or no sending domain configured.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/TransactionalFailureResponse'
        '401':
          description: Invalid API key or content API not enabled for this team.
        '404':
          description: Transactional email not found.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/TransactionalFailureResponse'
        '405':
          description: Wrong HTTP request method.
      security:
        - apiKey: []
components:
  schemas:
    TransactionalDraftResponse:
      type: object
      properties:
        id:
          type: string
          description: The ID of the transactional email.
        name:
          type: string
          description: The name of the transactional email.
        draftEmailMessageId:
          type:
            - string
            - 'null'
          description: The ID of the draft email message.
        draftEmailMessageContentRevisionId:
          type:
            - string
            - 'null'
          description: >-
            The `contentRevisionId` of the draft email message. Pass this as
            `expectedRevisionId` on your first update via `POST
            /v1/email-messages/{emailMessageId}`.
        publishedEmailMessageId:
          type:
            - string
            - 'null'
          description: >-
            The ID of the published email message. `null` if there is no
            published version.
        transactionalGroupId:
          type:
            - string
            - 'null'
          description: >-
            The ID of the group this transactional email belongs to. Returned
            when creating a transactional email.
        createdAt:
          type: string
          format: date-time
          description: ISO 8601 timestamp for when the transactional email was created.
        updatedAt:
          type: string
          format: date-time
          description: >-
            ISO 8601 timestamp for when the transactional email was last
            updated.
        dataVariables:
          type: array
          description: >-
            Data variable names used by the published email. Empty for
            unpublished transactional emails.
          items:
            type: string
      required:
        - id
        - name
        - draftEmailMessageId
        - draftEmailMessageContentRevisionId
        - publishedEmailMessageId
        - createdAt
        - updatedAt
        - dataVariables
    TransactionalFailureResponse:
      type: object
      properties:
        message:
          type: string
      required:
        - message
  securitySchemes:
    apiKey:
      type: http
      scheme: bearer

````

## Related topics

- [API Introduction](/docs/api-reference/intro.md)
- [Double opt-in](/docs/contacts/double-opt-in.md)
- [Transactional email](/docs/transactional.md)
- [Publish a transactional email](/docs/api-reference/publish-transactional-email.md)
- [Create a transactional email](/docs/api-reference/create-transactional-email.md)