SMS API

Vonage's SMS API enables you to send and receive text messages to and from users worldwide, using simple REST APIs.

Programmatically send and receive high volumes of SMS globally.
Send SMS with low latency and high delivery rates.
Receive SMS using local numbers.
Scale your applications with familiar web technologies.
Pay only for what you use, nothing more.
Auto-redact feature to protect privacy.

This topic contains the following information:

Getting Started - Information on how to get started quickly
Troubleshooting - Message object status field and error code information
Concepts - Introductory concepts
Guides - Learn how to use the SMS API
Code Snippets - Code snippets to help with specific tasks
Use Cases - Use cases with code examples
Reference - REST API documentation

Getting Started

Send an SMS

This example shows you how to send an SMS to your chosen number.

First, sign up for a Nexmo account if you don't already have one, and make a note of your API key and secret on the dashboard getting started page.

Replace the following placeholder values in the sample code:

Key	Description
`NEXMO_API_KEY`	Your Nexmo API key.
`NEXMO_API_SECRET`	Your Nexmo API secret.

Write the code

Add the following to send-sms.sh:

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curl -X "POST" "https://rest.nexmo.com/sms/json" \
  -d "from=$NEXMO_BRAND_NAME" \
  -d "text=A text message sent using the Nexmo SMS API" \
  -d "to=$TO_NUMBER" \
  -d "api_key=$NEXMO_API_KEY" \
  -d "api_secret=$NEXMO_API_SECRET"

View full source

Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

sh send-sms.sh

Prerequisites

Install dependencies

npm install nexmo

Initialize your dependencies

Create a file named send.js and add the following code:

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const Nexmo = require('nexmo')

const nexmo = new Nexmo({
  apiKey: NEXMO_API_KEY,
  apiSecret: NEXMO_API_SECRET
})

View full source

Write the code

Add the following to send.js:

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const from = NEXMO_BRAND_NAME
const to = TO_NUMBER
const text = 'A text message sent using the Nexmo SMS API'

nexmo.message.sendSms(from, to, text, (err, responseData) => {
    if (err) {
        console.log(err);
    } else {
        if(responseData.messages[0]['status'] === "0") {
            console.log("Message sent successfully.");
        } else {
            console.log(`Message failed with error: ${responseData.messages[0]['error-text']}`);
        }
    }
})

View full source

Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

node send.js

Prerequisites

Install dependencies

Add the following to `build.gradle`:

compile 'com.nexmo:client:5.2.1'

Initialize your dependencies

Create a class named SendMessage and add the following code to the main method:

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NexmoClient client = NexmoClient.builder().apiKey(NEXMO_API_KEY).apiSecret(NEXMO_API_SECRET).build();

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Write the code

Add the following to the main method of the SendMessage class:

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TextMessage message = new TextMessage(NEXMO_BRAND_NAME,
        TO_NUMBER,
        "A text message sent using the Nexmo SMS API"
);

SmsSubmissionResponse response = client.getSmsClient().submitMessage(message);

if (response.getMessages().get(0).getStatus() == MessageStatus.OK) {
    System.out.println("Message sent successfully.");
} else {
    System.out.println("Message failed with error: " + response.getMessages().get(0).getErrorText());
}

View full source

Run your code

We can use the application plugin for Gradle to simplify the running of our application. Update your build.gradle with the following:

  apply plugin: 'application'
  mainClassName = project.hasProperty('main') ? project.getProperty('main') : ''

Run the following gradle command to execute your application, replacing com.nexmo.quickstart.sms with the package containing SendMessage:

gradle run -Pmain=com.nexmo.quickstart.sms.SendMessage

Prerequisites

Install dependencies

Install-Package Nexmo.Csharp.Client

Import dependencies

Create a file named SendSms.cs and add the following code:

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using Nexmo.Api;
using Nexmo.Api.Request;

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Initialize your dependencies

Add the following to SendSms.cs:

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var credentials = Credentials.FromApiKeyAndSecret(
    NEXMO_API_KEY,
    NEXMO_API_SECRET
    );

var nexmoClient = new NexmoClient(credentials);

View full source

Write the code

Add the following to SendSms.cs:

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var response = nexmoClient.SmsClient.SendAnSms(new Nexmo.Api.Messaging.SendSmsRequest()
{
    To = TO_NUMBER,
    From = NEXMO_BRAND_NAME,
    Text = "A text message sent using the Nexmo SMS API"
});

View full source

Prerequisites

Install dependencies

composer require nexmo/client

Initialize your dependencies

Create a file named send-sms.php and add the following code:

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$basic  = new \Nexmo\Client\Credentials\Basic(NEXMO_API_KEY, NEXMO_API_SECRET);
$client = new \Nexmo\Client($basic);

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Write the code

Add the following to send-sms.php:

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try {
    $message = $client->message()->send([
        'to' => TO_NUMBER,
        'from' => 'Acme Inc',
        'text' => 'A text message sent using the Nexmo SMS API'
    ]);
    $response = $message->getResponseData();

    if($response['messages'][0]['status'] == 0) {
        echo "The message was sent successfully\n";
    } else {
        echo "The message failed with status: " . $response['messages'][0]['status'] . "\n";
    }
} catch (Exception $e) {
    echo "The message was not sent. Error: " . $e->getMessage() . "\n";
}

View full source

Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

php send-sms.php

Prerequisites

Install dependencies

pip install nexmo

Initialize your dependencies

Create a file named send-an-sms.py and add the following code:

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import nexmo

client = nexmo.Client(key=NEXMO_API_KEY, secret=NEXMO_API_SECRET)

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Write the code

Add the following to send-an-sms.py:

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responseData = client.send_message(
    {
        "from": NEXMO_BRAND_NAME,
        "to": TO_NUMBER,
        "text": "A text message sent using the Nexmo SMS API",
    }
)

if responseData["messages"][0]["status"] == "0":
    print("Message sent successfully.")
else:
    print(f"Message failed with error: {responseData['messages'][0]['error-text']}")

View full source

Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

python send-an-sms.py

Prerequisites

Install dependencies

gem install nexmo

Initialize your dependencies

Create a file named send.rb and add the following code:

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client = Nexmo::Client.new(
  api_key: NEXMO_API_KEY,
  api_secret: NEXMO_API_SECRET
)

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Write the code

Add the following to send.rb:

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client.sms.send(
  from: 'Acme Inc',
  to: TO_NUMBER,
  text: 'A text message sent using the Nexmo SMS API'
)

View full source

Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

ruby send.rb

Troubleshooting

If you have problems when making API calls be sure to check the returned status field for specific error codes.

Concepts

Before using the Nexmo SMS API, familiarize yourself with the following:

Number format - The SMS API requires phone numbers in E.164 format.
Authentication - The SMS API authenticates using your account API key and secret.
Webhooks - The SMS API makes HTTP requests to your application web server so that you can act upon them. For example: inbound SMS and delivery receipts.

Guides

Sender identity: How to change where your SMS appears to come from.
Concatenation and encoding: Determining whether the byte length of a message results in it being sent as multiple SMS.
Country specific features: How different countries' SMS sending rules can affect your campaign.
Delivery receipts: How to request a delivery receipt (DLR) from the carrier.
Inbound SMS: How to receive SMS on your Nexmo virtual numbers.
Troubleshooting: What to do if your SMS delivery fails.
SMPP access: Using SMPP instead of REST to access the SMS API.
Message Privacy: This topic describes the Auto-redact feature of the SMS API

SMS API

Contents

Getting Started

Send an SMS

Write the code

Run your code

Prerequisites

Install dependencies

Initialize your dependencies

Write the code

Run your code

Prerequisites

Install dependencies

Initialize your dependencies

Write the code

Run your code

Prerequisites

Install dependencies

Import dependencies

Initialize your dependencies

Write the code

Prerequisites

Install dependencies

Initialize your dependencies

Write the code

Run your code

Prerequisites

Install dependencies

Initialize your dependencies

Write the code

Run your code

Prerequisites

Install dependencies

Initialize your dependencies

Write the code

Run your code

Troubleshooting

Concepts

Guides

Code Snippets

Use Cases

Reference