Resources · Make integration

SMSAPI Make integrationAutomate SMSAPI with Make.

Can Make send your texts and catch the replies for you? The SMSAPI Make integration gives you 9 modules: 2 instant triggers, 6 actions and 1 search. This guide links your account, builds a first scenario and explains when each module is the right pick.

Try the SMSAPI integration on MakeSee the 9 modules

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What you can automate

What can the SMSAPI Make integration do for you?

The SMSAPI Make integration lets a Make scenario (the automation you build, a chain of modules) send text messages, react to incoming SMS and keep your SMSAPI contact list tidy, with no code. Each module is one brick: a trigger that starts the scenario, an action that changes something, or a search that finds contacts.

Reply-driven contact capture. A customer texts your number. Watch New SMS starts the scenario at once, and Create a Contact files that person in SMSAPI so the next campaign reaches them. Manage Contact Group Membership can then drop them into the right group.

Texts sent from your other tools. An order lands in your shop or a booking appears in your calendar app: that app starts the scenario, and Send a Text Message sends the confirmation through SMSAPI. The Acuity Scheduling Make integration is one source that fits this pattern.

A contact base that follows your CRM. When a record changes elsewhere, Search Contacts finds the matching person in SMSAPI, then Update a Contact or Delete a Contact brings the list in line. The Airtable Make integration works well as the source table.

What the integration does not cover: the listed modules cover contacts, groups, sending texts and receiving them, nothing more. For anything else SMSAPI offers, the Make an API Call module sends your own request to SMSAPI with the same connection. The SMSAPI documentation that Make publishes is marked as AI-generated, so check important details with SMSAPI.

Weighing Make against n8n before you start? The n8n vs Make comparison sets out the criteria side by side.

Connect

How do you connect SMSAPI to Make?

  1. 01

    Get your SMSAPI credentials

    You need an active SMSAPI account and an OAuth token. In your SMSAPI account, open the settings, go to the API access tab, generate a new API key and copy it. Keep it at hand for the next step.

  2. 02

    Add an SMSAPI module in Make

    Log in to Make, add any SMSAPI module to your scenario and click Create a connection. A connection is your SMSAPI account linked to Make once, then reused by every SMSAPI module you add later.

  3. 03

    Name it and paste the key

    The Connection name field is optional, but a clear name helps when you run several accounts. Paste the credentials you copied from SMSAPI, or follow the instructions on screen, and save the connection.

First scenario

Your first scenario with SMSAPI and Make

GoalWhen someone texts your SMSAPI number, Make adds that person to your SMSAPI contacts.

  1. 01

    Create the scenario

    Open the Scenarios page, create a new scenario and click the + to place the first module. Search for SMSAPI and pick Watch New SMS.

  2. 02

    Set up the webhook and connection

    Click Create a webhook, then Create a connection and paste your SMSAPI key. From now on, SMSAPI calls Make as soon as a new SMS reaches your account.

  3. 03

    Add Create a Contact

    Click the + to the right of the trigger and choose Create a Contact. Map the details from the incoming message into the contact fields that Make shows you.

  4. 04

    Test with Run once

    Click Run once, then send a test SMS to your number. Open each module to read the bundle it received, meaning the one item passed along, and check the new contact in SMSAPI.

  5. 05

    Switch the scenario on

    Once the test looks right, switch the scenario on. With an instant trigger, it starts each time SMSAPI calls Make, instead of waiting for a clock slot.

Triggers

SMSAPI triggers in Make

2 modules start a scenario when something happens in SMSAPI. A scheduled trigger is checked by Make on the scenario's schedule; an instant one is called by SMSAPI as soon as it happens.

SMSAPI1Watch New Callback Report

Watch New Callback Report

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers whenever a new callback is received.”

This trigger starts your scenario whenever SMSAPI sends Make a new callback report, so someone no longer has to go and check SMSAPI by hand. Every report becomes one bundle you can route to a sheet, a CRM or a chat channel.

How it fires
instant. SMSAPI calls Make through a webhook as soon as a callback comes in, so there is no polling interval to set.
When to use it
you want each callback SMSAPI sends logged or acted on in another tool the moment it arrives.
Watch out
the documentation does not describe what the report contains, so click Run once and read the bundle before mapping anything.
SMSAPI2Watch New SMS

Watch New SMS

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers whenever a new SMS is received on your SMSAPI account.”

Watch New SMS turns every text that reaches your SMSAPI account into the start of a scenario, which makes inbound replies usable instead of sitting unread in an inbox. Each message arrives as its own bundle.

How it fires
instant. SMSAPI calls Make through a webhook the moment a new SMS is received.
When to use it
customers answer your campaigns by text and you want those answers to create a helpdesk ticket, add a contact or alert your team.
Watch out
if the scenario sends a text back to the same number, make sure your own outgoing message cannot come back in as a new SMS.
Modules

SMSAPI modules in Make

SMSAPI gives you 7 modules. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

SMSAPI1

Create a Contact

Action

In Make“Creates a new contact.”

Create a Contact adds a new person to your SMSAPI contact list, ready for your next send. It saves you from exporting and importing lists by hand.

When to use it
a lead signs up in a form or texts you for the first time, and you want them reachable from SMSAPI right away.
Watch out
run Search Contacts first if the person may already exist, or you risk duplicates.
SMSAPI2

Delete a Contact

Action

In Make“Deletes an contact.”

Delete a Contact removes one person from SMSAPI for good, which keeps people who left out of your future sends. It works on a single contact per bundle.

When to use it
a customer closes their account in your CRM and should no longer receive texts.
Watch out
a deletion cannot be undone from Make, so test with Run once on a dummy contact before switching the scenario on.
SMSAPI3

Make an API Call

Action

In Make“Performs an arbitrary authorized API call.”

Make an API Call lets you ask SMSAPI for something the other modules do not cover, with the same connection. You write the request yourself, so it suits someone who has read the SMSAPI API documentation.

When to use it
you need an SMSAPI feature that none of the eight named modules offers.
Watch out
you type the request by hand, so check the SMSAPI docs for each call before you run it.
SMSAPI4

Manage Contact Group Membership

Action

In Make“Assigns or removes contact from the selected group.”

This module puts a contact into a group you pick, or takes them out of it, so your segments stay accurate without manual sorting. One module covers both directions.

When to use it
a customer moves from trial to paid and should leave one mailing group and join another.
Watch out
the contact must exist first; place this module after Create a Contact or Search Contacts in the flow.
SMSAPI5

Send a Text Message

Action

In Make“Sends a text message.”

Send a Text Message delivers an SMS through your SMSAPI account, with content built from data earlier in the scenario. This is the module that turns an event in another app into a message on someone's phone.

When to use it
an order is placed or an appointment is booked, and the customer should get a confirmation by text.
Watch out
each bundle sends one message and uses one operation, so a search returning many contacts means many texts.
SMSAPI6

Update a Contact

Action

In Make“Updates a contact.”

Update a Contact changes the details of a person already stored in SMSAPI, so your texts go to the right number with the right name. Nothing new is created.

When to use it
someone edits their profile in your CRM or shop, and SMSAPI should follow the change.
Watch out
the module needs to know which contact to edit, so find it with Search Contacts beforehand.
SMSAPI7

Search Contacts

Search

In Make“Searches for contacts or lists them all.”

Search Contacts finds people in your SMSAPI list, or returns the whole list, and hands each match to the next module. It is the lookup step that makes updates and deletions safe.

When to use it
before you update, delete or text someone, to confirm they are in SMSAPI.
Watch out
a search can return zero, one or several bundles, and every following module runs once per bundle.
Need help

Need help automating SMSAPI with Make?

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FAQ

SMSAPI and Make: common questions

01Is the SMSAPI Make integration free?
Yes, on Make's side. SMSAPI is a standard app, so it is available on the Free plan. That plan allows 2 active scenarios, a minimum of 15 minutes between scheduled runs, 5 minutes of execution per run, files up to 5 MB and 512 MB of data transfer. Paid plans (Core, Pro, Teams and Enterprise) lower the interval to 1 minute and remove the cap on active scenarios. Make counts usage in operations, and each module processing one bundle uses one of them. Your SMSAPI subscription is separate and billed by SMSAPI.
02What does the SMSAPI Make connection require?
You need an active SMSAPI account and an OAuth token. In SMSAPI, open the settings, find the API access tab, generate a new API key and copy it. In Make, add an SMSAPI module, click Create a connection, optionally fill in the Connection name, then paste the credentials. For either trigger, click Create a webhook before Create a connection. After that, every SMSAPI module in your scenarios reuses the same connection, so you only do this once per account.
03Do SMSAPI triggers in Make fire in real time?
Yes. Both SMSAPI triggers, Watch New SMS and Watch New Callback Report, are instant triggers. SMSAPI calls Make through a webhook as soon as the event happens, so the scenario starts right away instead of waiting for a schedule. The 15 minute default schedule and the Free plan interval apply to scheduled triggers, which this app does not have. You still need to switch the scenario on, otherwise the webhook receives nothing and no run happens.
04What if an SMSAPI module is missing in Make?
Use Make an API Call. It exists for SMSAPI and lets your scenario call any endpoint of the SMSAPI API with the connection you already set up. That covers features outside the 9 listed modules, which focus on contacts, groups, incoming messages and outgoing texts. You write the request yourself, so keep the SMSAPI API documentation open. Also note that the SMSAPI page in the Make docs is flagged as AI-generated, so confirm important details directly with SMSAPI.
05Make or n8n: which fits SMSAPI better?
It depends on where your other automations already live. On Make, SMSAPI comes with 9 modules, including 2 instant triggers and Make an API Call for anything else in the API. Many apps also have an n8n node, so check whether SMSAPI has one and what it covers before deciding. Pick the tool your team already maintains, compare the modules you actually need, and keep one place for your text message flows rather than splitting them between two platforms.
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