Send an SMS

In this code snippet you will see how to send an SMS using the Messages API.

For a step-by-step guide to this topic, you can read our tutorial Sending SMS messages with the Messages API.

Delivery receipts

The webhook used for the delivery receipt will depend on the type of authentication used:

Authentication type used Webhook used for delivery receipt
Basic Auth account-level webhook is used for delivery receipt.
JWT Auth application-level webhook is used for delivery receipt / status.

Reception of delivery receipts depends on availability of network support.

Example

Ensure the following variables are set to your required values using any convenient method:

Key Description
NEXMO_APPLICATION_ID The ID of the application that you created.
FROM_NUMBER The phone number you are sending the message from.
TO_NUMBER The phone number you are sending the message to.

NOTE: Don't use a leading + or 00 when entering a phone number, start with the country code, for example 447700900000.

  • cURL
  • Node.js

    • Prerequisites

    Create an application
    If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.

    Write the code

    Add the following to send-sms.sh:

    Copy to Clipboard 
    curl -X POST https://api.nexmo.com/v0.1/messages \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer '$JWT\
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json' \
  -d $'{
    "from": { "type": "sms", "number": "'$FROM_NUMBER'" },
    "to": { "type": "sms", "number": "'$TO_NUMBER'" },
    "message": {
      "content": {
        "type": "text",
        "text": "This is an SMS sent from the Messages API"
      }
    }
  }'

    View full source

    Run your code

    Save this file to your machine and run it: 

    bash send-sms.sh

    Prerequisites

    Create an application
    If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.
    Install dependencies

    npm install nexmo@beta

    Write the code

    Add the following to send-sms.js:

    Copy to Clipboard 
    const Nexmo = require('nexmo')

const nexmo = new Nexmo({
  apiKey: NEXMO_API_KEY,
  apiSecret: NEXMO_API_SECRET,
  applicationId: NEXMO_APPLICATION_ID,
  privateKey: NEXMO_APPLICATION_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH
})

nexmo.channel.send(
  { "type": "sms", "number": TO_NUMBER },
  { "type": "sms", "number": FROM_NUMBER },
  {
    "content": {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "This is an SMS text message sent using the Messages API"
    }
  },
  (err, data) => {
    if (err) {
      console.error(err);
    } else {
      console.log(data.message_uuid);
    }
  }
);

    View full source

    Run your code

    Save this file to your machine and run it: 

    node send-sms.js

    Try it out

    When you run the code a message is sent to the destination number.