Send a Text Message

In this code snippet you learn how to send a Facebook message using the Messages API.

For a step-by-step guide to this topic, you can read our tutorial Sending Facebook Messenger messages with the Messages API.

Example

Find the description for all variables used in each code snippet below:

Key	Description
`VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID`	The Vonage Application ID.
`VONAGE_APPLICATION_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH`	Private key path.
`VONAGE_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH`	Private key path.
`BASE_URL`	For production use the base URL is `https://api.nexmo.com/`. For sandbox testing the base URL is `https://messages-sandbox.nexmo.com/`.
`MESSAGES_API_URL`	There are two versions of the API, each with their own endpoints. For production the previous Messages API endpoint was `https://api.nexmo.com/v0.1/messages`, the new one is `https://api.nexmo.com/v1/messages`. For sandbox testing the Messages API endpoint is `https://messages-sandbox.nexmo.com/v0.1/messages` or `https://messages-sandbox.nexmo.com/v1/messages`, depending on which version you have set in the sandbox dashboard.
`FB_SENDER_ID`	Your Page ID. The `FB_SENDER_ID` is the same as the `to.id` value you received in the inbound messenger event on your Inbound Message Webhook URL. For sandbox testing this is `107083064136738`.
`VONAGE_FB_SENDER_ID`	Refer to `FB_SENDER_ID` above
`FROM_ID`	Refer to `FB_SENDER_ID` above
`FB_RECIPIENT_ID`	The PSID of the user you want to reply to. The `FB_RECIPIENT_ID` is the PSID of the Facebook User you are messaging. This value is the `from.id` value you received in the inbound messenger event on your Inbound Message Webhook URL.
`TO_ID`	Refer to `FB_RECIPIENT_ID` above.

Prerequisites

If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.

Write the code

Add the following to send-text.sh:

curl -X POST "${MESSAGES_API_URL}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer "$JWT\
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json' \
  -d $'{
    "to": "'${MESSENGER_RECIPIENT_ID}'",
    "from": "'${MESSENGER_SENDER_ID}'",
    "channel": "messenger",
    "message_type": "text",
    "text": "This is a Facebook Messenger text message sent using the Vonage Messages API."
  }'

View full source

Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

bash send-text.sh

Prerequisites

If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.

npm install @vonage/server-sdk @vonage/messages

Create a file named send-text.js and add the following code:

const { Vonage } = require('@vonage/server-sdk');
const { Channels } = require('@vonage/messages');

/**
 * It is best to send messages using JWT instead of basic auth. If you leave out
 * apiKey and apiSecret, the messages SDK will send requests using JWT tokens
 *
 * @link https://developer.vonage.com/en/messages/technical-details#authentication
 */
const vonage = new Vonage(
  {
    applicationId: VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID,
    privateKey: VONAGE_PRIVATE_KEY,
  },
  {
    ...(MESSAGES_API_URL ? {apiHost: MESSAGES_API_URL} : {}),
  },
);

View full source

Write the code

Add the following to send-text.js:

vonage.messages.send({
  messageType: 'text',
  channel: Channels.MESSENGER,
  text: 'This is a Facebook Messenger text message sent using the Messages API',
  to: MESSENGER_RECIPIENT_ID,
  from: MESSENGER_SENDER_ID,
})
  .then(({ messageUUID }) => console.log(messageUUID))
  .catch((error) => console.error(error));

View full source

Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

node send-text.js

Prerequisites

If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.

Add the following to build.gradle:

implementation 'com.vonage:server-sdk-kotlin:2.1.1'

Create a file named SendMessengerText and add the following code to the main method:

val client = Vonage {
    applicationId(VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID)
    privateKeyPath(VONAGE_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH)
}

View full source

Write the code

Add the following to the main method of the SendMessengerText file:

val messageId = client.messages.send(
    messengerText {
        to(MESSENGER_SENDER_ID)
        from(MESSENGER_RECIPIENT_ID)
        text("This is a Facebook Messenger text message sent using the Messages API")
    }
)

View full source

Run your code

We can use the application plugin for Gradle to simplify the running of our application. Update your build.gradle with the following:

apply plugin: 'application'
mainClassName = project.hasProperty('main') ? project.getProperty('main') : ''

Run the following gradle command to execute your application, replacing com.vonage.quickstart.kt.messages.messenger with the package containing SendMessengerText:

gradle run -Pmain=com.vonage.quickstart.kt.messages.messenger.SendMessengerText

Prerequisites

If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.

Add the following to build.gradle:

implementation 'com.vonage:server-sdk:9.3.1'

Create a file named SendMessengerText and add the following code to the main method:

VonageClient client = VonageClient.builder()
		.applicationId(VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID)
		.privateKeyPath(VONAGE_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH)
		.build();

View full source

Write the code

Add the following to the main method of the SendMessengerText file:

var response = client.getMessagesClient().sendMessage(
		MessengerTextRequest.builder()
			.from(MESSENGER_SENDER_ID)
			.to(MESSENGER_RECIPIENT_ID)
			.text("This is a Facebook Messenger Message sent from the Messages API")
			.build()
);
System.out.println("Message sent successfully. ID: "+response.getMessageUuid());

View full source

Run your code

We can use the application plugin for Gradle to simplify the running of our application. Update your build.gradle with the following:

apply plugin: 'application'
mainClassName = project.hasProperty('main') ? project.getProperty('main') : ''

Run the following gradle command to execute your application, replacing com.vonage.quickstart.messages.messenger with the package containing SendMessengerText:

gradle run -Pmain=com.vonage.quickstart.messages.messenger.SendMessengerText

Prerequisites

If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.

Install-Package Vonage

Write the code

Add the following to SendMessengerText.cs:

var credentials = Credentials.FromAppIdAndPrivateKeyPath(VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID, VONAGE_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH);
var vonageClient = new VonageClient(credentials);
var request = new MessengerTextRequest
{
    To = MESSENGER_RECIPIENT_ID,
    From = MESSENGER_SENDER_ID,
    Text = "This is a Facebook Messenger Message sent from the Messages API"
};
var response = await vonageClient.MessagesClient.SendAsync(request);

View full source

Prerequisites

If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.

composer require vonage/client

Create a file named send-text.php and add the following code:

$keypair = new \Vonage\Client\Credentials\Keypair(
    file_get_contents(VONAGE_APPLICATION_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH),
    VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID
);

$client = new \Vonage\Client($keypair);

View full source

Write the code

Add the following to send-text.php:

$message = new \Vonage\Messages\Channel\Messenger\MessengerText(
    TO_NUMBER,
    FROM_NUMBER,
    'This is a text message sent using the Vonage PHP SDK'
);

$client->messages()->send($message);

View full source

Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

php send-text.php

Prerequisites

If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.

pip install vonage python-dotenv

Write the code

Add the following to send-text.py:

from vonage import Auth, Vonage
from vonage_messages import MessengerText

client = Vonage(
    Auth(
        application_id=VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID,
        private_key=VONAGE_PRIVATE_KEY,
    )
)

message = MessengerText(
    to=MESSENGER_RECIPIENT_ID,
    from_=MESSENGER_SENDER_ID,
    text='Hello from the Vonage Messages API.',
)
try:
    response = client.messages.send(message)
    print(response)
except Exception as e:
    print(e)
    print(client.http_client.last_request.url)

View full source

Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

python messages/messenger/send-text.py

Prerequisites

If you do not have an application you can create one. Make sure you also configure your webhooks.

gem install vonage

Create a file named send-text.rb and add the following code:

client = Vonage::Client.new(
  application_id: VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID,
  private_key: VONAGE_PRIVATE_KEY
)

View full source

Write the code

Add the following to send-text.rb:

message = client.messaging.messenger(
  type: 'text',
  message: "This is a Facebook Messenger text message sent using the Vonage Messages API"
)

client.messaging.send(
  from: MESSENGER_SENDER_ID,
  to: MESSENGER_RECIPIENT_ID,
  **message
)

View full source

Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

ruby send-text.rb

Try it out

When you run the code a Facebook message is sent to the recipient.