C# SMS Quickstart
Build a simple C# application that receives an SMS message and sends a reply.
You're ready for this quickstart if you've got the following:
A free trial account
A registered application
A configured FreeClimb Number
Your tools and language installed:Trial accounts: A verified number
Clone your quickstart
For this quickstart, clone the repository for C# Receive Message Tutorial using GitHub's interface or git in the command line.
git clone https://github.com/FreeClimbAPI/C-Sharp-Receive-Message-Tutorial.git
Add your credentials to your project
Now that you've cloned the repo for your sample app, the next step is to add your API credentials so you can authenticate with FreeClimb. To do this, first copy your account ID and API key from your dashboard homepage.

Your API credentials can be copied from your dashboard homepage.
Set these as environment variables according to your operating system.
ACCOUNT_ID="YOUR-ACCOUNT-TOKEN"
API_KEY="YOUR-API-KEY"
Replace the placeholder values
In your FreeClimbController.cs file replace the placeholder value for the From
number. This should be your configured FreeClimb number. It should be in E.164 format.
When you're done your file should look something like this:
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult smsConnect (CallStatusCallback freeClimbRequest) {
string acctId = getAcctId ();
string acctKey = getApiKey ();
FreeClimbClient client = new FreeClimbClient (acctId, acctKey);
string to = freeClimbRequest.getFrom;
string from = "+15555550010"; //your FreeClimb Number
client.getMessagesRequester.create(from, to, "Hello from the C# SDK!");
return Ok();
}
Make your local server publicly accessible
The fastest way to start testing your FreeClimb application is to temporarily make your local server publicly accessible through a tunneling service. We'll use ngrok to do this. Start by downloading ngrok. Unzip the file to install, then open your terminal and navigate to the directory where you've unzipped ngrok. Use the following command to start a HTTP tunnel on port 3000.
./ngrok http 3000
Once you run ngrok you should receive a response with a public URL, that looks something like this:
ngrok by @inconshreveable
Tunnel Status online
Version 2.0/2.0
Web Interface http://127.0.0.1:4040
Forwarding http://92832de0.ngrok.io -> localhost:3000
Forwarding https://92832de0.ngrok.io -> localhost:3000
Connnections ttl opn rt1 rt5 p50 p90
0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
The Forwarding URLs point to your local server. Save the URLs and go on to the next step.
Configure your application's endpoints
Now that you've got a public URL you're ready to configure your application's endpoints. We'll be configuring the smsUrl using your ngrok URL and the route reference /inboundSms
.
Go to the Apps page in your dashboard. You should see your registered FreeClimb app..

Your Apps page with your registered app.
Open its App Config, and you'll see its application ID, alias, and some options for URL configuration. Enter your ngrok URL into the smsUrl field, and add the route /inboundSms
at the end of the URL.
https://YOUR-URL.ngrok.io/inboundSms
When you're done the App Config should look something like this:

Example of a completed App Config.
Save your updated App Config.
Run your app
Once you've updated your App Config you're all ready to run your app! Run the quickstart application with the command:
dotnet run
Once the quickstart app is running, use your verified number to send a message to your configured FreeClimb number. If everything is set up right, you should receive the message "Hello from the C# SDK!"
Congratulations! You've just made your first messaging application!
Next steps
For a more detailed explanation of the code used, see our Receive a Message tutorial.
Updated 4 days ago