Email Templates

Last update: August 7, 2026

Topics:
Templates

CREATED FOR:

Admin

Every new email in Marketo is initially based on an email template. Although you can later unlink an email from its template by replacing the HTML, you must select a template when creating the email.

Templates are HTML documents with metadata such as a name and description. The template HTML must be valid and contain at least one editable section that meets the editable section requirements.

Query

Email templates support the standard asset query patterns: by id, by name, and by browsing a folder.

By Id

GET /rest/asset/v1/emailTemplate/{id}.json

{
    "success": true,
    "warnings": [ ],
    "errors": [ ],
    "requestId": "14f9e#14a12955df1",
    "result": [
        {
            "id": 19,
            "name": "aFgSxuZrBI",
            "description": "fUMhVfIyVkhHzRolYzjGyWouTMfjXCPIAZxHMAEmszAjguVKDtbznEeqbqiDuNBzQoHwBJFdXiMzYiMlGUwtuklUhjGfJlDbhaTL",
            "createdAt": "2014-11-14T02:41:26Z+0000",
            "updatedAt": "2014-11-14T02:41:26Z+0000",
            "folder": {
                "type": "Folder",
                "value": 15
            },
            "status": "Draft",
            "workspace": "Default"
        }
    ]
}

By Name

GET /rest/asset/v1/emailTemplate/byName.json?name=Test Template

{
    "success": true,
    "warnings": [ ],
    "errors": [ ],
    "requestId": "14f9e#14a12955df1",
    "result": [
        {
            "id": 19,
            "name": "aFgSxuZrBI",
            "description": "fUMhVfIyVkhHzRolYzjGyWouTMfjXCPIAZxHMAEmszAjguVKDtbznEeqbqiDuNBzQoHwBJFdXiMzYiMlGUwtuklUhjGfJlDbhaTL",
            "createdAt": "2014-11-14T02:41:26Z+0000",
            "updatedAt": "2014-11-14T02:41:26Z+0000",
            "folder": {
                "type": "Folder",
                "value": 15
            },
            "status": "Draft",
            "workspace": "Default"
        }
    ]
}

Browse

GET /rest/asset/v1/emailTemplates.json

{
   "success":true,
   "warnings":[ ],
   "errors":[ ],
   "requestId":"33c4#14a1832b4a8",
   "result":[
      {
         "id":18,
         "name":"AAA0unit3CreateTestEmailTemplateName.2314673e-7bc2-47da-a1e8-66dfdd8a1f1d",
         "description":"AssetAPI: getTemplates test",
         "createdAt":"2014-11-03T19:52:58Z+0000",
         "updatedAt":"2014-11-03T19:52:58Z+0000",
         "folder":{
            "type":"Folder",
            "value":15
         },
         "status":"Draft",
         "workspace":"Default"
      },
      {
         "id":177,
         "name":"ABfRGutnwN",
         "description":"HMmHkdTRrGaRpPakdgGKICxfMunCEWDUWiThgAbInfaBXxGxSFfjKQIwerngCHRlGTnAJhKPmwlXLcsjGPtWEiILGyeIJTNVHoHg",
         "createdAt":"2014-11-20T19:31:06Z+0000",
         "updatedAt":"2014-11-20T19:31:06Z+0000",
         "folder":{
            "type":"Folder",
            "value":15
         },
         "status":"Draft",
         "workspace":"Default"
      },
      {
         "id":148,
         "name":"ADVHJBQLyw",
         "description":null,
         "createdAt":"2014-11-20T06:42:57Z+0000",
         "updatedAt":"2014-11-20T06:42:57Z+0000",
         "folder":{
            "type":"Folder",
            "value":15
         },
         "status":"Draft",
         "workspace":"Default"
      },
      {
         "id":201,
         "name":"AIpwuwiaqb",
         "description":null,
         "createdAt":"2014-11-25T20:49:06Z+0000",
         "updatedAt":"2014-11-25T20:49:06Z+0000",
         "folder":{
            "type":"Folder",
            "value":15
         },
         "status":"Draft",
         "workspace":"Default"
      },
      {
         "id":240,
         "name":"aqZGoAskEF",
         "description":"uOMEhLpXOEWkwdZxkpcdDjTjKfokxuHEYHPVIVsADFIUEUobzIEaDiqFFxezwfovGfwjuPTJRxUmuHmGpyIklJdDdVosPJdyOVom",
         "createdAt":"2014-11-26T21:11:56Z+0000",
         "updatedAt":"2014-11-26T21:11:56Z+0000",
         "folder":{
            "type":"Folder",
            "value":15
         },
         "status":"Draft",
         "workspace":"Default"
      },
      {
         "id":199,
         "name":"BAxnkVfLGi",
         "description":"TzUMQKzKXdgukNCCcaiJHUWASceqlZswhCqDQFDFZULqzYkEiyKcwtQRzKERynReqtMHOhqjnhExCsZopyfzglmXAOjEJdxNURCX",
         "createdAt":"2014-11-25T20:49:06Z+0000",
         "updatedAt":"2014-11-25T20:49:06Z+0000",
         "folder":{
            "type":"Folder",
            "value":15
         },
         "status":"Draft",
         "workspace":"Default"
      },
      {
         "id":278,
         "name":"bcBNCUIHrL",
         "description":"UJEPYBRGTSYosZRnMnahMyVtdyxjRpzJMSXyncATKwcLlDAqDnSCFezGVsDZFpZwPzQvBlvaOZzOzBIsIAtqIerZhJFfpqMogoiB",
         "createdAt":"2014-11-30T11:30:07Z+0000",
         "updatedAt":"2014-11-30T11:30:07Z+0000",
         "folder":{
            "type":"Folder",
            "value":15
         },
         "status":"Draft",
         "workspace":"Default"
      }
   ]
}

Template queries return only record metadata. Use the content endpoint to retrieve template content.

Create and Update

To create or update a template, send the HTML document in a multipart/form-data POST request. The Content-Type header must include a boundary as described in the RFCs for multipart and multipart/form-data.

Creating a template requires these parameters:

name: The template name.
folder: The parent folder.
content: The HTML document. Its Content-Disposition header must include the conventional filename parameter.

You can also include an optional description parameter.

POST /rest/asset/v1/emailTemplates.json

Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=mktoBoundary1480963323998

--mktoBoundary1480963323998
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="name"

Sample Email Template
--mktoBoundary1480963323998
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="folder"

{"id":15,"type":"Folder"}
--mktoBoundary1480963323998
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="content"; filename="testHTML.html"
Content-Type: text/html

<html>
<body>
<h1>TEST HTML</h1>
</body>
</html>

--mktoBoundary1480963323998
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="description"

Create email template using API
--mktoBoundary1480963323998--

{
    "success": true,
    "warnings": [ ],
    "errors": [ ],
    "requestId": "a99f#14e22b2b85e",
    "result": [
        {
            "id": 1022,
            "name": "Sample Email Template",
            "description": "Create email template using API",
            "createdAt": "2015-06-23T23:13:34Z+0000",
            "updatedAt": "2015-06-23T23:13:34Z+0000",
            "url": "https://app-abm.marketo.com/#ET1022B2ZN12",
            "folder": {
                "type": "Folder",
                "value": 15,
                "folderName": "Templates"
            },
            "status": "draft",
            "workspace": "Default",
            "version": 1
        }
    ]
}

To update template content, call the content endpoint with the email template ID. The request body accepts only the content parameter.

The submitted content completely replaces the existing template content. Updating an approved version creates a new draft. Updating a draft-only asset replaces the current draft.

POST /rest/asset/v1/emailTemplate/{id}/content.json

Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=mktoBoundaryEiJFFFPFKK2WovsT

--mktoBoundaryEiJFFFPFKK2WovsT
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="content"; filename="testHTML2.html"
Content-Type: text/html

<html>
<body>
<h1>TEST HTML WITH UPDATE</h1>
<div class="mktEditable"></div>
</body>
</html>
--mktoBoundaryEiJFFFPFKK2WovsT--

{
   "success": true,
   "warnings": [ ],
   "errors": [ ],
   "requestId": "f8e2#158d0ae24f8",
   "result":[
      {
         "id":1022,
         "status":"Draft",
         "content":"<html>\n<body>\n<h1>TEST HTML WITH UPDATE</h1>\n<div class="mktEditable"></div>\n</body>\n</html>"
      }
   ]
}

Update Metadata

To update a template’s metadata, send an application/x-www-form-urlencoded POST request with the name and description parameters.

POST /rest/asset/v1/emailTemplate/{id}.json

Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

description=Updated description&name=New Name

{
    "success": true,
    "warnings": [ ],
    "errors": [ ],
    "requestId": "17ca5#14a12ab900a",
    "result": [
        {
            "id": 19,
            "name": "New Name",
            "description": "Updated description",
            "createdAt": "2014-11-14T02:41:26Z+0000",
            "updatedAt": "2014-11-14T02:41:26Z+0000",
            "folder": {
                "type": "Folder",
                "value": 15
            },
            "status": "Draft",
            "workspace": "Default"
        }
    ]
}

Approval

Email templates follow the standard asset approval lifecycle. Separate endpoints let you approve a draft, unapprove an approved version, or discard an existing draft.

Approve

The approval endpoint validates the template against the rules for Marketo emails. The from name, from email, reply-to email, and subject must be populated before approval.

POST /rest/asset/v1/emailTemplate/{id}/approveDraft.json

{
   "success":true,
   "warnings":[ ],
   "errors":[ ],
   "requestId":"abe2#14a1832a97d",
   "result":[
      {
         "id":338,
         "name":"lvAVYMZqPS",
         "description":"fZLJQSJRvnYbjGTUpIHHqDOuQgQzXQcWIXoOUPwrVLdMHKcbRqwLoSLkWZTUmaMiCIJSfQiufnnrgITUIqjuAPBLpmliiKuIUFYG",
         "createdAt":"2014-12-05T02:06:21Z+0000",
         "updatedAt":"2014-12-05T02:06:21Z+0000",
         "folder":{
            "type":"Folder",
            "value":15
         },
         "status":"Approved",
         "workspace":"Default"
      }
   ]
}

Unapprove

Use the unapprove endpoint only on an approved template.

POST /rest/asset/v1/emailTemplate/{id}/unapprove.json

{
   "success":true,
   "warnings":[ ],
   "errors":[ ],
   "requestId":"17bfa#14a1832b3c4",
   "result":[
      {
         "id":344,
         "name":"LkilkvKrkp",
"description":"yAyUEXuWMtdhpODUmnCkGjpBcyEKnYucxaSoTyYeQzyNbYanxCXWPOzwiIWmeXPUwjfGAUmgnxlhgOPluVqwNittuvxJmNTaHxYM",
         "createdAt":"2014-12-05T02:06:23Z+0000",
         "updatedAt":"2014-12-05T02:06:23Z+0000",
         "folder":{
            "type":"Folder",
            "value":15
         },
         "status":"Draft",
         "workspace":"Default"
      }
   ]
}

Discard

Updating an approved template creates a draft version. Use the discard endpoint to discard that draft.

POST /rest/asset/v1/emailTemplate/{id}/discardDraft.json

{
   "success":true,
   "warnings":[ ],
   "errors":[ ],
   "requestId":"17bfa#14a1832b3c4",
   "result":[
      {
         "id":344,
         "name":"LkilkvKrkp",
         "description":"yAyUEXuWMtdhpODUmnCkGjpBcyEKnYucxaSoTyYeQzyNbYanxCXWPOzwiIWmeXPUwjfGAUmgnxlhgOPluVqwNittuvxJmNTaHxYM",
         "createdAt":"2014-12-05T02:06:23Z+0000",
         "updatedAt":"2014-12-05T02:06:23Z+0000",
         "folder":{
            "type":"Folder",
            "value":15
         },
         "status":"Draft",
         "workspace":"Default"
      }
   ]
}

Delete

POST /rest/asset/v1/emailTemplate/{id}/delete.json

{
   "success":true,
   "warnings":[ ],
   "errors":[ ],
   "requestId":"15cef#149d3de83db",
   "result":[
      {
         "id":12
      }
   ]
}

Clone

To clone an email template, send an application/x-www-form-urlencoded POST request with these parameters:

name: Required. The cloned template name.
folder: Required. An embedded JSON object with id and type.
description: Optional. The cloned template description.

POST /rest/asset/v1/emailTemplate/{id}/clone.json

Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

name=Sample Template 01 - deverly&folder={"id":12,"type":"Folder"}&description=This is a sample template

{
    "success": true,
    "warnings": [],
    "errors": [],
    "requestId": "905e#14e22c693f8",
    "result": [
        {
            "id": 1024,
            "name": "Sample Template 01 - deverly",
            "description": "This is a sample template",
            "createdAt": "2015-06-23T23:35:16Z+0000",
            "updatedAt": "2015-06-23T23:35:16Z+0000",
            "url": "https://app-abm.marketo.com/#ET1024B2ZN12",
            "folder": {
                "type": "Folder",
                "value": 12,
                "folderName": "Templates"
            },
            "status": "draft",
            "workspace": "Default"
        }
    ]
}

Query Email Dependencies

Use the Get Email Template Used By endpoint to retrieve emails that depend on a template. The id path parameter identifies the parent email template.

The endpoint supports two optional pagination parameters:

maxReturn: Limits the number of results. The default is 20, and the maximum is 200.
offset: Works with maxReturn to page through large result sets. The default is 0.

GET /rest/asset/v1/emailTemplates/{id}/usedBy.json

{
    "success": true,
    "errors": [],
    "requestId": "18b0#16fa3344169",
    "warnings": [],
    "result": [
        {
            "id": 1022,
            "name": "EmailPr.Email2",
            "type": "Email",
            "status": "approved",
            "updatedAt": "2019-12-02T00:42:21Z+0000"
        },
        {
            "id": 1023,
            "name": "Default.Email1.email1",
            "type": "Email",
            "status": "approved",
            "updatedAt": "2019-12-02T00:42:21Z+0000"
        },
        {
            "id": 1025,
            "name": "Defa.E1",
            "type": "Email",
            "status": "draft",
            "updatedAt": "2019-12-02T00:42:21Z+0000"
        },
        {
            "id": 1052,
            "name": "Email v1 Program.Email v1 Email",
            "type": "Email",
            "status": "draft",
            "updatedAt": "2019-06-07T20:07:16Z+0000"
        }
    ]
}

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