Java SMS Quickstart
Build a simple Java 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 Java Receive Message Tutorial using GitHub's interface or git in the command line.
git clone https://github.com/FreeClimbAPI/Java-Receive-Message-Tutorial.git
Configure your environment variables
Now that you've cloned the repo for your sample app, the next step is to configure your environment variables with To
and From
numbers, and your API credentials.
The To
number should be a verified number, and the From
number should be your configured FreeClimb number.
You can copy your API credentials from your dashboard homepage.

Your API credentials can be copied from your dashboard homepage.
Set these all as environment variables according to your operating system.
ACCOUNT_ID="YOUR-ACCOUNT-TOKEN"
API_KEY="YOUR-API-KEY"
TO_PHONE_NUMBER="+15555555555"
FREECLIMB_PHONE_NUMBER="+15555550010"
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:
gradle build && java -Dserver.port=3000 -jar build/libs/gs-spring-boot-0.1.0.jar
Once the 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 FreeClimb API!"
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 almost 2 years ago