twilio-send-message

Original：🇺🇸 English

Translated

Send messages via Twilio's Programmable Messaging API across all channels — SMS, MMS, RCS, and WhatsApp. Covers text messages, media, rich content (cards, carousels, buttons), template-based sends, Messaging Services, status callbacks, and WhatsApp's 24-hour service window. Use when the user wants to send a message — whether they say "send SMS", "text message", "branded message", "rich message", "WhatsApp message", "RCS message", "notification", or "alert". For picking the right channel for a use case, first consult twilio-messaging-channel-advisor.

18installs

Sourcetwilio/ai

Added on2026-07-14

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add twilio/ai twilio-send-message

SKILL.md Content

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Overview

A single
messages.create()
call sends on any messaging channel — SMS, MMS, RCS, or WhatsApp. The channel is determined by the sender address and the recipient's capabilities. For channel selection guidance and the full onboarding sequence, see

twilio-messaging-overview

and

twilio-messaging-channel-advisor

.

Channel	`to` format	Notes	Template required?
SMS/MMS	`+15551234567`	MMS: US/CA/AU only	No
RCS (with SMS fallback)	`+15551234567`	Send via Messaging Service that has both an RCS sender and an SMS sender — Twilio attempts RCS first, falls back to SMS on failure	No
RCS (no fallback)	`rcs:+15551234567`	Forces RCS only — fails if recipient isn't RCS-capable	No
WhatsApp	`whatsapp:+15551234567`	Send via `whatsapp:` -prefixed `from`	Outside 24-hr window: yes

For production: Send via

messagingServiceSid

instead of

from

. This enables sender pool management, RCS→SMS fallback, SMS pumping protection, link shortening, compliance toolkit, and scheduling. See

twilio-messaging-services

.

Prerequisites

Twilio account — New to Twilio? See
```
twilio-account-setup
```

Environment variables:

TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID

,

TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN

— see

twilio-iam-auth-setup

SDK:
```
pip install twilio
```
/
```
npm install twilio
```
Channel-specific senders:
- SMS/MMS: a Twilio phone number (see
```
twilio-account-setup
```
  )
- RCS: an RCS sender added to a Messaging Service (see
```
twilio-rcs-messaging
```
  )
- WhatsApp: an active WhatsApp sender (see
```
twilio-whatsapp-send-message
```
  for sandbox,
```
twilio-whatsapp-manage-senders
```
  for production)

Quickstart

Python

python

import os
from twilio.rest import Client

client = Client(os.environ["TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID"], os.environ["TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN"])

# SMS
sms = client.messages.create(
    from_="+15017122661",
    to="+15558675310",
    body="Your order has shipped."
)

# RCS — forces RCS only, no fallback
rcs = client.messages.create(
    messaging_service_sid="MGxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
    to="rcs:+15558675310",
    body="Your order has shipped."
)

# WhatsApp
whatsapp = client.messages.create(
    from_="whatsapp:+15017122661",
    to="whatsapp:+15558675310",
    body="Your order has shipped."
)

# Via Messaging Service (recommended — attempts RCS first, falls back to SMS)
msg = client.messages.create(
    messaging_service_sid="MGxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
    to="+15558675310",
    body="Your order has shipped."
)

Node.js

javascript

const client = require("twilio")(process.env.TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID, process.env.TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN);

// SMS
const sms = await client.messages.create({
    from: "+15017122661",
    to: "+15558675310",
    body: "Your order has shipped.",
});

// RCS — forces RCS only, no fallback
const rcs = await client.messages.create({
    messagingServiceSid: "MGxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
    to: "rcs:+15558675310",
    body: "Your order has shipped.",
});

// WhatsApp
const whatsapp = await client.messages.create({
    from: "whatsapp:+15017122661",
    to: "whatsapp:+15558675310",
    body: "Your order has shipped.",
});

// Via Messaging Service (attempts RCS first, falls back to SMS)
const msg = await client.messages.create({
    messagingServiceSid: "MGxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
    to: "+15558675310",
    body: "Your order has shipped.",
});

Key Patterns

Send with media (MMS, WhatsApp, RCS)

python

client.messages.create(
    from_="+15017122661",
    to="+15558675310",
    body="Here is your invoice.",
    media_url=["https://example.com/invoice.pdf"]
)

Supported: images (JPEG, PNG, GIF), PDF, audio, video. 5 MB max per attachment.

Send a template (WhatsApp required outside 24-hr window; RCS rich content)

python

client.messages.create(
    messaging_service_sid="MGxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
    to="+15558675310",
    content_sid="HXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
    content_variables='{"1": "Sarah", "2": "12345"}'
)

See

twilio-content-template-builder

for building templates.

Track delivery status

python

client.messages.create(
    messaging_service_sid="MGxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
    to="+15558675310",
    body="Hello!",
    status_callback="https://yourapp.com/status"
)

Twilio POSTs at each state transition:

queued → sent → delivered

(or

failed

/

undelivered

).

Configure RCS→SMS fallback

Configured on the Messaging Service, not per-message. Add both an RCS sender and an SMS sender to the same Messaging Service. Twilio attempts RCS first and falls back to SMS on failure. See

twilio-messaging-services

and

twilio-rcs-messaging

.

Common Errors

Code	Meaning	Fix
21211	Invalid `to` number	Validate E.164 format
21408	Region not permitted	Enable geo-permissions in Console
21610	Recipient opted out	Do not retry; respect opt-out
21664	`FallbackFrom` cannot be used with `From` sender	Use `messaging_service_sid` instead of `from`
21666	`FallbackFrom` requires `MessagingServiceSid`	Send via a Messaging Service
21667	`FallbackFrom` requires an RCS Sender on the Messaging Service	Add an RCS sender before configuring fallback
30003	Unreachable destination	Carrier cannot deliver
30007	Message filtered as spam	Review content and sender reputation
30034	US A2P 10DLC — sender not registered	Register brand + campaign. See `twilio-compliance-onboarding`
30036	Validity Period expired	Message aged out. Often indicates RCS fallback is misconfigured
63036	RCS recipient unreachable	Configure SMS fallback on the Messaging Service

CANNOT

Cannot send cross-channel in a single API call. One
```
messages.create()
```
= one channel. For multi-channel fallback, use RCS→SMS via a Messaging Service, or implement sequencing in your app.
Cannot send WhatsApp free-form outside the 24-hour service window. Use a pre-approved template (
```
content_sid
```
). See
```
twilio-whatsapp-send-message
```
.
Cannot send MMS outside US/Canada. For international rich media, use WhatsApp or RCS.
Cannot configure RCS→SMS fallback without a Messaging Service. Raw
```
from
```
sends don't support
```
FallbackFrom
```
.
Cannot guarantee delivery on any channel. Always implement status callbacks.

Next Steps

Pick a channel for your use case:
```
twilio-messaging-channel-advisor
```
Full messaging platform overview:
```
twilio-messaging-overview
```

Channel-specific deep dives:

twilio-sms-send-message

,

twilio-rcs-messaging

,

twilio-whatsapp-send-message

Sender pools, fallback, production features:
```
twilio-messaging-services
```
Build templates (cards, carousels, quick replies):
```
twilio-content-template-builder
```
Handle inbound messages and status callbacks:
```
twilio-messaging-webhooks
```
US A2P 10DLC compliance:
```
twilio-compliance-onboarding
```
OTP / verification use cases:
```
twilio-verify-send-otp
```

twilio-send-message

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Overview

Prerequisites

Quickstart

Key Patterns

Send with media (MMS, WhatsApp, RCS)

Send a template (WhatsApp required outside 24-hr window; RCS rich content)

Track delivery status

Configure RCS→SMS fallback

Common Errors

CANNOT

Next Steps