Twilio SMS Python Quickstart

With just a few lines of code, your Python application can send SMS messages with Twilio Programmable Messaging.

This Programmable Messaging Quickstart will walk you through the entire process step-by-step, starting with setting up your Twilio account all the way through sending an SMS using a Messaging Service.

In this Quickstart, you will learn how to:

• Sign up for Twilio and get your first SMS-enabled Twilio phone number
• Set up your development environment to send outbound messages
• Send your first outbound SMS
• Set up your first Twilio Messaging Service
• Send a second SMS from that Messaging Service

By the end of this Quickstart, you’ll have a solid foundation for building and scaling with Twilio’s Programmable Messaging for your specific use cases.

Sign up for - or sign in to - Twilio

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 to create a project. For the sake of this tutorial, you can click on the "Learn and Explore" template. Give your project a name, or just click "skip remaining steps" to continue with the default.
• Once you get through the project creation flow, you'll arrive at your project dashboard in the Twilio Console. This is where you'll be able to access your Account SID an authentication token, find a Twilio phone number, and more.

Install the Twilio CLI

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

Run twilio login to get the Twilio CLI connected to your account. Visit https://www.twilio.com/console, and you’ll find your unique Account SID and Auth Token to provide to the CLI.

You can reveal your auth token by clicking on the eyeball icon:

Get a phone number

If you don't currently own a Twilio phone number with SMS functionality, you'll need to purchase one. With the CLI, run:

twilio phone-numbers:buy:local --country-code US --sms-enabled

Select a phone number to add it to your account.

Next, we need to install Python and the Twilio Python Helper Library.

Install Python and the Twilio Helper Library

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

Send an outbound SMS with Python

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.

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

Replace the placeholder credential values

Swap the placeholder values for account_sid and auth_token with your personal Twilio credentials. Go to https://www.twilio.com/console and log in. On this page, you’ll find your unique Account SID and Auth Token, which you’ll need any time you send messages through the Twilio Client like this. You can reveal your auth token by clicking on the 'view' link:

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

Replace the from_ phone number

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

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.

Are your customers in the U.S. or Canada? You can also send them MMS messages by adding just one line of code. Check out this guide to sending MMS to see how it's done.

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!

Set up a Twilio Messaging Service

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.

Create a Messaging Service with your phone number

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:

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

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

twilio api:messaging:v1:services:phone-numbers:create --service-sid MGXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX --phone-number-sid PNXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Send an SMS from your Messaging Service

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.)

Replace the messaging_service_sid parameter

Remember that Messaging Service you just created? 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 in 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.

Where to next?

Now that you've send 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

We can't wait to see what you build!