## Get contact

`GET https://whatsapp.paaltech.org/api/v1/businesses/{external_id}/contacts/{id}`

One contact with its identities (how it is reached), custom fields and tags.

Ability: `contacts.read`

### Path parameters

| Name | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `external_id` | string | yes | Your own ID for the business (Multi-SKUUL - the tenant ID). Max 191 characters. Pattern `^[A-Za-z0-9._:-]+$` |
| `id` | integer | yes | PaalChat's contact ID. |

### Request

```bash
curl --request GET \
  --url 'https://whatsapp.paaltech.org/api/v1/businesses/presec/contacts/2' \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $PAALCHAT_TOKEN" \
  --header 'Accept: application/json'
```

### Responses

- **200** - The contact.

```json
{
  "data": {
    "id": 41,
    "external_id": "parent-77",
    "name": "Ama Mensah",
    "phone": "233241234567",
    "email": "ama@example.com",
    "locale": "en",
    "timezone": "Africa/Accra",
    "status": "active",
    "custom_fields": {"class": "SHS 2", "fee_balance": 450.5},
    "tags": ["parent", "fees"],
    "identities": [
      {
        "channel": "whatsapp",
        "address": "233241234567",
        "profile_name": "Ama Mensah",
        "last_seen_at": "2026-10-01T09:12:00+00:00"
      }
    ],
    "created_at": "2026-10-01T08:00:00+00:00",
    "updated_at": "2026-10-01T09:12:00+00:00"
  }
}
```

- **401** - unauthenticated - missing, invalid, revoked or expired token

```json
{
  "error": {"code": "unauthenticated", "message": "A valid product token is required."}
}
```

- **403** - missing_ability, product_suspended or product_token_required

```json
{
  "error": {
    "code": "missing_ability",
    "message": "This token does not have the ability this request needs."
  }
}
```

- **404** - not_found - not yours, or does not exist

```json
{"error": {"code": "not_found", "message": "Business not found."}}
```

- **429** - rate_limited - over 300 requests/minute for this product

```json
{
  "error": {
    "code": "rate_limited",
    "message": "Too many requests. Slow down and retry after the Retry-After header."
  }
}
```