---
title: 2024: Recipient asked you to stop messaging them | API Docs
description: The recipient asked you to stop, so this send was rejected.
---

The recipient replied with a stop request (for example “STOP”), so Linq is no longer delivering your messages to them. This is an HTTP 403 error returned before the message is queued — nothing was sent, and retrying the same request unchanged returns the same error.

The block applies to that recipient across every chat and every line on your account. Sending from a different number does not get around it, and sending again does not clear it.

**Every send is rejected, including a final courtesy message.** There is no free follow-up. If you want to confirm you have stopped and let the recipient know they can reply any time to resume, send that one message with `override_optout: true` — that is the only way through. The override applies to the single request it is set on and does not lift the block, so the next request without it is rejected again. Each use is recorded against your account.

The block is lifted as soon as the recipient replies again — any later message from them that is not itself a stop keyword opts them back in immediately.

## Troubleshooting

- Stop sending to this recipient — continuing to message someone who asked you to stop puts your line’s ability to deliver at risk
- Watch the `chat.health_status` field on the `message.received` webhook for `OPTED_OUT` so you can suppress sends on your side too, rather than discovering the block through this error
- To send a single “we have stopped messaging you — reply any time to resume” note, set `override_optout: true` on that one request — there is no automatic allowance for it
- Use `override_optout: true` only when you have a specific reason to send anyway — each use is recorded