Programmable Messaging Quickstart - Python

You can sign up for a free Twilio trial account here.

• When you sign up, you'll be asked to verify your personal phone number. This helps Twilio verify your identity and also allows you to send test messages to your phone from your Twilio account while in trial mode.
• Once you verify your number, you'll be asked a series of questions to customize your experience.
• Once you finish the onboarding flow, you'll arrive at your project dashboard in the Twilio Console. This is where you'll be able to access your Account SID, authentication token, find a Twilio phone number, and more.

If you don't currently own a Twilio phone number with SMS functionality, you'll need to purchase one. After navigating to the Buy a Number page, check the SMS box and click Search.

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You'll then see a list of available phone numbers and their capabilities. Find a number that suits your fancy and click Buy to add it to your account.

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We'll use the Twilio CLI (command line interface) for a few tasks, so let's install that next.

brew tap twilio/brew && brew install twilio

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wget -qO- https://twilio-cli-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/twilio_pub.asc \
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  | sudo apt-key add -
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sudo touch /etc/apt/sources.list.d/twilio.list
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echo 'deb https://twilio-cli-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/apt/ /' \
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  | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/twilio.list
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sudo apt update
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sudo apt install -y twilio

Run twilio login to get the Twilio CLI connected to your account. Visit the Twilio Console, and under Account Info, you'll find your unique Account SID and Auth Token to provide to the CLI.

Once you have your SMS-enabled Twilio phone number and the Twilio CLI, you can proceed to install Python and the Twilio Python Helper Library.

To send your first SMS, you'll need to have Python and the Twilio Python helper library installed.

If you're using a Mac or Linux machine, you probably already have Python installed. You can check this by opening up a terminal and running the following command:

python3 --version

You should see something like:

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$ python3 --version
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Python 3.7

Windows users can follow this excellent tutorial for installing Python on Windows, or follow the instructions from Python's documentation.

Twilio's Python server-side SDK supports Python 3.

The easiest way to install the library is using pip, a package manager for Python that helps you install the libraries you need. Run this in the terminal:

pip install twilio

If you get a pip: command not found error, you can also use easy_install by running this in your terminal:

easy_install twilio

If you'd prefer a manual installation, you can download the source code (ZIP) for twilio-python and then install the library by running:

python setup.py install

in the folder containing the twilio-python server-side SDK library code.

Now that we have Python and twilio-python installed, we can send an outbound text message from the Twilio phone number we just purchased with a single API request. Create and open a new file called send_sms.py and type or paste in this code sample.

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# Download the helper library from https://www.twilio.com/docs/python/install
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import os
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from twilio.rest import Client
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# Find your Account SID and Auth Token at twilio.com/console
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# and set the environment variables. See http://twil.io/secure
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account_sid = os.environ["TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID"]
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auth_token = os.environ["TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN"]
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client = Client(account_sid, auth_token)
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message = client.messages.create(
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    body="Join Earth's mightiest heroes. Like Kevin Bacon.",
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    from_="+15017122661",
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    to="+15558675310",
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)
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print(message.body)

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{
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  "account_sid": "ACXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
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  "api_version": "2010-04-01",
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  "body": "Join Earth's mightiest heroes. Like Kevin Bacon.",
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  "date_created": "Thu, 24 Aug 2023 05:01:45 +0000",
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  "date_sent": "Thu, 24 Aug 2023 05:01:45 +0000",
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  "date_updated": "Thu, 24 Aug 2023 05:01:45 +0000",
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  "direction": "outbound-api",
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  "error_code": null,
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  "error_message": null,
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  "from": "+15017122661",
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  "num_media": "0",
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  "num_segments": "1",
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  "price": null,
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  "price_unit": null,
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  "messaging_service_sid": "MGaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
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  "sid": "SMaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
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  "status": "queued",
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  "subresource_uris": {
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    "media": "/2010-04-01/Accounts/ACaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/Messages/SMaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/Media.json"
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  },
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  "tags": {
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    "campaign_name": "Spring Sale 2022",
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    "message_type": "cart_abandoned"
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  },
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  "to": "+15558675310",
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  "uri": "/2010-04-01/Accounts/ACaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/Messages/SMaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.json"
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}

You'll need to edit your send_sms.py file a little more before your message will send.

Swap the placeholder values for account_sid and auth_token with your personal Twilio credentials. You can find these values in your Twilio console, as described previously.

Open send_sms.py and replace the values for account_sid and auth_token with your unique values.

Remember that SMS-enabled phone number you bought just a few minutes ago? Go ahead and replace the existing from_ number with that one, making sure to use E.164 formatting:

[+][country code][phone number including area code]

Replace the to phone number with your mobile phone number. This can be any phone number that can receive text messages, but it's a good idea to test with your own phone so you can see the magic happen! As above, you should use E.164 formatting for this value.

Save your changes and run this script from your terminal:

python send_sms.py

That's it! In a few moments, you should receive an SMS from your Twilio number on your phone.

In this code sample, we are making a POST request to the Programmable Messaging API's Message endpoint in order to create a new outbound message. We are using the twilio-python library's built-in create method, but you could make this request using the Twilio CLI (that you already installed), curl, or a request module of your choosing.

Check out the code samples to send an SMS with the Twilio CLI and curl. Don't forget to update the body, to, and from parameters!

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# Install the twilio-cli from https://twil.io/cli
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twilio api:core:messages:create \
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   --body "Join Earth's mightiest heroes. Like Kevin Bacon." \
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   --to +15558675310 \
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   --from +15017122661

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{
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  "account_sid": "ACaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
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  "api_version": "2010-04-01",
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  "body": "Join Earth's mightiest heroes. Like Kevin Bacon.",
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  "date_created": "Thu, 24 Aug 2023 05:01:45 +0000",
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  "date_sent": "Thu, 24 Aug 2023 05:01:45 +0000",
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  "date_updated": "Thu, 24 Aug 2023 05:01:45 +0000",
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  "direction": "outbound-api",
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  "error_code": null,
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  "error_message": null,
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  "from": "+15017122661",
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  "num_media": "0",
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  "num_segments": "1",
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  "price": null,
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  "price_unit": null,
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  "messaging_service_sid": "MGaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
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  "sid": "SMaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
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  "status": "queued",
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  "subresource_uris": {
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    "media": "/2010-04-01/Accounts/ACaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/Messages/SMaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/Media.json"
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  },
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  "tags": {
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    "campaign_name": "Spring Sale 2022",
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    "message_type": "cart_abandoned"
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  },
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  "to": "+15558675310",
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  "uri": "/2010-04-01/Accounts/ACaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/Messages/SMaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.json"
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}

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curl -X POST "https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/$TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID/Messages.json" \
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--data-urlencode "Body=Join Earth's mightiest heroes. Like Kevin Bacon." \
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--data-urlencode "To=+15558675310" \
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--data-urlencode "From=+15017122661" \
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-u $TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID:$TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN

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{
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  "account_sid": "ACaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
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  "api_version": "2010-04-01",
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  "body": "Join Earth's mightiest heroes. Like Kevin Bacon.",
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  "date_created": "Thu, 24 Aug 2023 05:01:45 +0000",
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  "date_sent": "Thu, 24 Aug 2023 05:01:45 +0000",
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  "date_updated": "Thu, 24 Aug 2023 05:01:45 +0000",
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  "direction": "outbound-api",
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  "error_code": null,
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  "error_message": null,
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  "from": "+15017122661",
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  "num_media": "0",
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  "num_segments": "1",
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  "price": null,
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  "price_unit": null,
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  "messaging_service_sid": "MGaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
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  "sid": "SMaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
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  "status": "queued",
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  "subresource_uris": {
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    "media": "/2010-04-01/Accounts/ACaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/Messages/SMaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/Media.json"
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  },
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  "tags": {
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    "campaign_name": "Spring Sale 2022",
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    "message_type": "cart_abandoned"
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  },
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  "to": "+15558675310",
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  "uri": "/2010-04-01/Accounts/ACaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/Messages/SMaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.json"
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}

Congratulations, you've sent your first SMS with Twilio Programmable Messaging and received it on your personal device.

At this point, we have acquired one Twilio phone number and used it to send one outbound SMS. You can imagine a time in the not-so-distant future where you'll need a more robust, feature-rich way to send messages, such as:

• Sending many messages over a short period of time
• Handling opt-ins and opt-outs
• Ensuring that your customers always receive a consistent messaging experience with the same phone number.

In the next part of the Quickstart, we'll walk through setting up your first Messaging Service. You can think of a Messaging Service as a container to hold all of your available phone numbers (and other senders) and comes with features that you may need along your messaging journey.

Run the following Twilio CLI command to create a Messaging Service that we will use to send our first programmable SMS.

twilio api:messaging:v1:services:create --friendly-name "My first Messaging Service"

Take note of the Messaging Service SID (It starts with "MGXXX..."). We'll need it to send our next message.

Next, add the phone number you just purchased. Forgot the number already? No worries, you can list it with the Twilio CLI:

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twilio phone-numbers:list
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# Grab the SID ("PNXXXX...") of your number

Add your phone number to your newly created Messaging Service with the following command:

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twilio api:messaging:v1:services:phone-numbers:create --service-sid MGXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX --phone-number-sid PNXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
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Sending an outbound SMS from a Messaging Service is similar to sending from an individual Twilio phone number. The primary difference is replacing the from_ parameter with the messaging_service_sid to indicate that you are sending from a phone number within your Messaging Service's sender pool. (Currently, there is only one phone number in your sender pool, so we'll be sending from that one.)

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# Download the helper library from https://www.twilio.com/docs/python/install
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import os
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from twilio.rest import Client
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# Find your Account SID and Auth Token at twilio.com/console
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# and set the environment variables. See http://twil.io/secure
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account_sid = os.environ["TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID"]
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auth_token = os.environ["TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN"]
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client = Client(account_sid, auth_token)
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message = client.messages.create(
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    messaging_service_sid="MGXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
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    to="+15558675310",
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    body="This will be the body of the new message!",
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)
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print(message.body)

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{
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  "account_sid": "ACaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
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  "api_version": "2010-04-01",
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  "body": "This will be the body of the new message!",
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  "date_created": "Thu, 24 Aug 2023 05:01:45 +0000",
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  "date_sent": "Thu, 24 Aug 2023 05:01:45 +0000",
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  "date_updated": "Thu, 24 Aug 2023 05:01:45 +0000",
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  "direction": "outbound-api",
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  "error_code": null,
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  "error_message": null,
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  "from": "+14155552345",
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  "num_media": "0",
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  "num_segments": "1",
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  "price": null,
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  "price_unit": null,
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  "messaging_service_sid": "MGXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
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  "sid": "SMaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
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  "status": "queued",
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  "subresource_uris": {
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    "media": "/2010-04-01/Accounts/ACaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/Messages/SMaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/Media.json"
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  },
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  "tags": {
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    "campaign_name": "Spring Sale 2022",
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    "message_type": "cart_abandoned"
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  },
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  "to": "+15558675310",
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  "uri": "/2010-04-01/Accounts/ACaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa/Messages/SMaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.json"
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}

Remember that Messaging Service you just created? We will modify the code from the first example to use your Messaging Service to send a message. Go ahead and open the send_sms.py file you used for that example. In that file, instead of the from_ parameter and your phone number, use the messaging_service_sid parameter with the "MGXXXX..." of your Messaging Service SID. Save your changes and run this script from your terminal:

python send_sms.py

And that's it to send an SMS using a Twilio Messaging Service! In a few seconds, you should receive a second SMS on your phone from your Twilio phone number. The Messaging Service seamlessly selected your number from its Sender Pool to send that second outbound message.

Now that you've sent your first SMS messages, check out the following resources to continue your messaging journey with Twilio:

• Learn about inbound messages with Receive and Reply to SMS and MMS messages.
• Want to send with WhatsApp? Check out our WhatsApp Quickstart for Python and our guide to Sending WhatsApp Notifications with Templates.
• Build Server Notifications with Twilio Programmable Messaging.
• Dive into the API Reference documentation for Twilio SMS.
• Track the delivery status of your messages with Python.

Let's build something amazing.