# Forward Received Emails

Received emails can also be forwarded to another email address.

:::callout{intent="info"}
Webhooks do not include the email body, headers, or attachments, only their
metadata. You must call the [Received emails
API](/guides/receiving-retrieve-received-email) or the [Attachments
API](/guides/receiving-list-received-email-attachments) to retrieve them.
This design choice supports large attachments in serverless environments that
have limited request body sizes.
:::

## Using the `forward` helper method

The Node.js SDK provides a `forward()` helper method that simplifies forwarding received emails. This method automatically handles fetching the email content and attachments.

Here's how you can implement this:

:::code-group
```ts Next.js theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"vesper"}}
import type { NextRequest } from 'next/server';
import { NextResponse } from 'next/server';
import { Resend } from 'resend';

const resend = new Resend('re_xxxxxxxxx');

export const POST = async (request: NextRequest) => {
  const event = await request.json();

  if (event.type === 'email.received') {
    const { data, error } = await resend.emails.receiving.forward({
      emailId: event.data.email_id,
      to: 'delivered@resend.dev',
      from: 'onboarding@resend.dev',
    });

    if (error) {
      return new NextResponse(`Error: ${error.message}`, { status: 500 });
    }

    return NextResponse.json(data);
  }

  return NextResponse.json({});
};
```

```rust Rust theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"vesper"}}
use axum::{
    extract::State,
    http::StatusCode,
    response::{IntoResponse, Json, Response},
};
use resend_rs::{
    types::{ForwardReceivingEmail, InboundEmailId},
    Resend,
};
use serde::Serialize;
use std::sync::Arc;

struct AppState {
    resend: Resend,
}

#[derive(Serialize)]
struct Empty {}

async fn example(
    State(state): State<Arc<AppState>>,
    Json(event): Json<resend_rs::events::EmailEvent>,
) -> Result<Response, Response> {
    if matches!(
        event.r#type,
        resend_rs::events::EmailEventType::EmailReceived
    ) {
        let opts = ForwardReceivingEmail::new(
            InboundEmailId::new(&event.data.email_id),
            "onboarding@resend.dev",
            vec!["delivered@resend.dev"],
        );
        let data = state.resend.receiving.forward(opts).await.map_err(|e| {
            (StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR, format!("Error: {}", e)).into_response()
        })?;
        Ok(Json(data).into_response())
    } else {
        Ok(Json(Empty {}).into_response())
    }
}
```
:::

By default, the `forward` method forwards the email in a way that preserves the original email content and attachments exactly as received.

Alternatively, you can forward emails as if they had been forwarded through an email client, with the `forwarded message` footer. For that, use `passthrough: false` and provide custom text or HTML content. The original email will be shown after the `forwarded message` footer:

:::code-group
```ts Next.js theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"vesper"}}
import { Resend, type EmailReceivedEvent } from 'resend';

const resend = new Resend('re_xxxxxxxxx');

export async function forwardEmail(event: EmailReceivedEvent) {
  const { data, error } = await resend.emails.receiving.forward({
    emailId: event.data.email_id,
    to: 'delivered@resend.dev',
    from: 'onboarding@resend.dev',
    passthrough: false,
    text: 'See attached forwarded message.',
    html: '<p>See attached forwarded message.</p>',
  });
}
```

```rust Rust theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"vesper"}}
use resend_rs::{
    events::EmailEvent,
    types::{ForwardReceivingEmail, InboundEmailId},
    Resend,
};

async fn forward(resend: &Resend, event: EmailEvent) {
    let opts = ForwardReceivingEmail::new(
        InboundEmailId::new(&event.data.email_id),
        "onboarding@resend.dev",
        vec!["delivered@resend.dev"],
    )
    .with_passthrough(false)
    .with_text("See attached forwarded message.")
    .with_html("<p>See attached forwarded message.</p>");

    let data = resend.receiving.forward(opts).await;
}
```
:::

## Manual forwarding

If you're not using Node.js or prefer not to use the `forward` helper method, you can manually forward received emails using the [Send Email API](/guides/sending-2-send-email).

The recommended approach is to download the raw email and parse it to properly extract content and attachments (especially for inline images). Then, you can send a new email with the extracted content and attachments using the [Send Email API](/guides/sending-2-send-email).

:::code-group
```js app/api/events/route.ts theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"vesper"}}
import type { NextRequest } from 'next/server';
import { NextResponse } from 'next/server';
import { Resend } from 'resend';
import { simpleParser } from 'mailparser';

const resend = new Resend('re_xxxxxxxxx');

export const POST = async (request: NextRequest) => {
  const event = await request.json();

  if (event.type === 'email.received') {
    // Get the email metadata
    const { data: email } = await resend
      .emails
      .receiving
      .get(event.data.email_id);

    // Download the raw email content if available
    if (!email?.raw?.download_url) {
      return new NextResponse('Raw email not available', { status: 500 });
    }

    const rawResponse = await fetch(email.raw.download_url);
    const rawEmailContent = await rawResponse.text();

    // Parse the raw email to extract content and attachments
    const parsed = await simpleParser(rawEmailContent, {
      skipImageLinks: true,
    });

    // Extract attachments with content_id for inline images
    const attachments = parsed.attachments.map((attachment) => {
      // Strip < and > from content IDs for proper inline image handling
      const contentId = attachment.contentId
        ? attachment.contentId.replace(/^<|>$/g, '')
        : undefined;

      return {
        filename: attachment.filename,
        content: attachment.content.toString('base64'),
        contentType: attachment.contentType,
        contentId: contentId || undefined,
      };
    });

    const { data, error } = await resend.emails.send({
      from: 'Acme <onboarding@resend.dev>',
      to: ['delivered@resend.dev'],
      subject: email.subject || '(no subject)',
      html: parsed.html || undefined,
      text: parsed.text || '',
      attachments: attachments.length > 0 ? attachments : undefined,
    });

    if (error) {
      return new NextResponse(`Error: ${error.message}`, { status: 500 });
    }

    return NextResponse.json(data);
  }

  return NextResponse.json({});
};
```
:::

:::callout{intent="note"}
This example uses the [`mailparser`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/mailparser)
library (`npm install mailparser`) to parse the raw email. For other
languages/SDKs, you'll need an equivalent email parsing library capable of
processing emails compliant to [RFC
5322](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc5322).
:::

## Related pages

- [Receiving Emails](./learn-dashboard-receiving-introduction.md)
- [Managing Emails](./learn-dashboard-receiving-manage-emails.md)
- [Custom Receiving Domains](./learn-dashboard-receiving-custom-domains.md)
- [Create a receiving Webhook](./learn-dashboard-receiving-create-receiving-webhook.md)
- [Process Receiving Attachments](./learn-dashboard-receiving-attachments.md)
- [Get Email Content](./learn-dashboard-receiving-get-email-content.md)
- [Reply to Receiving Emails](./learn-dashboard-receiving-reply-to-emails.md)

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