---
title: Sharing Contact Card | API Docs
description: Push your configured contact card into a chat so the recipient sees your name and photo.
---

Sharing a contact card is the iMessage **Name and Photo Sharing** action: it pushes the contact card already configured on your sending number into a chat so the recipient’s device prompts them to save your name and photo. You must have a contact card set up first — see [Contact Cards](/guides/contact-cards/index.md) to create or update yours.

**Before calling the share endpoint, make sure:**

- A contact card exists for the `from` number — if none is configured the API returns [error `2012`](/error/codes/2xxx/2012/index.md). Create one via the [Contact Cards endpoints](/guides/contact-cards/index.md) or the [Linq dashboard](https://dashboard.linqapp.com/contact-cards).
- The chat is an **iMessage** conversation — this is an iMessage-only affordance and has no effect on RCS or SMS chats.
- There is at least one prior **outbound message** in the chat.

## Share the card

Call the share endpoint on a specific chat — no request body needed. The card associated with the chat’s `from` phone number is sent automatically. See the [Share Contact Card API reference](/api/resources/chats/methods/share_contact_card/index.md).

## Sharing behavior

Sharing may not take effect in every chat due to limitations outside our control. There’s no confirmation the user saved it, so call the share endpoint **once per day** after the first outbound activity on that chat — this keeps giving them the option if they dismissed it.

> **This is iMessage’s native identity-sharing feature, not a vCard (.vcf) attachment.** The recipient does not receive a file — iMessage surfaces your card as a system-level prompt to save your name and photo. If you want to send a contact’s details *as a file* (e.g. share someone else’s vCard), attach a `.vcf` via a media part instead — see [Sending Messages → Message parts](/guides/messaging/sending-messages#message-parts/index.md).

## Related

- [Contact Cards](/guides/contact-cards/index.md) — set up, retrieve, and update the card that gets shared
- [Chats](/guides/chats/chats/index.md) — chat lifecycle operations
- [Group Chats](/guides/chats/group-chats/index.md) — group-specific management
- [API Reference: Share Contact Card](/api/resources/chats/methods/share_contact_card/index.md)