Introduction

This guide will help you get started with Sendblue and understand the basics of how to use the platform. If you just want to start sending messages right away, jump to the Quickstart.

Setup

The fastest way to get started is with the Sendblue CLI:

npm install -g @sendblue/cli
sendblue setup

The CLI will walk you through creating an account, assigning you a Sendblue number, and verifying your first contact.

You can also create an account without email by verifying the user’s primary phone. The CLI shows a one-time phrase and waits for that phone to text the phrase to the shared Sendblue number:

sendblue setup --phone +15551234567 --company my-agent

Phone-created accounts use the verified phone as the login identity. Sendblue stores an internal account email in the form [email protected] for future agent email support.

If an AI coding agent is helping, it can use the CLI directly. For the lowest-friction flow, ask for the user’s primary phone number and the account name, then run the phone setup command above. If they prefer email verification, ask for the email address they want on the account and the phone number they want to text, then run:

npx -y @sendblue/cli setup --email [email protected]
# The user checks email and provides the 8-digit verification code.
npx -y @sendblue/cli setup --email [email protected] --code 12345678 --company my-agent --contact +15551234567

The free account requires no credit card. iMessage traffic uses Apple’s end-to-end encryption, and Sendblue is SOC 2 Type II certified. Before sending a test message, make sure the recipient is comfortable using iMessage/SMS for the prototype.

On free shared-line plans, outbound recipients must be verified before messaging. Phone setup verifies the primary phone for the account, so use that phone for your first test. For any other recipient, run sendblue add-contact +15551234567 or add them in the dashboard, then have that recipient text the shown Sendblue number once before sending.

To remove this restriction, talk to us about our dedicated plans.

View Your API Keys

sendblue show-keys

These are the same credentials shown in the dashboard. Use them as SB-API-KEY-ID and SB-API-SECRET-KEY headers in API requests.

Already Have an Account?

If you already have Sendblue API credentials:

sendblue login

If the account has a verified primary phone, you can also log in without email:

sendblue login --phone +15551234567

For enterprise use cases, please reach out to sales.

Community Integrations

Here are two open-source projects built on Sendblue:

TextMe — Claude via iMessage

TextMe turns your Mac into a personal Claude AI you can text from anywhere. Send messages, voice notes, or images — Claude responds directly to your phone via iMessage.

1. Install requirements:

npm install -g @sendblue/cli
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

2. Get your Sendblue credentials:

sendblue setup
sendblue show-keys

3. Install:

git clone https://github.com/njerschow/textme.git
cd textme/daemon && npm install && npm run build

4. Configure — create ~/.config/claude-imessage/config.json:

mkdir -p ~/.config/claude-imessage

{
  "sendblue": {
    "apiKey": "YOUR_API_KEY",
    "apiSecret": "YOUR_API_SECRET",
    "phoneNumber": "+1SENDBLUE_NUMBER"
  },
  "whitelist": ["+1YOUR_PHONE"]
}

5. Run (from inside textme/daemon/):

npm start

Text your Sendblue number and Claude will respond.

openclaw-sendblue — Text Your AI Agent

openclaw-sendblue is a plugin for openclaw that adds iMessage and SMS as a communication channel, so you can interact with your AI agent over text.

1. Get your Sendblue credentials:

npm install -g @sendblue/cli
sendblue setup
sendblue show-keys

2. Install the plugin:

git clone https://github.com/njerschow/openclaw-sendblue ~/.openclaw/extensions/sendblue
cd ~/.openclaw/extensions/sendblue && npm install && npm run build

3. Configure — add this to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  "plugins": {
    "entries": {
      "sendblue": {
        "enabled": true,
        "config": {
          "apiKey": "YOUR_API_KEY",
          "apiSecret": "YOUR_API_SECRET",
          "phoneNumber": "+15551234567",
          "allowFrom": ["+15559876543"]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

4. Restart and test:

openclaw gateway restart

Text the Sendblue number from your phone — openclaw will respond.

Both projects are MIT licensed.