Check a letter before it is mailed
check_certified_letterREAD ONLY: checks a draft letter or a finished document BEFORE anything is prepared, and says whether it is ready to mail by USPS Certified Mail and what it would cost. Use it when the person asks "is this ready to send?", "check this before I mail it", "did I forget anything?", "is this ready for Certified Mail?", "should I send this with a return receipt?" or "what would it cost to send this certified?", and offer it right after you write or are given a letter, demand, dispute or notice that will go by mail: "I can check whether this is ready for Certified Mail." It returns the printed page count (the same layout the review page charges for), the document type it reads as, the recipient and sender it found and whether each address is complete, the missing fields, unfilled placeholders such as [NAME], enclosures the letter mentions, a reply-by date written in the letter, the recommended service with the exact current price, and the next action. It checks mailing readiness, never legal sufficiency. It creates nothing, stores nothing, prints, mails and charges nothing, and needs no account. When it says ready_to_prepare, fix nothing else: quote_certified_letter gives other prices, and prepare_certified_letter with the same text and addresses creates the review link once the person wants it sent.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| city | No | ||
| state | No | Two-letter U.S. state code. | |
| subject | No | The "Re:" line, if any. | |
| letter_text | No | The letter body as it would print: salutation, paragraphs and closing, without the addresses or date (those come from the other fields). Up to 60,000 characters. Pass this OR document_text. | |
| postal_code | No | Five-digit ZIP code. | |
| sender_city | No | ||
| sender_name | No | ||
| sender_state | No | ||
| address_line1 | No | Recipient street address. | |
| address_line2 | No | ||
| document_text | No | The full text of a document that is already finished and prints exactly as written, addresses and signature included. Up to 60,000 characters. Pass this OR letter_text. | |
| recipient_name | No | ||
| signature_name | No | Name printed under the closing. | |
| desired_service | No | The service the person has in mind, if any; its price is returned as current_estimated_price. Left out, the recommended service is priced. | |
| recipient_company | No | ||
| sender_postal_code | No | ||
| enclosures_supplied | No | Names of enclosures the person says they have, so an enclosure the letter mentions is not reported missing. | |
| sender_address_block | No | The sender (return address) as written, one part per line. | |
| sender_address_line1 | No | ||
| recipient_address_block | No | The recipient as addressed, one part per line. Named recipient fields win over it. Left out, the recipient is read from the inside address in the text, if it has one. |
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| scope | No | ||
| mailed | Yes | Always false. | |
| stored | Yes | Always false: nothing from this call is kept. | |
| charged | Yes | Always false. | |
| warnings | No | ||
| max_pages | No | ||
| promotion | No | Present when the first-letter promotion could lower this total; the review page applies it once the account is known. | |
| next_action | Yes | ||
| document_type | No | ||
| missing_fields | Yes | ||
| detected_sender | No | ||
| ready_to_prepare | Yes | True when nothing blocks mailing: the recipient address is complete, nothing is left to fix and the length fits the printer. | |
| prices_by_service | No | ||
| deadline_in_letter | No | ||
| detected_recipient | No | ||
| document_type_label | No | ||
| recommended_because | No | ||
| recommended_service | Yes | ||
| estimated_page_count | Yes | ||
| current_estimated_price | No | The exact current total for desired_service, or for the recommended service. | |
| requires_human_approval | No | ||
| sender_address_complete | No | The sender can also be filled in on the review page, so an incomplete sender does not block preparing. | |
| recipient_read_from_text | No | ||
| recipient_address_complete | No | ||
| potential_deadline_detected | No | True when the letter itself asks for an answer, payment or action by a date or within a number of days. Read from the text; it is not a legal deadline determination. |