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

Ensure the following variables are set to your required values using any convenient method:

Key	Description
`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`.
`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.

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 $'{
  "message_type": "text",
  "text": "This is a Facebook Messenger Message sent from the Messages API",
  "to": "$FB_RECIPIENT_ID",
  "from": "$FB_SENDER_ID",
  "channel": "messenger"
}'

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@beta

Write the code

Add the following to send-text.js:

const Vonage = require('@vonage/server-sdk');

const vonage = new Vonage(
    {
        apiKey: VONAGE_API_KEY,
        apiSecret: VONAGE_API_SECRET,
        applicationId: VONAGE_APPLICATION_ID,
        privateKey: VONAGE_APPLICATION_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH,
    },
    {
        apiHost: BASE_URL,
    }
);

vonage.channel.send(
    { type: 'messenger', id: FB_RECIPIENT_ID },
    { type: 'messenger', id: FB_SENDER_ID },
    {
        content: {
            type: 'text',
            text:
                'This is a Facebook Messenger text message sent using the Messages API',
        },
    },
    (err, data) => {
        if (err) {
            console.error(err);
        } else {
            console.log(data.message_uuid);
        }
    }
);

View full source

Run your code

Save this file to your machine and run it:

node send-text.js

Try it out

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

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