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

# Results

> What each field means, and which outcomes are charged.

Two ideas run through every result.

**A definite answer is worth paying for; a guess is not.** Only `valid`, `invalid` and `found` are charged. Everything else is free, every time.

**A catch-all domain is not automatically a dead end.** Many business domains accept every address, so SMTP alone cannot tell you whether one mailbox is real. When that happens we look for a real account profile behind the exact address, and for a control address that has none. If we find that asymmetry, the result is `valid` with `reason: "profile_linked"` — a real mailbox on a domain most verifiers would have shrugged at. If we do not, you get `catch_all` and pay nothing.

## Verify result

```json theme={null}
{
  "operation": "verify",
  "email": "r.okafor@example.com",
  "status": "valid",
  "reason": "recipient_accepted",
  "provider": "google",
  "domain": "example.com",
  "catch_all": false,
  "role": false,
  "free": false,
  "disposable": false,
  "retryable": false,
  "checked_at": "2026-09-14T10:02:41.000Z"
}
```

### `status`

| Value | Meaning | Charged |
| - | - | - |
| `valid` | The host settled it: either it accepted this mailbox and rejected a control address, or the identity lane tied the address to a real account profile. | yes |
| `invalid` | The host rejected the mailbox, or the domain cannot receive mail at all. | yes |
| `catch_all` | The domain accepts every address and no profile ties this one to a real account. Acceptance proves nothing. | no |
| `unknown` | We could not tell. Includes hosts that refuse verification traffic. See `reason`. | no |

### `reason`

| Value | Meaning |
| - | - |
| `recipient_accepted` | Mailbox accepted; a control address was rejected. |
| `profile_linked` | Accept-all domain, but the identity lane found a real account profile for this exact address and none for a control. |
| `recipient_rejected` | Mailbox rejected by the host. |
| `domain_cannot_receive` | No mail exchanger for the domain. |
| `catch_all_domain` | The control address was accepted too, and no profile evidence was found. |
| `policy_block` | The host refuses verification traffic from every checker. |
| `temporary_failure` | Greylisting, transport or DNS. `retryable` is true. |
| `insufficient_evidence` | The checks ran but nothing conclusive came back. |

### Other fields

| Field | Meaning |
| - | - |
| `provider` | Mail provider inferred from MX records: `google`, `microsoft`, `zoho`, `proofpoint`, `mimecast`, `barracuda`, `symantec`, `godaddy`, `rackspace`, `ionos`, `endurance`, `web.com`, `dreamhost`, `namecheap`, `yandex`, `tencent`, `titan`, `fastmail`, `proton`, `forwarder`. `null` when unknown or self-hosted. |
| `catch_all` | `true`, `false`, or `null` when not assessed. |
| `role` | Shared mailbox such as `info@` or `sales@`. |
| `free` | Consumer provider such as gmail.com. |
| `disposable` | Throwaway provider such as mailinator.com. |
| `retryable` | The host asked us to come back later. Retry in a few hours. |
| `checked_at` | When the mailbox was probed. |

## Find result

```json theme={null}
{
  "operation": "find",
  "email": "r.okafor@example.com",
  "status": "found",
  "reason": "qualified",
  "confidence": "high",
  "mailbox": "valid",
  "provider": "microsoft",
  "domain": "example.com",
  "role": false,
  "free": false,
  "disposable": false
}
```

### `status`

| Value | Meaning | Charged |
| - | - | - |
| `found` | Exactly one candidate address qualified. `email` is set. | yes |
| `not_found` | Every candidate was rejected by the host. | no |
| `unknown` | We could not tell. See `reason`. | no |

> [!WARNING]
>
> `unknown` is not a negative. A catch-all domain, a host that would not answer,
> or two addresses that both qualify all land here. None of them is evidence
> that the person has no address.

### `reason`

| Value | Status | Meaning |
| - | - | - |
| `qualified` | `found` | One address qualified and the others did not. |
| `all_rejected` | `not_found` | Every candidate was rejected. |
| `ambiguous` | `unknown` | More than one address qualified. We will not guess between them. |
| `unconfirmed` | `unknown` | Accept-all domain or an unanswered host; nothing could be confirmed or ruled out. |
| `unavailable` | `unknown` | Verification could not run. |

### `confidence`

| Value | Meaning |
| - | - |
| `high` | The identity lane tied the address to a real account profile. |
| `medium` | The host accepted it after a complete search of the likely formats. |
| `low` | Accepted, but the search did not finish. Treat as a lead. |

`null` when no address was emitted.

### `mailbox`

The same vocabulary as verify `status`, plus `unverified` when no probe ran on the found address.

> [!NOTE]
>
> There is no separate `attribution` field. One `confidence` tier carries how
> strong the evidence is, and `high` means specifically that we matched a real
> profile rather than just an accepting mail server.


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