This app uses the Nexmo SMS API to demonstrate how to build an SMS proxy for private communication between users. Each user sees only the other party's virtual number, not their real one.
You will need:
- A free Nexmo account
- Somewhere to host this web app: Heroku or your local machine with ngrok both work well
git clone https://github.com/nexmo/node-sms-proxy.git
cd node-sms-proxy
npm install
Rename the config file:
mv example.env .env
Fill in the values in .env
as appropriate; this will be your API key and secret, and the Nexmo number you want to use.
If you do not have a virtual number, you can purchase one via the dashboard.
Configure the number's SMS webhook URL to point to your application (if you are using ngrok then start your tunnel now), e.g. https://abcd1234.ngrok.io/webhooks/inbound-sms
npm start
The application should be available on http://localhost:3000
.
To change the port, try
PORT=3001 npm start
as an alternative command
Register a conversation with the application so that mappings can be created between real user numbers and Nexmo virtual numbers. This is done by making a POST
such as the following to http://localhost:3000/chat
and replacing USER_A_NUMBER
and USER_B_NUMBER
with the real numbers of the parties involved:
POST /chat HTTP/1.1
Host: localhost:3000
Cache-Control: no-cache
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
userANumber=USER_A_NUMBER&userBNumber=USER_B_NUMBER
When you do this each of the users will receive a text. Replying to that text will allow the users to communicate anonymously with each other.