SMSTunnel for Zapier

Texts from your Zaps, from your own phone and number

Zapier app · two actions, a search and a trigger
SMSTunnel for Zapier
Coming soon

Your Zaps write, your phone sends

Your Zap hands the text to your SMSTunnel account and your own Android phone sends it from its own SIM, so people see a number they know and can reply to. It works in any country your SIM can text, and you can cut Zapier off anytime by deleting its key in your dashboard.

What it does

Send SMS
Action: sends a text to one phone number from your own phone and number.
Send Verification Code
Action: sends a sign-in or verification code by text. The message must contain the code, like "Your sign-in code is 482913", and counts against the separate daily allowance for codes.
Find Message Status
Search: finds whether a text you sent went out, by the Message ID a send step returned.
New Received SMS
Trigger: starts a Zap when one of your phones receives a text. Optional filters: the phone, and the sender's number.
  • Send a text from any Zap: an appointment reminder when a booking is made, an order update when a sale comes in, an alert to yourself when something needs attention, or a sign-in code. Replies your phone receives can start a Zap too, so they land in a spreadsheet, a helpdesk or a chat.
  • Every step sends to one number. To text several people, add a step for each one.
  • For example: reminder texts before Outlook Calendar events, with a Zap that starts before each event.

Coming soon.

Want it early? Write to us.

Until then: Webhooks by Zapier

On a paid Zapier plan, Zapier's own Webhooks by Zapier step hands the text to SMSTunnel, and your phone sends it the same way.

1. Get your key

  1. 1. Install the SMSTunnel app from Google Play on your Android phone and sign in.
  2. 2. In your dashboard, open Apps → Add an app, pick Script or server, name it (for example "Zapier") and click Create the key.
  3. 3. Copy the key right away: it's shown only once. You can stop or delete the app there anytime, and Zapier can't send texts anymore.

Get the steps with your key in them

It opens Add an app with Script or server picked. Once the key is made, the dashboard shows every step and command with the key already filled in, ready to copy.

2. Add a Webhooks by Zapier step

Choose Webhooks by Zapier → POST and fill in:

URL
https://smstunnel.io/api/v1/sms/send
Payload Type
JSON
Data
to with the number, in international format, like +14155550123
Data
message with the text, up to 1600 characters
Headers
X-API-Key with your key as the value
  • Put only to and message in Data: SMSTunnel refuses fields it doesn't know.
  • One step texts one number. For several people, add one Webhooks step per number.
  • Test the step with your own number first.

If it doesn't work

  • 401 "Invalid or expired API key": the key is wrong or was deleted. "API key is required. Use X-API-Key header.": the key isn't in an X-API-Key header. SMSTunnel reads the key only from that header: Bearer or Basic authentication won't work.
  • 403 with PERMISSION_REQUIRED: the key may not send texts. Make a new one under Apps → Add an app.
  • 400 "property … should not exist": the body has a field SMSTunnel doesn't know. Send only to and message (and, if you need them, deviceId and defaultCountryCode). "message must be shorter than or equal to 1600 characters": shorten the text. "Phone number must contain…": put the number in international format, like +14155550123.
  • 400 with "to must be a string" and "message must be a string": the body didn't arrive as JSON. Add the header Content-Type: application/json.
  • 404 "Cannot GET /api/v1/sms/send": the tool sent a GET. Choose POST.
  • 429: too many texts at once. SMSTunnel takes 30 send requests a minute. Wait a minute and try again.
  • No text, but no error? If your phone is offline, the text waits and goes out as soon as the phone is back online. Open the SMSTunnel app on the phone to check it's linked.

Build it with an AI assistant

Copy this prompt into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Copilot and replace the part in [brackets]. Don't paste your API key into the chat: the prompt doesn't need it. 

Help me build a Zap that sends text messages from my own phone with SMSTunnel, through Webhooks by Zapier.

About SMSTunnel (https://smstunnel.io): my own apps and tools hand text messages (SMS) to my SMSTunnel account, and my own Android phone sends them from my own number, on my own SIM and plan. The phone runs the SMSTunnel app from Google Play (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.smstunnel.app), signed in to my account.

What I want: [describe what should send a text, to whom, and when]

How it works:
- Webhooks by Zapier (on a paid Zapier plan), action event POST: URL https://smstunnel.io/api/v1/sms/send, Payload Type JSON, Data with only to and message, Headers X-API-Key = <my key>.
- The tool calls SMSTunnel's API: POST https://smstunnel.io/api/v1/sms/send with the headers "X-API-Key: <my key>" ("Authorization: Bearer <my key>", or HTTP Basic with the key as the password, work too) and "Content-Type: application/json", and a JSON body with only "to" (international format, like +14155550123) and "message" (up to 1600 characters). Optional: "deviceId" (which of my phones sends it) and "defaultCountryCode" (completes numbers written without + or 00). Any other field is refused with 400 ("property … should not exist"); a GET answers 404. A form body to=…&message=… works too.
- One recipient per request: SMSTunnel sends one text to one number. For several people, one request (or one notification) per number. In Zapier: one Webhooks step per number.
- Answers: 200 {"success": true, "messageId": "…"}; 401 wrong or deleted key; 403 the key lacks a permission ("code": "PERMISSION_REQUIRED"); 400 a missing, unknown or too long field; 429 too many requests (30 sends a minute, with Retry-After): wait and retry; without Retry-After, the plan's limit for the day or month is reached. If my phone is offline the text waits and goes out when it is back, within 3 days.
- The API key comes from my SMSTunnel dashboard (https://dashboard.smstunnel.io): Apps → Add an app → Create the key. It is shown only once and can send texts and check whether they went out.

Rules for your answer:
- Do not ask for my SMSTunnel password or API key and do not put a real key in your answer; I will not paste it in this chat.
- Phone numbers must be in international format (+ and the country code).
- Help me test it with my own number first.
- Only send texts people expect from me. No unsolicited texts.
- Use one Webhooks step per recipient.

Responsible use

Built for alerts to yourself and your team, and texts people expect from you. One text goes to one number. Sending unsolicited messages from a consumer SIM generally breaches mobile carrier terms of service.

Zapier is a trademark of Zapier, Inc. SMSTunnel is a third-party integration and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Zapier.

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