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Notification Resource

The Notification resource sends a notification to existing Bindings or a list of addresses.

You can notify users over these channels:

APNS for iOS devices
FCM for Android devices
SMS and MMS

(warning)

Make sure you have consent from users before storing their device's address

It's a good practice to obtain your end users' consent before you send them messages and some jurisdictions might require it by law.

We recommend that you consult with your legal counsel to make sure that your communications comply with all applicable laws.

To make sure your messages reach the right people, you should make sure that they have given you their consent to send them messages and that their contact information is current.

Check out the Twilio Marketplace for Add-ons from our partners that can help you keep your database up to date.

Notification Properties

Property nameTypeRequiredDescriptionChild properties

sidSID<NT>

Optional

Not PII

The unique string that we created to identify the Notification resource.

Pattern: ^NT[0-9a-fA-F]{32}$Min length: 34Max length: 34

account_sidSID<AC>

Optional

Not PII

The SID of the Account that created the Notification resource.

Pattern: ^AC[0-9a-fA-F]{32}$Min length: 34Max length: 34

service_sidSID<IS>

Optional

Not PII

The SID of the Service the resource is associated with.

Pattern: ^IS[0-9a-fA-F]{32}$Min length: 34Max length: 34

date_createdstring<date-time>

Optional

Not PII

The date and time in GMT when the resource was created specified in RFC 2822 format.

identitiesarray[string]

Optional

PII MTL: 120 days

The list of identity values of the Users to notify. We will attempt to deliver notifications only to Bindings with an identity in this list.

tagsarray[string]

Optional

PII MTL: 120 days

The tags that select the Bindings to notify. Notifications will be attempted only to Bindings that have all of the tags listed in this property.

segmentsarray[string]

Optional

Not PII

The list of Segments to notify. The Segment resource is deprecated. Use the tags property, instead.

priorityenum<string>

Optional

Not PII

The priority of the notification. Can be: low or high and the default is high. A value of low optimizes the client app's battery consumption; however, notifications may be delivered with unspecified delay. For FCM and GCM, low priority is the same as Normal priority. For APNS low priority is the same as 5. A value of high sends the notification immediately, and can wake up a sleeping device. For FCM and GCM, high is the same as High priority. For APNS, high is a priority 10. SMS does not support this property.

Possible values:

highlow

ttlinteger

Optional

Not PII

How long, in seconds, the notification is valid. Can be an integer between 0 and 2,419,200, which is 4 weeks, the default and the maximum supported time to live (TTL). Delivery should be attempted if the device is offline until the TTL elapses. Zero means that the notification delivery is attempted immediately, only once, and is not stored for future delivery. SMS does not support this property.

Default: 0

titlestring

Optional

Not PII

The notification title. For FCM and GCM, this translates to the data.twi_title value. For APNS, this translates to the aps.alert.title value. SMS does not support this property. This field is not visible on iOS phones and tablets but appears on Apple Watch and Android devices.

bodystring

Optional

PII MTL: 0 days

The notification text. For FCM and GCM, translates to data.twi_body. For APNS, translates to aps.alert.body. For SMS, translates to body. SMS requires either this body value, or media_urls attribute defined in the sms parameter of the notification.

soundstring

Optional

Not PII

The name of the sound to be played for the notification. For FCM and GCM, this Translates to data.twi_sound. For APNS, this translates to aps.sound. SMS does not support this property.

actionstring

Optional

Not PII

The actions to display for the notification. For APNS, translates to the aps.category value. For GCM, translates to the data.twi_action value. For SMS, this parameter is not supported and is omitted from deliveries to those channels.

dataobject

Optional

Not PII

The custom key-value pairs of the notification's payload. For FCM and GCM, this value translates to data in the FCM and GCM payloads. FCM and GCM reserve certain keys that cannot be used in those channels. For APNS, attributes of data are inserted into the APNS payload as custom properties outside of the aps dictionary. In all channels, we reserve keys that start with twi_ for future use. Custom keys that start with twi_ are not allowed and are rejected as 400 Bad request with no delivery attempted. For SMS, this parameter is not supported and is omitted from deliveries to those channels.

apnobject

Optional

Not PII

The APNS-specific payload that overrides corresponding attributes in the generic payload for APNS Bindings. This property maps to the APNS Payload item, therefore the aps key must be used to change standard attributes. Adds custom key-value pairs to the root of the dictionary. See the APNS documentation for more details. We reserve keys that start with twi_ for future use. Custom keys that start with twi_ are not allowed.

gcmobject

Optional

Not PII

The GCM-specific payload that overrides corresponding attributes in the generic payload for GCM Bindings. This property maps to the root JSON dictionary. Target parameters to, registration_ids, and notification_key are not allowed. We reserve keys that start with twi_ for future use. Custom keys that start with twi_ are not allowed.

fcmobject

Optional

Not PII

The FCM-specific payload that overrides corresponding attributes in the generic payload for FCM Bindings. This property maps to the root JSON dictionary. See the FCM documentation for more details. Target parameters to, registration_ids, condition, and notification_key are not allowed in this parameter. We reserve keys that start with twi_ for future use. Custom keys that start with twi_ are not allowed. FCM also reserves certain keys, which cannot be used in that channel.

smsobject

Optional

Not PII

The SMS-specific payload that overrides corresponding attributes in the generic payload for SMS Bindings. Each attribute in this value maps to the corresponding form parameter of the Twilio Message resource. These parameters of the Message resource are supported in snake case format: body, media_urls, status_callback, and max_price. The status_callback parameter overrides the corresponding parameter in the messaging service, if configured. The media_urls property expects a JSON array.

facebook_messengerobject

Optional

Not PII

Deprecated.

alexaobject

Optional

Not PII

Deprecated.

Create a Notification resource

POST https://notify.twilio.com/v1/Services/{ServiceSid}/Notifications

Creating a Notification resource sends a notification to existing Bindings or to addresses provided in the request.

Send a Notification to existing Bindings

Set Identity or Tag to specify the stored Bindings to notify. To notify all available stored Bindings, set Tag to all. If both Identity and Tag have values, only the Bindings that match both will be notified.

Check out the below examples which show you how to

Send a Notification to Bindings in the request

Set ToBinding to the JSON object that defines the Bindings to notify. Check out the below example which shows you how to

Send a notification to Bindings defined in the request

Send a Notification tailored to the specific channel

Define channel-specific features in the request to tailor the notification to the channel. Check out the below example

Send custom notifications by channel which shows you how to apply channel-specific features to customize the notification content to the channel

Path parameters

Property nameTypeRequiredPIIDescription

ServiceSidSID<IS>required

Not PII

The SID of the Service to create the resource under.

Pattern: ^IS[0-9a-fA-F]{32}$Min length: 34Max length: 34

Request body parameters

Encoding type:application/x-www-form-urlencoded

SchemaExample

Property nameTypeRequiredDescriptionChild properties

Bodystring

Optional

PII MTL: 0 days

Priorityenum<string>

Optional

Not PII

Possible values:

highlow

Ttlinteger

Optional

Not PII

Titlestring

Optional

Not PII

Soundstring

Optional

Not PII

The name of the sound to be played for the notification. For FCM and GCM, this Translates to data.twi_sound. For APNS, this translates to aps.sound. SMS does not support this property.

Actionstring

Optional

Not PII

Dataobject

Optional

Not PII

Apnobject

Optional

Not PII

Gcmobject

Optional

Not PII

The GCM-specific payload that overrides corresponding attributes in the generic payload for GCM Bindings. This property maps to the root JSON dictionary. See the GCM documentation for more details. Target parameters to, registration_ids, and notification_key are not allowed. We reserve keys that start with twi_ for future use. Custom keys that start with twi_ are not allowed. GCM also reserves certain keys.

Smsobject

Optional

Not PII

FacebookMessengerobject

Optional

Not PII

Deprecated.

Fcmobject

Optional

Not PII

Segmentarray[string]

Optional

Not PII

The Segment resource is deprecated. Use the tag parameter, instead.

Alexaobject

Optional

Not PII

Deprecated.

ToBindingarray[string]

Optional

Not PII

The destination address specified as a JSON string. Multiple to_binding parameters can be included but the total size of the request entity should not exceed 1MB. This is typically sufficient for 10,000 phone numbers.

DeliveryCallbackUrlstring

Optional

Not PII

URL to send webhooks.

Identityarray[string]required if Tag is not passed

Not PII

The identity value that uniquely identifies the new resource's User within the Service. Delivery will be attempted only to Bindings with an Identity in this list. No more than 20 items are allowed in this list.

Tagarray[string]required if Identity is not passed

Not PII

A tag that selects the Bindings to notify. Repeat this parameter to specify more than one tag, up to a total of 5 tags. The implicit tag all is available to notify all Bindings in a Service instance. Similarly, the implicit tags apn, fcm, gcm, sms and facebook-messenger are available to notify all Bindings in a specific channel.

Send a Notification to existing Bindings (Identity)

1// NOTE: This example uses the next generation Twilio helper library - for more
2// information on how to download and install this version, visit
3// https://www.twilio.com/docs/libraries/node
4// To set up environmental variables, see http://twil.io/secure
5const accountSid = process.env.TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID;
6const authToken = process.env.TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN;
7const Twilio = require('twilio');
8
9const client = new Twilio(accountSid, authToken);
10
11const service = client.notify.services('ISXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX');
12
13service.notifications
14  .create({
15    identity: '00000001',
16    body: 'Hello Bob',
17  })
18  .then(notification => {
19    console.log(notification);
20  })
21  .catch(error => {
22    console.log(error);
23  })
24  .done();

Output

1{
2  "account_sid": "ACXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
3  "sid": "NTXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
4  "service_sid": "ISXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
5  "date_created": "2015-08-26T00:07:12Z",
6  "identities": ["00000001"],
7  "tags": [],
8  "priority": "high",
9  "ttl": 2419200,
10  "title": null,
11  "body": "Hello Bob",
12  "sound": null,
13  "action": null,
14  "data": null,
15  "apn": null,
16  "gcm": null,
17  "sms": null,
18  "fcm": null
19}

Send a Notification to existing Bindings (Tag)

1// Download the helper library from https://www.twilio.com/docs/node/install
2const twilio = require("twilio"); // Or, for ESM: import twilio from "twilio";
3
4// Find your Account SID and Auth Token at twilio.com/console
5// and set the environment variables. See http://twil.io/secure
6const accountSid = process.env.TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID;
7const authToken = process.env.TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN;
8const client = twilio(accountSid, authToken);
9
10async function createNotification() {
11  const notification = await client.notify.v1
12    .services("ISaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa")
13    .notifications.create({
14      body: '"Hello new user!"',
15      tag: ["new_user"],
16    });
17
18  console.log(notification.sid);
19}
20
21createNotification();

Output

1{
2  "sid": "NTb8021351170b4e1286adaac3fdd6d082",
3  "account_sid": "ACaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
4  "service_sid": "ISaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
5  "date_created": "2016-03-24T23:42:28Z",
6  "identities": [
7    "jing"
8  ],
9  "tags": [],
10  "segments": [],
11  "priority": "high",
12  "ttl": 2419200,
13  "title": "test",
14  "body": "\"Hello new user!\"",
15  "sound": null,
16  "action": null,
17  "data": null,
18  "apn": null,
19  "fcm": null,
20  "gcm": null,
21  "sms": null,
22  "facebook_messenger": null,
23  "alexa": null
24}

Send a Notification to existing Bindings (Identity and Tag)

1// Download the helper library from https://www.twilio.com/docs/node/install
2const twilio = require("twilio"); // Or, for ESM: import twilio from "twilio";
3
4// Find your Account SID and Auth Token at twilio.com/console
5// and set the environment variables. See http://twil.io/secure
6const accountSid = process.env.TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID;
7const authToken = process.env.TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN;
8const client = twilio(accountSid, authToken);
9
10async function createNotification() {
11  const notification = await client.notify.v1
12    .services("ISaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa")
13    .notifications.create({
14      body: '"Hello, Charlie!"',
15      identity: ["00000001"],
16      tag: ["preferred_device"],
17    });
18
19  console.log(notification.sid);
20}
21
22createNotification();

Output

1{
2  "sid": "NTb8021351170b4e1286adaac3fdd6d082",
3  "account_sid": "ACaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
4  "service_sid": "ISaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
5  "date_created": "2016-03-24T23:42:28Z",
6  "identities": [
7    "jing"
8  ],
9  "tags": [],
10  "segments": [],
11  "priority": "high",
12  "ttl": 2419200,
13  "title": "test",
14  "body": "\"Hello, Charlie!\"",
15  "sound": null,
16  "action": null,
17  "data": null,
18  "apn": null,
19  "fcm": null,
20  "gcm": null,
21  "sms": null,
22  "facebook_messenger": null,
23  "alexa": null
24}

(information)

Info

You can send notifications to addresses without storing them by using the toBinding parameter. However, the total size of the request entity shouldn't exceed 1MB. This is typically sufficient for 10,000 phone numbers.

Send a Notification to Bindings in the request

1// NOTE: This example uses the next generation Twilio helper library - for more
2// information on how to download and install this version, visit
3// https://www.twilio.com/docs/libraries/node
4// To set up environmental variables, see http://twil.io/secure
5const accountSid = process.env.TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID;
6const authToken = process.env.TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN;
7const Twilio = require('twilio');
8
9const client = new Twilio(accountSid, authToken);
10
11const service = client.notify.services('ISXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX');
12
13service.notifications
14  .create({
15    toBinding: [
16      JSON.stringify({
17        binding_type: 'sms',
18        address: '+15555555555',
19      }),
20      JSON.stringify({
21        binding_type: 'facebook-messenger',
22        address: '123456789123',
23      }),
24    ],
25    body: 'Hello Bob',
26  })
27  .then(notification => {
28    console.log(notification);
29  })
30  .catch(error => {
31    console.log(error);
32  })
33  .done();

Output

1{
2  "account_sid": "ACXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
3  "sid": "NTXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
4  "service_sid": "ISXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
5  "date_created": "2015-08-26T00:07:12Z",
6  "toBindings": [{
7      "binding_type":"sms",
8      "address":"+15555555555"
9    },{
10      "binding_type":"facebook-messenger",
11      "address":"123456789123"
12    }],
13  "identities": [],
14  "tags": [],
15  "priority": "high",
16  "ttl": 2419200,
17  "title": null,
18  "body": "Hello Bob",
19  "sound": null,
20  "action": null,
21  "data": null,
22  "apn": null,
23  "gcm": null,
24  "sms": null,
25  "fcm": null
26}

(information)

Info

There is a list of available keys for building notification messages for iOS and Android. You can pass any of the available keys forApple orGoogle on the APNs or FCM parameters. You can also combine these (as well as the sms key) all in the same Notification API request, as shown in the Send custom notifications by channel code sample.

Send custom notifications by channel

1// Download the helper library from https://www.twilio.com/docs/node/install
2const twilio = require("twilio"); // Or, for ESM: import twilio from "twilio";
3
4// Find your Account SID and Auth Token at twilio.com/console
5// and set the environment variables. See http://twil.io/secure
6const accountSid = process.env.TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID;
7const authToken = process.env.TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN;
8const client = twilio(accountSid, authToken);
9
10async function createNotification() {
11  const notification = await client.notify.v1
12    .services("ISXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX")
13    .notifications.create({
14      apn: {
15        aps: {
16          alert: {
17            title: "Short title for Watch.",
18          },
19        },
20      },
21      body: "This is the body for all Bindings",
22      data: {
23        custom_key1: "custom value 1",
24        custom_key2: "custom value 2",
25      },
26      fcm: {
27        notification: {
28          title: "New alert",
29          body: "Hello Bob!",
30        },
31      },
32      identity: ["00000001"],
33      title: "Generic loooooooong title for all Bindings",
34    });
35
36  console.log(notification.sid);
37}
38
39createNotification();

Output

1{
2  "sid": "NTb8021351170b4e1286adaac3fdd6d082",
3  "account_sid": "ACaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa",
4  "service_sid": "ISXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
5  "date_created": "2016-03-24T23:42:28Z",
6  "identities": [
7    "jing"
8  ],
9  "tags": [],
10  "segments": [],
11  "priority": "high",
12  "ttl": 2419200,
13  "title": "Generic loooooooong title for all Bindings",
14  "body": "This is the body for all Bindings",
15  "sound": null,
16  "action": null,
17  "data": {
18    "custom_key1": "custom value 1",
19    "custom_key2": "custom value 2"
20  },
21  "apn": {
22    "aps": {
23      "alert": {
24        "title": "Short title for Watch."
25      }
26    }
27  },
28  "fcm": {
29    "notification": {
30      "title": "New alert",
31      "body": "Hello Bob!"
32    }
33  },
34  "gcm": null,
35  "sms": null,
36  "facebook_messenger": null,
37  "alexa": null
38}

ToBinding attributes

Name	Description
binding_type	The channel to use. Possible values: `sms`, `apn`, `fcm`.
address	The destination address. For SMS, it is the phone number in E.164 format. For APNS and FCM, it is the device or registration token.

Customize notification by channel

Notifications can be tailored to each notification channel to take advantage of channel-specific features or to customize the content to each channel.

The channel-specific payload of a notification can be provided by adding a parameter whose name is the BindingType and the value is the channel specific payload in a JSON object. The example Send custom notifications by channel includes several such objects.

These channels support channel-specific payloads:

APNS
FCM
SMS

The channel-specific content specified in this parameter can add a new property for the channel or replace the value in an existing property, but it cannot remove a property.

The example Send custom notifications by channel sends a notification to all Bindings with Identity 00000001. A generic Title is specified and will be used for sms binding and specifically for fcm and apn binding types a payload with title and body are also added, which will override the generic Title.

Unrecoverable channel errors

When the underlying notification channel indicates an unrecoverable error, it is usually because there's a problem with the Binding. To ensure your database contains only valid Bindings, we delete the Bindings that return unrecoverable errors.

The following errors are unrecoverable.

Channel	Error
APNS	APNS response status code 410 with error string "Unregistered"
APNS	Address in invalid format
FCM	Firebase response status code 200 + error:NotRegistered
FCM	Firebase response status code 200 + error:InvalidRegistration
FCM	Firebase response status code 200 + error:MismatchSenderId
SMS	21604 - 'To' phone number is blank