Get Started with Java Using the Spark Framework

When you sign up with Plivo, we give you a free trial account and free credits to experiment with and learn about our services. You can add a number to your account to start testing the full range of our voice and SMS service features. Follow these steps to get a free trial account:

Sign up with your work email address.
Check your inbox for an activation email message from Plivo. Click on the link in the message to activate your account.
Enter your mobile number to complete the phone verification step.

If you have any issues creating a Plivo account, please contact our support team for assistance. To get started, try sending an SMS message either by using our API and XML documents, or via , our visual design tool, which allows you to create message flows using an intuitive canvas and deploy them with few clicks.

Using API

Install Java and the Plivo Java SDK

You must set up and install Java 1.8 or higher and Plivo’s Java SDK before you send your first message.

Install Java

You can check your Java version under macOS or Linux by running the command java -version in a terminal window. Under Windows there are several ways to check. If you don’t have Java installed or need a more current version, download and install it.You should also download and install IntelliJ Idea.

Install the Plivo Java SDK using IntelliJ Idea

Create a new project in IntelliJ Idea.

Choose a dependency management tool and Java SE SDK for the new project.

Install the Plivo Java SDK using IntelliJ Idea

Install the Plivo Java, Spark & SLF4j package by adding the dependency in pom.xml

<dependencies>
   <dependency>
      <groupId>com.sparkjava</groupId>
      <artifactId>spark-core</artifactId>
      <version>2.9.1</version>
   </dependency>
   <dependency>
      <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
      <artifactId>slf4j-simple</artifactId>
      <version>1.7.21</version>
   </dependency>
   <dependency>
      <groupId>com.plivo</groupId>
      <artifactId>plivo-java</artifactId>
      <version>5.9.3</version>
   </dependency>
</dependencies>

Once you’ve set up your development environment, you can start sending and receiving messages using our APIs and XML documents. Here are three common use cases to get you started.

Send your first outbound SMS/MMS message

You must have a Plivo phone number to send messages to the US or Canada; you can rent a Plivo number from Phone Numbers > Buy Numbers on the Plivo console or via the Numbers API.

Create a Java class

Create a Java class in the project called SendSMS and paste into it this code.

package com.plivo.api.samples.sms;

import com.plivo.api.Plivo;
import com.plivo.api.exceptions.PlivoRestException;
import com.plivo.api.models.message.Message;
import com.plivo.api.models.message.MessageCreateResponse;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.Collections;

import static spark.Spark.*;

class SendSMS {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        get("/outbound_sms", (req, resp) -> {
            Plivo.init("<auth_id>", "<auth_token>");
            try {
                MessageCreateResponse response = Message.creator(
                        "<sender_id>",
                        Collections.singletonList("<destination_number>"),
                        "Hello, from Spark!").create();
                return response;
            } catch (PlivoRestException | IOException exception) {
                return exception;
            } });
    }
}

package com.plivo.api.samples.sms;

import com.plivo.api.Plivo;
import com.plivo.api.exceptions.PlivoRestException;
import com.plivo.api.models.message.Message;
import com.plivo.api.models.message.MessageCreateResponse;
import com.plivo.api.models.message.MessageType;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.Collections;

import static spark.Spark.*;

class SendSMS {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        get("/outbound_mms", (req, resp) -> {
            Plivo.init("<auth_id>", "<auth_token>");
            try {
                MessageCreateResponse response = Message.creator(
                        "<sender_id>",
                        Collections.singletonList("<destination_number>"),
                        "Hello, MMS from Spark!")
                        .type(MessageType.MMS)
                        .media_urls(new String[]{"https://media.giphy.com/media/26gscSULUcfKU7dHq/source.gif"})
                        .media_ids(new String[]{"801c2056-33ab-499c-80ef-58b574a462a2"}).create();
                return response;
            } catch (PlivoRestException | IOException exception) {
                return exception;
            } });
    }
}

Replace the auth placeholders with your authentication credentials from the Plivo console. Replace the phone number placeholders with actual phone numbers in E.164 format (for example, +12025551234). In countries other than the US and Canada you can use a sender ID for the message source.

Note: We recommend that you store your credentials in the auth_id and auth_token environment variables to avoid the possibility of accidentally committing them to source control. If you do this, you can initialize the client with no arguments and Plivo will automatically fetch the values from the environment variables. You can use System.getenv() to store environment variables and fetch them when initializing the client.

Test

Save the file and run it.

Receive your first inbound SMS/MMS message

To receive incoming messages, you must have a Plivo phone number that supports SMS; you can rent numbers from the Numbers page of the Plivo console or by using the Numbers API.

Create a web application to handle inbound messages

Create a Java class named ReceiveSMS and paste into it this code.

import static spark.Spark.*;

public class ReceiveSms {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        get("/receive_sms", (request, response) -> {
            String from_number = request.queryParams("From");
            String to_number = request.queryParams("To");
            String text = request.queryParams("Text");
            System.out.println(from_number + " " + to_number + " " + text);
            return "Message Received";
        });
    }
}

import static spark.Spark.*;

public class ReceiveSms {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        get("/receive_mms", (request, response) -> {
            String from_number = request.queryParams("From");
            String to_number = request.queryParams("To");
            String text = request.queryParams("Text");
            String media_url = request.queryParams("Media)");
            System.out.println(from_number + " " + to_number + " " + text+" "+ media_url);
            return "Message Received";
        });
    }
}

Run the project and you should see your basic server application in action at http://localhost:4567/receive_sms.

Expose your local server to the internet

To receive incoming messages, your local server must connect with Plivo API services. For that, we recommend using ngrok, which exposes local servers running behind NATs and firewalls to the public internet over secure tunnels. Using ngrok, you can set webhooks that can talk to the Plivo server.

Install ngrok and run it on the command line, specifying the port that hosts the application on which you want to receive messages (80 in this case):

$ ./ngrok http 80

This starts the ngrok server on your local server. Ngrok will display a forwarding link that you can use as a webhook to access your local server over the public network.

Now people can send messages to your Plivo number.

Create a Plivo application to receive messages

Associate the controller you created with Plivo by creating a Plivo application. Visiting Messaging > Applications and click Add New Application. You can also use Plivo’s Application API.Give your application a name — we called ours Receive SMS. Enter the server URL you want to use (for example https://<yourdomain>.com/receive_sms/) in the Message URL field and set the method to POST. Click Create Application to save your application.

Assign a Plivo number to your application

Navigate to the Numbers page and select the phone number you want to use for this application.From the Application Type drop-down, select XML Application.From the Plivo Application drop-down, select Receive SMS (the name we gave the application).Click Update Number to save.

Test

Send a text message to the Plivo number you specified using any phone.

Reply to an incoming SMS/MMS message

To receive incoming messages, you must have a Plivo phone number that supports SMS; you can rent numbers from the Numbers page of the Plivo console or by using the Numbers API.

Create a Java class

Create a Java class named ReplytoInbound and paste into it this code.

import com.plivo.api.xml.Message;
import com.plivo.api.xml.Response;
import static spark.Spark.*;

class ReplytoInbound {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        post("/reply_to_inbound/", (request, response) -> {
            String from_number = request.queryParams("From");
            String to_number = request.queryParams("To");
            String text = request.queryParams("Text");
            System.out.println(from_number + " " + to_number + " " + text);
            response.type("application/xml");
            Response resp = new Response()
                    .children(
                        new Message(to_number, from_number, "This is an automatic response")
                                .type("sms")
                    );
            return resp.toXmlString();
        });
    }
}

If you haven’t done so already, expose your local server to the internet.

Create a Plivo application to reply to messages

Associate the controller you created with Plivo by creating a Plivo application. Visiting Messaging > Applications and click Add New Application. You can also use Plivo’s Application API.Give your application a name — we called ours Reply Incoming SMS. Enter the server URL you want to use (for example http://<yourdomain>.com/replysms/) in the Message URL field and set the method to POST. Click Create Application to save your application.

Assign a Plivo number to your application

Navigate to the Numbers page and select the phone number you want to use for this application.From the Application Type drop-down, select XML Application.From the Plivo Application drop-down, select Reply Incoming SMS (the name we gave the application).Click Update Number to save.

Test

Send a text message to the Plivo number you specified using any phone. You should receive a reply.

More use cases

We illustrate more than a dozen use cases with code for both API/XML and PHLO on our documentation pages.

Getting Started

Concepts

API Reference

XML Reference

Tutorials

Migration Guides

Troubleshooting

Get Started with Java Using the Spark Framework

Install Java and the Plivo Java SDK

Install Java

Install the Plivo Java SDK using IntelliJ Idea

Install the Plivo Java SDK using IntelliJ Idea

Send your first outbound SMS/MMS message

Create a Java class

Test

Receive your first inbound SMS/MMS message

Create a web application to handle inbound messages

Expose your local server to the internet

Create a Plivo application to receive messages

Assign a Plivo number to your application

Test

Reply to an incoming SMS/MMS message

Create a Java class

Create a Plivo application to reply to messages

Assign a Plivo number to your application

Test

More use cases

Getting Started

Concepts

API Reference

XML Reference

Tutorials

Migration Guides

Troubleshooting

Documentation Index

​Sign up for a Plivo account

​Sign up with your work email address

​Install Java and the Plivo Java SDK

​Install Java

​Install the Plivo Java SDK using IntelliJ Idea

​Install the Plivo Java SDK using IntelliJ Idea

​Send your first outbound SMS/MMS message

​Create a Java class

​Test

​Receive your first inbound SMS/MMS message

​Create a web application to handle inbound messages

​Expose your local server to the internet

​Create a Plivo application to receive messages

​Assign a Plivo number to your application

​Test

​Reply to an incoming SMS/MMS message

​Create a Java class

​Create a Plivo application to reply to messages

​Assign a Plivo number to your application

​Test

​More use cases

Sign up for a Plivo account

Sign up with your work email address

Install Java and the Plivo Java SDK

Install Java

Install the Plivo Java SDK using IntelliJ Idea

Install the Plivo Java SDK using IntelliJ Idea

Send your first outbound SMS/MMS message

Create a Java class

Test

Receive your first inbound SMS/MMS message

Create a web application to handle inbound messages

Expose your local server to the internet

Create a Plivo application to receive messages

Assign a Plivo number to your application

Test

Reply to an incoming SMS/MMS message

Create a Java class

Create a Plivo application to reply to messages

Assign a Plivo number to your application

Test

More use cases