# Start account recovery for a user

`POST /v1/users/{user_id}:start-recovery` · permission `user-credentials:write`

Sends a recovery link (valid for 24 hours) to the user's primary email without a waiting period; this is the path of the `admin_only` recovery mode. The request opens directly as `ready`, and an open recovery request is replaced in the same transaction (`superseded`). The link is never returned. The optional body only selects the email language. Send an `Idempotency-Key` header to make retries safe.

## Request

| Parameter | In | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `user_id` | path | yes | User id, prefixed `usr_`. |

Optional body:

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `locale` | string | no | BCP 47 language tag of the email, for example `tr` or `pt-BR`. Defaults to the user's or the environment's language. |

## Response

`200 OK`. `request_id` identifies the recovery request (prefix `arq_`); `superseded` tells whether an open request was replaced.

```json
{
  "request_id": "arq_0a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8j9k0m1n2p",
  "expires_at": "2026-01-16T09:30:00Z",
  "superseded": false
}
```

## Errors

Every error is an `application/problem+json` body with a stable `code`.

| HTTP | `code` | When |
|---|---|---|
| 400 | `malformed_request`, `unknown_field` | The body is not valid JSON or has an unknown field. |
| 409 | `conflict` | Account recovery is `disabled` in the environment settings, or the user has no primary email. |
| 415 | `unsupported_media_type` | A body was sent without `Content-Type: application/json`. |
| 422 | `validation_failed` | `locale` is not a valid BCP 47 language tag, or a field has the wrong type. |
| 404 | `not_found` | The user does not exist in this environment (or the id is malformed). |
| 401 | `unauthenticated` | The API key is missing, invalid or revoked. |
| 403 | `insufficient_permissions` | The key lacks the `user-credentials:write` permission. |
| 429 | `rate_limited` | The rate limit was exceeded; honor `Retry-After`. |
| 503 | `service_unavailable` | A dependency is temporarily unavailable; retry later. |

## Example

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.eu.keenauth.com/v1/users/usr_0a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8j9k0m1n2p:start-recovery \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $KEENAUTH_SECRET_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"locale": "en"}'
```