# PHP Tutorial – Validate an Email Address This tutorial shows how to validate an email address using the Email Validation API with PHP and cURL. ## Requirements Make sure your server has: * PHP 7.4 or later * PHP cURL extension enabled * A RapidAPI account * Your RapidAPI key --- ## 1. Verify an Email Address Create a PHP file named: ```text verify-email.php ``` Add the following code: ```php <?php $email = "support@vebapi.com"; $rapidApiKey = "YOUR_RAPIDAPI_KEY"; $url = "https://email-validator-check-temp-email-spam-score-verify.p.rapidapi.com/verify" . "?email=" . urlencode($email); $curl = curl_init(); curl_setopt_array($curl, [ CURLOPT_URL => $url, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [ "Content-Type: application/json", "x-rapidapi-host: email-validator-check-temp-email-spam-score-verify.p.rapidapi.com", "x-rapidapi-key: " . $rapidApiKey ] ]); $response = curl_exec($curl); $httpCode = curl_getinfo($curl, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE); if (curl_errno($curl)) { echo "cURL Error: " . curl_error($curl); curl_close($curl); exit; } curl_close($curl); $data = json_decode($response, true); if ($httpCode !== 200) { echo "API request failed." . PHP_EOL; echo $response; exit; } if (json_last_error() !== JSON_ERROR_NONE) { echo "Invalid JSON response."; exit; } echo "Email: " . ($data["email"] ?? "Unknown") . PHP_EOL; echo "Status: " . ($data["status"] ?? "Unknown") . PHP_EOL; echo "Score: " . ($data["score"] ?? 0) . PHP_EOL; echo "Risk Level: " . ($data["risk"]["level"] ?? "Unknown") . PHP_EOL; if (!empty($data["checks"]["mailbox_exists"])) { echo "Mailbox: Verified" . PHP_EOL; } else { echo "Mailbox: Not verified" . PHP_EOL; } if (!empty($data["checks"]["disposable"])) { echo "Disposable Email: Yes" . PHP_EOL; } else { echo "Disposable Email: No" . PHP_EOL; } ``` Replace: ```php YOUR_RAPIDAPI_KEY ``` with your actual RapidAPI key. --- ## 2. Run the PHP Script Run the script from your terminal: ```bash php verify-email.php ``` Example output: ```text Email: support@vebapi.com Status: valid Score: 85 Risk Level: low Mailbox: Verified Disposable Email: No ``` --- ## 3. Display the Full JSON Response To display the complete API response, replace the output section with: ```php echo "

";
print_r($data);
echo "

"; ``` For a formatted JSON response, use: ```php header("Content-Type: application/json"); echo json_encode( $data, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT | JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES ); ``` --- # Disposable Email Detection Use the `/disposable` endpoint to detect temporary and disposable email addresses. ```php <?php $email = "support@vebapi.com"; $rapidApiKey = "YOUR_RAPIDAPI_KEY"; $url = "https://email-validator-check-temp-email-spam-score-verify.p.rapidapi.com/disposable" . "?email=" . urlencode($email); $curl = curl_init(); curl_setopt_array($curl, [ CURLOPT_URL => $url, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [ "Content-Type: application/json", "x-rapidapi-host: email-validator-check-temp-email-spam-score-verify.p.rapidapi.com", "x-rapidapi-key: " . $rapidApiKey ] ]); $response = curl_exec($curl); if (curl_errno($curl)) { die("cURL Error: " . curl_error($curl)); } curl_close($curl); $data = json_decode($response, true); if (!empty($data["disposable"])) { echo "This is a disposable email address."; } else { echo "This is not a disposable email address."; } ``` --- # Check the Email Spam Score Use the `/spam-score` endpoint to analyse the email address's spam risk and trust score. ```php <?php $email = "support@vebapi.com"; $rapidApiKey = "YOUR_RAPIDAPI_KEY"; $url = "https://email-validator-check-temp-email-spam-score-verify.p.rapidapi.com/spam-score" . "?email=" . urlencode($email); $curl = curl_init(); curl_setopt_array($curl, [ CURLOPT_URL => $url, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [ "Content-Type: application/json", "x-rapidapi-host: email-validator-check-temp-email-spam-score-verify.p.rapidapi.com", "x-rapidapi-key: " . $rapidApiKey ] ]); $response = curl_exec($curl); if (curl_errno($curl)) { die("cURL Error: " . curl_error($curl)); } curl_close($curl); $data = json_decode($response, true); echo "Spam Score: " . ($data["spam_score"] ?? 0) . PHP_EOL; echo "Trust Score: " . ($data["trust_score"] ?? 0) . PHP_EOL; echo "Risk Level: " . ($data["risk_level"] ?? "Unknown") . PHP_EOL; ``` --- # Validate an Email Submitted Through a Form Create a basic HTML form: ```html <form method="POST"> <label for="email">Email address</label> <input type="email" id="email" name="email" placeholder="name@example.com" required > <button type="submit">Verify Email</button> </form> ``` Add the following PHP code above the form: ```php <?php $result = null; $error = null; if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] === "POST") { $email = trim($_POST["email"] ?? ""); if (!filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) { $error = "Please enter a valid email address."; } else { $rapidApiKey = "YOUR_RAPIDAPI_KEY"; $url = "https://email-validator-check-temp-email-spam-score-verify.p.rapidapi.com/verify" . "?email=" . urlencode($email); $curl = curl_init(); curl_setopt_array($curl, [ CURLOPT_URL => $url, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [ "Content-Type: application/json", "x-rapidapi-host: email-validator-check-temp-email-spam-score-verify.p.rapidapi.com", "x-rapidapi-key: " . $rapidApiKey ] ]); $response = curl_exec($curl); if (curl_errno($curl)) { $error = curl_error($curl); } else { $result = json_decode($response, true); } curl_close($curl); } } ?> ``` Display the result beneath the form: ```php <?php if ($error): ?>

<?= htmlspecialchars($error) ?>

<?php endif; ?> <?php if ($result): ?>

Verification Result

Status: <?= htmlspecialchars($result["status"] ?? "Unknown") ?>

Score: <?= (int) ($result["score"] ?? 0) ?>

Risk: <?= htmlspecialchars($result["risk"]["level"] ?? "Unknown") ?>

Disposable: <?= !empty($result["checks"]["disposable"]) ? "Yes" : "No" ?>

Mailbox Verified: <?= !empty($result["checks"]["mailbox_exists"]) ? "Yes" : "No" ?>

<?php endif; ?> ``` --- ## Important Security Note Never expose your RapidAPI key inside browser-side JavaScript or public HTML. Store your API key in: * A server environment variable * A `.env` file * A secure server configuration Example: ```env RAPIDAPI_KEY=your_rapidapi_key ``` Then read it in PHP: ```php $rapidApiKey = getenv("RAPIDAPI_KEY"); ``` --- ## Save 20% with Direct API Access Get the Email Validation API directly from APIPeak and save 20%: https://apipeak.dev/apis/emailvalidation Direct access includes simple API-key authentication, competitive pricing, and flexible usage plans.