---
title: Quickstart | Sendblue Docs
description: Send your first iMessage in under 2 minutes | iMessage for Business
---

**Prerequisite:** [Node.js](https://nodejs.org) 18+ (includes npm).

## 1. Install & set up

Terminal window

```
npm install -g @sendblue/cli
sendblue setup
```

Follow the prompts: enter your email, verify it, pick a company name, and add your first contact’s phone number. You’ll get an account, a phone number, and API credentials.

On free plans, a recipient must be a verified contact before you can message them. During setup, you’ll add a contact — they need to text your Sendblue number once to verify. The CLI will show you the number and a QR code.

## 2. Send a message

Once your contact is verified:

Terminal window

```
sendblue send +15551234567 'Hello from Sendblue!'
```

Replace `+15551234567` with your verified contact’s number.

## 3. Build something

### Option A: AI chatbot via iMessage

[**TextMe**](https://github.com/njerschow/textme) turns Claude into an iMessage chatbot. Text your Sendblue number, Claude responds.

**Requires:** [Claude Code CLI](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code) — install with `npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code` and authenticate.

Terminal window

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

Configure it (use `sendblue show-keys` to get your API key and secret):

Terminal window

```
mkdir -p ~/.config/claude-imessage
cat > ~/.config/claude-imessage/config.json << 'EOF'
{
  "sendblue": {
    "apiKey": "YOUR_API_KEY",
    "apiSecret": "YOUR_API_SECRET",
    "phoneNumber": "+1YOUR_SENDBLUE_NUMBER"
  },
  "whitelist": ["+1YOUR_PHONE_NUMBER"]
}
EOF
```

Then start it:

Terminal window

```
npm start
```

### Option B: OpenClaw plugin

[**OpenClaw-Sendblue**](https://github.com/njerschow/openclaw-sendblue) adds iMessage as a channel in [OpenClaw](https://openclaw.ai), an open-source AI agent framework.

Terminal window

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

Then add your credentials to `~/.openclaw/openclaw.json` — see the [plugin README](https://github.com/njerschow/openclaw-sendblue) for the full config.

### Option C: Use the API directly

Terminal window

```
sendblue show-keys
```

Use the keys as `SB-API-KEY-ID` and `SB-API-SECRET-KEY` headers with any HTTP client:

Terminal window

```
curl -X POST https://api.sendblue.com/api/send-message \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'sb-api-key-id: YOUR_API_KEY' \
  -H 'sb-api-secret-key: YOUR_API_SECRET' \
  -d '{"number": "+15551234567", "from_number": "+1YOUR_SENDBLUE_NUMBER", "content": "Hello from the API!"}'
```

See the [API reference](/api-v2/index.md) for all endpoints.

You can also add Sendblue to your AI editor as an [MCP server](/mcp/index.md) — no code required.