🚀 5-Minute Quick Start Guide

Get from zero to your first SMS in under 5 minutes with Sendly - the "Resend of SMS".

🎯 What You'll Accomplish

✅ Send your first SMS in under 5 minutes
✅ Understand smart routing (automatic optimal number selection)
✅ Set up webhook delivery notifications
✅ Learn about international messaging
✅ Explore MMS capabilities

📋 Prerequisites

Before we start, make sure you have:

🔑 A Sendly account (sign up here)
📱 A valid phone number to test with (your own works great!)
💻 Terminal or code editor ready

⏱️ Time Estimate

This guide takes less than 5 minutes to complete. Each step is timed for your convenience!

Step 1: Get Your API Key 30 seconds

Visit sendly.live and create your free account.

2. Dashboard

3. Create Key

Click "Create API Key" or copy your existing one.

4. Copy Key

Your API key format: sl_live_ or sl_test_ + 40 characters

Example API Key Format
sl_live_V4iD8is9kqZYdIdzRBIypJ2IascwSi0_

🔒 Keep Your API Key Secret

Never expose your API key in client-side code or public repositories. Use environment variables!

Step 2: Send Your First SMS 2 minutes

Choose your preferred method to send your first SMS:

🚀 cURL (Fastest)
📦 Node.js SDK
🐍 Python SDK
🐘 PHP

Perfect for quick testing and getting familiar with our API.

Send SMS with cURL
# Set your API key (replace with your actual key)
export SENDLY_API_KEY="sl_live_YOUR_API_KEY"

# Send your first SMS
curl -X POST https://sendly.live/api/v1/send \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SENDLY_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "to": "+1234567890",
    "text": "Hello from Sendly! 🚀 This is my first SMS."
  }'

Expected Response:

{
  "messageId": "msg_2cY8vH8LkQx3J5oP",
  "status": "queued",
  "from": "+18005551234",
  "to": "+1234567890",
  "text": "Hello from Sendly! 🚀 This is my first SMS.",
  "routing": {
    "numberType": "toll-free",
    "coverage": "high",
    "reason": "smart-routing"
  },
  "cost": {
    "amount": 0.0075,
    "currency": "USD"
  }
}

Our official TypeScript/JavaScript SDK makes integration seamless.

Install the SDK
npm install @sendly/node

send-first-sms.js
import { SendlyClient } from '@sendly/node';

const sendly = new SendlyClient({
  apiKey: 'sl_live_YOUR_API_KEY'
});

async function sendFirstSMS() {
  try {
    const result = await sendly.sms.send({
      to: '+1234567890',
      text: 'Hello from Sendly! 🚀 This is my first SMS.',
      messageType: 'transactional' // Optional: helps with routing
    });
    
    console.log('✅ SMS sent successfully!');
    console.log('📱 Message ID:', result.messageId);
    console.log('📍 Smart routing:', result.routing.reason);
    console.log('💰 Cost:', `$${result.cost.amount} ${result.cost.currency}`);
    
    return result;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('❌ Error:', error.message);
  }
}

sendFirstSMS();

Run your code
node send-first-sms.js

Our brand new Python SDK with full feature parity.

Install the Python SDK
pip install sendly

send_first_sms.py
from sendly import Sendly

def send_first_sms():
    # Initialize the client
    client = Sendly(api_key='sl_live_YOUR_API_KEY')
    
    try:
        # Send SMS
        response = client.sms.send(
            to='+1234567890',
            text='Hello from Sendly! 🚀 This is my first SMS.',
            message_type='transactional'  # Optional: helps with routing
        )
        
        print('✅ SMS sent successfully!')
        print(f'📱 Message ID: {response.id}')
        print(f'📍 Smart routing: {response.routing.reason}')
        print(f'💰 Cost: ${response.cost.amount} {response.cost.currency}')
        
        return response
        
    except Exception as error:
        print(f'❌ Error: {error}')
    finally:
        client.close()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    send_first_sms()

Run your code
python send_first_sms.py

Simple HTTP request using PHP's built-in cURL functions.

send-first-sms.php
<?php

function sendFirstSMS() {
    $apiKey = 'sl_live_YOUR_API_KEY';
    $url = 'https://sendly.live/api/v1/send';
    
    $data = [
        'to' => '+1234567890',
        'text' => 'Hello from Sendly! 🚀 This is my first SMS.'
    ];
    
    $headers = [
        'Authorization: Bearer ' . $apiKey,
        'Content-Type: application/json'
    ];
    
    $ch = curl_init();
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, json_encode($data));
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
    
    $response = curl_exec($ch);
    $httpCode = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
    curl_close($ch);
    
    if ($httpCode === 200) {
        $result = json_decode($response, true);
        echo "✅ SMS sent successfully!\n";
        echo "📱 Message ID: " . $result['messageId'] . "\n";
        echo "📍 Smart routing: " . $result['routing']['reason'] . "\n";
        echo "💰 Cost: $" . $result['cost']['amount'] . " " . $result['cost']['currency'] . "\n";
    } else {
        echo "❌ Error: " . $response . "\n";
    }
}

sendFirstSMS();
?>

🧪 Test Mode

Use API keys starting with sl_test_ for testing. No SMS will be sent and no charges apply!

Step 3: Understanding Smart Routing 1 minute

Notice the routing object in your response? That's Sendly's Smart Routing in action!

🇺🇸 US/Canada

Auto-selected: Toll-free numbers
Benefits: Higher delivery rates, professional appearance
Cost: $0.0075 per SMS

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Auto-selected: Local UK numbers
Benefits: Better local delivery, lower costs
Cost: $0.045 per SMS

🇨🇳 China

Auto-selected: Compliant local routing
Benefits: Regulatory compliance, reliable delivery
Cost: $0.065 per SMS

🌍 200+ Countries

Auto-selected: Optimal local numbers
Benefits: Global coverage, smart routing
Cost: Varies by destination

Message Types for Better Routing:

transactional - Order confirmations, receipts (highest priority)
otp - Verification codes, 2FA (high priority)
marketing - Promotional messages (standard routing)
alert - System alerts, emergencies (priority routing)

Step 4: Add Webhooks (Optional) 1 minute

Get real-time delivery notifications:

Basic Webhook
Webhook Handler

Add webhook to your SMS
const result = await sendly.sms.send({
  to: '+1234567890',
  text: 'Hello with webhook!',
  webhookUrl: 'https://your-app.com/webhook/sms'
});

webhook-handler.js (Express.js example)
import express from 'express';
import crypto from 'crypto';

const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

app.post('/webhook/sms', (req, res) => {
  // Verify webhook signature (recommended)
  const signature = req.headers['x-sendly-signature'];
  const payload = JSON.stringify(req.body);
  const expectedSignature = crypto
    .createHmac('sha256', 'your-webhook-secret')
    .update(payload)
    .digest('hex');
  
  if (`sha256=${expectedSignature}` !== signature) {
    return res.status(401).send('Invalid signature');
  }
  
  // Handle the webhook
  const { messageId, status, to, timestamp } = req.body;
  
  console.log(`📱 Message ${messageId} to ${to}: ${status}`);
  
  // Update your database, send notifications, etc.
  
  res.status(200).send('OK');
});

app.listen(3000);

Webhook Events:

message.queued - Message accepted and queued
message.sent - Message sent to carrier
message.delivered - Message delivered to device
message.failed - Message delivery failed

🎉 Congratulations!

You've successfully sent your first SMS with Sendly! Here's what you've learned:

✅ API Integration
Successfully called the Sendly API and sent an SMS

🎯 Smart Routing
Experienced automatic optimal number selection

📊 Response Data
Learned about message IDs, routing info, and costs

🔗 Webhooks
Understood real-time delivery notifications

🚀 What's Next?

📖 Explore Our SDKs

Node.js SDK Guide - TypeScript support, full features
Python SDK Guide - Pythonic interface, type hints
SDK Comparison - Feature matrix

🎮 Try Interactive Docs

API Playground - Test endpoints in browser
Postman Collection - Import and explore
OpenAPI Spec - Complete API reference

📚 Learn Advanced Features

MMS/Media Messages - Send images and videos
International Messaging - Global coverage
Best Practices - Production tips

🔧 Integrate & Build

Webhook Security - Secure webhook handling
Error Handling - Robust error management
Rate Limiting - Optimize throughput

💡 Need Help?

💬 Discord Community - Join discord.gg/sendly for real-time support
📧 Email Support - Reach out to support@sendly.live
📖 Documentation - Browse our comprehensive guides and API reference
🐛 Issues - Report bugs on GitHub

Ready for Production? 🚀

Upgrade to a live API key and start sending real SMS messages to your users.

Get Live API Key • View Pricing • Contact Sales

📋 Prerequisites​

Step 1: Get Your API Key 30 seconds​

1. Sign Up​

2. Dashboard​

3. Create Key​

4. Copy Key​

Step 2: Send Your First SMS 2 minutes​

Step 3: Understanding Smart Routing 1 minute​

🇺🇸 US/Canada​

🇬🇧 United Kingdom​

🇨🇳 China​

🌍 200+ Countries​

Step 4: Add Webhooks (Optional) 1 minute​

🎉 Congratulations!​

🚀 What's Next?​

📖 Explore Our SDKs​

🎮 Try Interactive Docs​

📚 Learn Advanced Features​

🔧 Integrate & Build​

Ready for Production? 🚀​