# Email Body

The `body` field in the request body is the email body. API user can provide the email body in either plain text or HTML format.

## Size Limit

The `body` field can accept up to 1MB of data. If the email body exceeds the size limit, the API will return a `400 Bad Request` error.

In fact, we recommend that you keep your email body within 100KB for the following reasons:

* The larger your email body, the longer it takes for your API call to complete.
* Popular web clients like Gmail will clip emails that are larger than this size.
  * This means users will have to click on a link to view the full email, resulting in a worse user experience.
  * To track open rates, we embed a 1x1 pixel image in the email. If the email is clipped, there is a chance that the image will not be loaded, thus affecting the accuracy of the open rate. For more information, see [this section](https://postman-v1.guides.gov.sg/~/changes/YeLkNyuQOW0qmXU37t7T/email-api-guide/tracking-email-status#tracking-open-rates)
  * The exact clipping limit is not known, but it is estimated to be around 102KB.

<figure><img src="https://4126954886-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MAQH3DF49Lq0AJudrbF%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-199bb561f3aa6132ac9e111fda2d33552b062d6e%2Fmessage-clipped.png?alt=media" alt=""><figcaption><p>A clipped message on Gmail</p></figcaption></figure>

## HTML Sanitisation

The `body` field passed in the request body will be sanitised to prevent XSS attacks. The exact sanitisation process can be [found here](https://github.com/opengovsg/postmangovsg/blob/master/shared/src/templating/xss-options.ts).

The easiest way to check the HTML output of your sanitised input is to make use of this [email editor](https://postman-editor.vercel.app/).

This same sanitisation process is applied to campaign emails.

## Embedding Images

For more information on embedding images within the body of your email, go to [this section](https://postman-v1.guides.gov.sg/~/changes/YeLkNyuQOW0qmXU37t7T/email-api-guide/programmatic-email-api/send-email-api/email-body/embedding-images).