Send a message

Send a message

Sends an SMS, MMS or WhatsApp message from a Twilio sender to one recipient and returns the new Message resource.

Note: A body over 160 GSM-7 characters is split into segments, each charged, and trial accounts can only send to verified numbers.

Set up

Use the first option your agent supports.

CLI (official)

Install the command, then confirm it runs.

brew tap twilio/brew && brew install twilio
twilio --version

Run twilio api:core:messages:create.

Set $TWILIO_API_KEY in your environment first (get a key: https://www.twilio.com/docs/iam/api-keys/keys-in-console).

Note: Also set TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID and TWILIO_API_SECRET, with TWILIO_API_KEY holding the API key SID, or sign in once with twilio login.

Before anything else, confirm access with the cheapest read-only call, like a list or a search. Never send or change anything to test access.

Rules

• Ask the user before anything that sends messages, costs money, or changes data, and say how many records it touches. One approval covers a batch the user has seen.
• Never print API keys.