Messaging

The Messaging node sends a message out of band, to a phone number you choose, through your own account with an SMS provider. Use it to notify someone about an event: a receipt after a payment, an alert to your team when a form comes in, or a reminder from a scheduled automation. The message goes through the provider, not through the conversation the flow is handling.

When to use itCopy Anchor Link

• Text a customer a confirmation or reference number after an order or payment.
• Alert a staff member by SMS when something in the flow needs attention.
• Send reminders from a scheduled automation.

To answer the person inside a chatbot conversation, use Reply. To call an SMS or messaging API that this node does not cover, use API or Integration.

From, To and Message can use variables in USSD, chatbot and automation projects. The node does not send WhatsApp messages; for WhatsApp, use the Integration node or WhatsApp templates.

SettingsCopy Anchor Link

Choose the provider under Medium by selecting its logo: Twilio, Africa’s Talking or Infobip. Twilio is selected by default. The settings are on the Parameters tab.

A red warning icon appears on the node until every required field is filled.

Provider credentialsCopy Anchor Link

Each provider needs its own credential. See Credentials and SMS providers.

LanguagesCopy Anchor Link

In chatbot and automation projects that serve more than one language, the Translations tab holds the message's translations, and Send in picks which one each person gets:

• The recipient's saved language, the default in automations: the language saved on the contact the message is sent to, found by its phone number.
• The conversation's language, the default in chatbots: the language of the conversation the flow is in.
• A language from the flow: a language code, or a variable that holds one.

Anyone with no translation in their language gets the original. See Messages in several languages.

Below Message and each translation, the node shows how many SMS parts it is sent as. One character outside the basic SMS alphabet, such as ê, makes each part hold 70 characters instead of 160. Send SMS in plain letters, on the project's Languages settings tab, spells those characters in plain letters instead. See SMS length and accents.

OutputsCopy Anchor Link

The node has one output. The next node receives the provider's response to the send request as its input. The node writes nothing to state.

There is no separate failure path. In an automation, a request the provider rejects fails the step. In a chatbot, the flow carries on to the next node, which receives { success: false, error } instead, so a failed SMS never stops the conversation.

ExampleCopy Anchor Link

An automation runs when an order is paid and texts the customer a receipt:

1. A trigger receives the order as JSON, including phone, name and reference.
2. A Messaging node directly after it, with Medium Infobip, Resource SMS, From ACMESHOP, To {{input.phone}} and Message Hi {{input.name}}, we received your payment. Ref: {{input.reference}}.
3. A Data Store node records that the receipt was sent.

Tips and limitsCopy Anchor Link

• Sender IDs need approval. Most carriers only deliver from a sender ID or number your provider has approved for your account. An unapproved From is a common cause of messages that never arrive.
• Use international format. Write To with the country code, for example +254712345678.
• Africa's Talking sandbox. A credential whose username is sandbox sends to the Africa's Talking sandbox, which does not reach real phones. Any other credential sends to real phones, in every project type.
• Infobip USSD. The USSD resource sends a push message through Infobip's USSD API. It is used in automation projects; in USSD projects the node always sends SMS.
• Not available in IVR projects. The voice runtime cannot run this node, so it is not in the IVR palette.
• Your provider bills you. Messages are sent from your own provider account and billed by the provider.

RelatedCopy Anchor Link