Get the Fields Available for Retrieval

To identify what kind of information is returned on a Retrieve call for an object, get the fields that are available for that object.

The Retrievemethod takes a list of properties to retrieve on a given object. To build a dynamic list of retrievable properties, use the Describe call and filter out the retrievable fields using the IsRetrievable property.

Use the Describe method when building your integration. However, don’t use this call before every Retrieve call. These values are fairly static, so it isn’t necessary to retrieve them frequently.

Usage Examples

This sample SOAP envelope shows how to retrieve information about the fields for the SentEvent object.

1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
2<s:Envelope xmlns:s="http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope"
3            xmlns:a="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2004/08/addressing"
4            xmlns:u="http://docs.oasis-open.org/wss/2004/01/oasis-200401-wss-wssecurity-utility-1.0.xsd">
5  <s:Header>
6    <a:Action s:mustUnderstand="1">Describe</a:Action>
7    <a:To s:mustUnderstand="1">https://YOUR_SUBDOMAIN.soap.marketingcloudapis.com/Service.asmx</a:To>
8    <fueloauth xmlns="http://exacttarget.com">YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN</fueloauth>
9  </s:Header>
10  <s:Body xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
11          xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
12    <DefinitionRequestMsg xmlns="http://exacttarget.com/wsdl/partnerAPI">
13    <DescribeRequests>
14      <ObjectDefinitionRequest>
15      <ObjectType>SentEvent</ObjectType>
16      </ObjectDefinitionRequest>
17    </DescribeRequests>
18    </DefinitionRequestMsg>
19  </s:Body>
20</s:Envelope>

The response contains the names, data types, and other information about the fields in the specified object.

1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
2<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope"
3                xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
4                xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
5                xmlns:wsa="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2004/08/addressing"
6                xmlns:wsse="http://docs.oasis-open.org/wss/2004/01/oasis-200401-wss-wssecurity-secext-1.0.xsd"
7                xmlns:wsu="http://docs.oasis-open.org/wss/2004/01/oasis-200401-wss-wssecurity-utility-1.0.xsd">
8  <env:Header xmlns:env="http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope">
9    <wsa:Action>DescribeResponse</wsa:Action>
10    <wsa:MessageID>urn:uuid:98699d0e-c48e-4fc1-ac6a-5b516example</wsa:MessageID>
11    <wsa:RelatesTo>urn:uuid:c85ffd1e-5266-4414-86fe-c0c48example</wsa:RelatesTo>
12    <wsa:To>http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2004/08/addressing/role/anonymous</wsa:To>
13    <wsse:Security>
14      <wsu:Timestamp wsu:Id="Timestamp-a3f9a983-fb23-450a-bf9f-e8754b70b1e8">
15        <wsu:Created>2026-04-17T23:05:14Z</wsu:Created>
16        <wsu:Expires>2026-04-17T23:10:14Z</wsu:Expires>
17      </wsu:Timestamp>
18    </wsse:Security>
19  </env:Header>
20  <soap:Body>
21    <DefinitionResponseMsg xmlns="http://exacttarget.com/wsdl/partnerAPI">
22      <ObjectDefinition>
23        <ObjectType>SentEvent</ObjectType>
24        <Properties>
25          <PartnerKey xsi:nil="true" />
26          <ObjectID xsi:nil="true" />
27          <Name>SendID</Name>
28          <DataType>Int32</DataType>
29          <IsUpdatable>true</IsUpdatable>
30          <IsRetrievable>true</IsRetrievable>
31          <IsRequired>false</IsRequired>
32        </Properties>
33
34        <Properties>
35          <PartnerKey xsi:nil="true" />
36          <ObjectID xsi:nil="true" />
37          <Name>SubscriberKey</Name>
38          <DataType>String</DataType>
39          <IsUpdatable>true</IsUpdatable>
40          <IsRetrievable>true</IsRetrievable>
41          <IsRequired>false</IsRequired>
42        </Properties>
43
44        <Properties>
45          <PartnerKey xsi:nil="true" />
46          <ObjectID xsi:nil="true" />
47          <Name>EventDate</Name>
48          <DataType>DateTime</DataType>
49          <IsUpdatable>true</IsUpdatable>
50          <IsRetrievable>true</IsRetrievable>
51          <IsRequired>false</IsRequired>
52        </Properties>
53
54        <Properties>
55          <PartnerKey xsi:nil="true" />
56          <ObjectID xsi:nil="true" />
57          <Name>Client.ID</Name>
58          <DataType>Int32</DataType>
59          <IsUpdatable>false</IsUpdatable>
60          <IsRetrievable>true</IsRetrievable>
61          <IsRequired>false</IsRequired>
62        </Properties>
63
64        <Properties>
65          <PartnerKey xsi:nil="true" />
66          <ObjectID xsi:nil="true" />
67          <Name>EventType</Name>
68          <DataType>EventType</DataType>
69          <IsUpdatable>true</IsUpdatable>
70          <IsRetrievable>true</IsRetrievable>
71          <IsRequired>true</IsRequired>
72        </Properties>
73
74        <Properties>
75          <PartnerKey xsi:nil="true" />
76          <ObjectID xsi:nil="true" />
77          <Name>BatchID</Name>
78          <DataType>Int32</DataType>
79          <IsUpdatable>true</IsUpdatable>
80          <IsRetrievable>true</IsRetrievable>
81          <IsRequired>false</IsRequired>
82        </Properties>
83
84        <Properties>
85          <PartnerKey xsi:nil="true" />
86          <ObjectID xsi:nil="true" />
87          <Name>TriggeredSendDefinitionObjectID</Name>
88          <DataType>String</DataType>
89          <IsUpdatable>true</IsUpdatable>
90          <IsRetrievable>true</IsRetrievable>
91          <IsRequired>false</IsRequired>
92        </Properties>
93
94        <Properties>
95          <PartnerKey xsi:nil="true" />
96          <ObjectID xsi:nil="true" />
97          <Name>ListID</Name>
98          <DataType>Int32</DataType>
99          <IsUpdatable>false</IsUpdatable>
100          <IsRetrievable>true</IsRetrievable>
101          <IsRequired>false</IsRequired>
102        </Properties>
103
104        <Properties>
105          <PartnerKey xsi:nil="true" />
106          <ObjectID xsi:nil="true" />
107          <Name>PartnerKey</Name>
108          <DataType>String</DataType>
109          <IsUpdatable>true</IsUpdatable>
110          <IsRetrievable>true</IsRetrievable>
111          <IsRequired>false</IsRequired>
112        </Properties>
113
114        <Properties>
115          <PartnerKey xsi:nil="true" />
116          <ObjectID xsi:nil="true" />
117          <Name>SubscriberID</Name>
118          <DataType>Int32</DataType>
119          <IsUpdatable>false</IsUpdatable>
120          <IsRetrievable>true</IsRetrievable>
121          <IsRequired>false</IsRequired>
122        </Properties>
123      </ObjectDefinition>
124      <RequestID>3548176b-92c2-46ba-9ebc-8ab71example</RequestID>
125    </DefinitionResponseMsg>
126  </soap:Body>
127</soap:Envelope>

Get the Fields Available for Retrieval

Usage Examples

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