C#

Send SMS with C#

Learn how to send your first SMS using the CCAI C# SDK

Prerequisites

To get the most out of this guide, you'll need to:

  • Sign up for a CCAI Trial Account here
  • Get your Client ID from Account\Settings
  • Create\Copy an API Key from Account Settings

1. Install

Get the CCAI C# SDK

dotnet add package CloudContactAI.CCAI.NET

2. Send SMS message

using CCAI.NET;
using CCAI.NET.SMS;

// Initialize the client
var config = new CCAIConfig
{
    ClientId = "YOUR-CLIENT-ID",
    ApiKey = "YOUR-API-KEY"
};

using var ccai = new CCAIClient(config);

// Send a single SMS
var response = await ccai.SMS.SendSingleAsync(
    firstName: "John",
    lastName: "Doe",
    phone: "+15551234567",
    message: "Hello ${FirstName}, this is a test message!",
    title: "Test Campaign"
);

Console.WriteLine($"Message sent with ID: {response.Id}");

// Send to multiple recipients
var accounts = new List<Account>
{
    new Account
    {
        FirstName = "John",
        LastName = "Doe",
        Phone = "+15551234567"
    },
    new Account
    {
        FirstName = "Jane",
        LastName = "Smith",
        Phone = "+15559876543"
    }
};

var campaignResponse = await ccai.SMS.SendAsync(
    accounts: accounts,
    message: "Hello ${FirstName} ${LastName}, this is a test message!",
    title: "Bulk Test Campaign"
);

Console.WriteLine($"Campaign sent with ID: {campaignResponse.CampaignId}");

3. Email Usage

using CCAI.NET;
using CCAI.NET.Email;
using DotNetEnv;

// Load environment variables
Env.Load();

// Initialize the client
var config = new CCAIConfig
{
    ClientId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("CCAI_CLIENT_ID") ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("CCAI_CLIENT_ID not found"),
    ApiKey = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("CCAI_API_KEY") ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("CCAI_API_KEY not found")
};

using var ccai = new CCAIClient(config);

// Send a single email
var response = await ccai.Email.SendSingleAsync(
    firstName: "John",
    lastName: "Doe",
    email: "[email protected]",
    subject: "Welcome to Our Service",
    message: "<p>Hello ${FirstName},</p><p>Thank you for signing up!</p>",
    senderEmail: "[email protected]",
    replyEmail: "[email protected]",
    senderName: "Your Company",
    title: "Welcome Email"
);

Console.WriteLine($"Email sent with ID: {response.Id}");

// Send to multiple recipients
var emailAccounts = new List<EmailAccount>
{
    new EmailAccount
    {
        FirstName = "John",
        LastName = "Doe",
        Email = "[email protected]"
    },
    new EmailAccount
    {
        FirstName = "Jane",
        LastName = "Smith",
        Email = "[email protected]"
    }
};

var campaign = new EmailCampaign
{
    Subject = "Monthly Newsletter",
    Title = "July 2025 Newsletter",
    Message = @"
        <h1>Monthly Newsletter - July 2025</h1>
        <p>Hello ${FirstName},</p>
        <p>Here are our updates for this month...</p>
    ",
    SenderEmail = "[email protected]",
    ReplyEmail = "[email protected]",
    SenderName = "Your Company Newsletter",
    Accounts = emailAccounts,
    CampaignType = "EMAIL",
    AddToList = "noList",
    ContactInput = "accounts",
    FromType = "single",
    Senders = new List<object>()
};

var campaignResponse = await ccai.Email.SendCampaignAsync(
    campaign: campaign,
    options: new EmailOptions
    {
        OnProgress = status => Console.WriteLine($"Progress: {status}")
    }
);

Console.WriteLine($"Email campaign sent with ID: {campaignResponse.Id}");

4. Scheduling an Email

// Schedule for tomorrow at 10:00 AM
var tomorrow = DateTime.Now.AddDays(1).Date.AddHours(10);

var scheduledCampaign = new EmailCampaign
{
    Subject = "Upcoming Event Reminder",
    Title = "Event Reminder Campaign",
    Message = @"
        <h1>Reminder: Upcoming Event</h1>
        <p>Hello ${FirstName},</p>
        <p>This is a reminder about our upcoming event tomorrow.</p>
    ",
    SenderEmail = "[email protected]",
    ReplyEmail = "[email protected]",
    SenderName = "Your Company Events",
    Accounts = emailAccounts,
    ScheduledTimestamp = tomorrow.ToString("o"), // ISO 8601 format
    ScheduledTimezone = "America/New_York"
};

var scheduledResponse = await ccai.Email.SendCampaignAsync(scheduledCampaign);
Console.WriteLine($"Email campaign scheduled with ID: {scheduledResponse.Id}");

5. Webhook Management

CloudContact Webhook Events (New Format)

CloudContact now sends webhook notifications with a consistent structure for all event types:

using CCAI.NET;
using CCAI.NET.Webhook;

// Parse CloudContact webhook event
var cloudContactEvent = ccai.Webhook.ParseCloudContactEvent(json);

switch (cloudContactEvent.EventType)
{
    case "message.sent":
        Console.WriteLine($"✅ Message delivered to {cloudContactEvent.Data.To}");
        Console.WriteLine($"   Cost: ${cloudContactEvent.Data.TotalPrice}");
        Console.WriteLine($"   Segments: {cloudContactEvent.Data.Segments}");
        break;
        
    case "message.incoming":
        Console.WriteLine($"📨 Reply from {cloudContactEvent.Data.From}: {cloudContactEvent.Data.Message}");
        break;
        
    case "message.excluded":
        Console.WriteLine($"⚠️ Message excluded: {cloudContactEvent.Data.ExcludedReason}");
        break;
        
    case "message.error.carrier":
        Console.WriteLine($"❌ Carrier error {cloudContactEvent.Data.ErrorCode}: {cloudContactEvent.Data.ErrorMessage}");
        break;
        
    case "message.error.cloudcontact":
        Console.WriteLine($"🚨 System error {cloudContactEvent.Data.ErrorCode}: {cloudContactEvent.Data.ErrorMessage}");
        break;
}

Supported Event Types

  • message.sent - Message successfully delivered to recipient
  • message.incoming - Reply received from recipient
  • message.excluded - Message excluded during campaign (duplicates, invalid numbers, etc.)
  • message.error.carrier - Carrier-level delivery failure
  • message.error.cloudcontact - CloudContact system error

ASP.NET Core Webhook Endpoint

[ApiController]
[Route("api/[controller]")]
public class WebhookController : ControllerBase
{
    [HttpPost("cloudcontact")]
    public async Task<IActionResult> HandleCloudContactWebhook()
    {
        using var reader = new StreamReader(Request.Body, Encoding.UTF8);
        var body = await reader.ReadToEndAsync();
        
        var webhookService = new WebhookService(null!);
        var cloudContactEvent = webhookService.ParseCloudContactEvent(body);
        
        // Process the event
        await ProcessWebhookEvent(cloudContactEvent);
        
        return Ok(new { status = "success" });
    }
}

Legacy Webhook Format (Backward Compatibility)

The library still supports the original webhook format:

using CCAI.NET;
using CCAI.NET.Webhook;
using DotNetEnv;

// Load environment variables
Env.Load();

// Initialize the client
var config = new CCAIConfig
{
    ClientId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("CCAI_CLIENT_ID") ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("CCAI_CLIENT_ID not found"),
    ApiKey = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("CCAI_API_KEY") ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("CCAI_API_KEY not found")
};

using var ccai = new CCAIClient(config);

// Register a webhook
var webhookConfig = new WebhookConfig
{
    Url = "https://your-webhook-endpoint.com/webhook",
    Events = new List<WebhookEventType>
    {
        WebhookEventType.MessageSent,
        WebhookEventType.MessageIncoming,
        WebhookEventType.MessageExcluded,
        WebhookEventType.MessageErrorCarrier,
        WebhookEventType.MessageErrorCloudContact
    },
    Secret = "your-webhook-secret"
};

var registration = await ccai.Webhook.RegisterAsync(webhookConfig);
Console.WriteLine($"Webhook registered with ID: {registration.Id}");

// List all webhooks
var webhooks = await ccai.Webhook.ListAsync();
foreach (var webhook in webhooks)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Webhook ID: {webhook.Id}, URL: {webhook.Url}");
}

// Update a webhook
var updatedConfig = new WebhookConfig
{
    Url = "https://your-updated-endpoint.com/webhook",
    Events = new List<WebhookEventType> { WebhookEventType.MessageSent },
    Secret = "your-updated-secret"
};

var updatedWebhook = await ccai.Webhook.UpdateAsync(registration.Id, updatedConfig);

// Delete a webhook
var deleteResponse = await ccai.Webhook.DeleteAsync(registration.Id);
Console.WriteLine($"Webhook deleted: {deleteResponse.Success}");

// Parse a webhook event (in your webhook handler)
public void ProcessWebhookEvent(string json, string signature, string secret)
{
    // Verify the signature
    if (ccai.Webhook.VerifySignature(signature, json, secret))
    {
        // Parse the event (supports both new and legacy formats)
        var webhookEvent = ccai.Webhook.ParseEvent(json);
        
        if (webhookEvent is MessageSentEvent sentEvent)
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"Message sent to: {sentEvent.To}");
        }
        else if (webhookEvent is MessageIncomingEvent incomingEvent)
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"Message received from: {incomingEvent.From}");
        }
    }
    else
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Invalid signature");
    }
}

6. Step-by-Step MMS Workflow

// Step 1: Get a signed URL for uploading
var uploadResponse = await ccai.MMS.GetSignedUploadUrlAsync(
    fileName: "image.jpg",
    fileType: "image/jpeg"
);

var signedUrl = uploadResponse.SignedS3Url;
var fileKey = uploadResponse.FileKey;

// Step 2: Upload the image to the signed URL
var uploadSuccess = await ccai.MMS.UploadImageToSignedUrlAsync(
    signedUrl: signedUrl,
    filePath: "path/to/your/image.jpg",
    contentType: "image/jpeg"
);

if (uploadSuccess)
{
    // Step 3: Send the MMS with the uploaded image
    var response = await ccai.MMS.SendAsync(
        pictureFileKey: fileKey,
        accounts: accounts,
        message: "Hello ${FirstName}, check out this image!",
        title: "MMS Campaign Example"
    );
    
    Console.WriteLine($"MMS sent! Campaign ID: {response.CampaignId}");
}

7. With Progress Tracking

// Create options with progress tracking
var options = new SMSOptions
{
    Timeout = 60,
    Retries = 3,
    OnProgress = status => Console.WriteLine($"{DateTime.Now:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss} - {status}")
};

// Send SMS with progress tracking
var response = await ccai.SMS.SendAsync(
    accounts: accounts,
    message: message,
    title: title,
    options: options
);

8. Synchronous API

// Send a single SMS synchronously
var response = ccai.SMS.SendSingle(
    firstName: "John",
    lastName: "Doe",
    phone: "+15551234567",
    message: "Hello ${FirstName}, this is a test message!",
    title: "Test Campaign"
);

// Send a single MMS synchronously
var mmsResponse = ccai.MMS.SendSingle(
    pictureFileKey: "your-client-id/campaign/image.jpg",
    firstName: "John",
    lastName: "Doe",
    phone: "+15551234567",
    message: "Hello ${FirstName}, check out this image!",
    title: "MMS Campaign"
);

// Send a single email synchronously
var emailResponse = ccai.Email.SendSingle(
    firstName: "John",
    lastName: "Doe",
    email: "[email protected]",
    subject: "Welcome to Our Service",
    message: "<p>Hello ${FirstName},</p><p>Thank you for signing up!</p>",
    senderEmail: "[email protected]",
    replyEmail: "[email protected]",
    senderName: "Your Company",
    title: "Welcome Email"
);

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

10. Testing Webhook Installation

If you're testing the webhook installation, it's best to git clone the repository so you can get access to the examples/webhook-server project here.

Step 1: Install Ngrok

brew install ngrok

Step 2: Verify Ngrok

ngrok version

Step 3: Start the standalone webhook server

Open a new terminal window and run:

cd /Users/../CCAI.NET/examples/webhook-server
dotnet run

This will start a webhook server on http://localhost:3000

Step 4: In another terminal, start Ngrok

Open another terminal window and run:

ngrok http 3000
This will create a public tunnel to your local webhook server.

If you have not signed up for ngrok, you will need to:

ERROR: Sign up for an account: https://dashboard.ngrok.com/signup ERROR: Install your authtoken: https://dashboard.ngrok.com/get-started/your-authtoken

Step 5: Get your Ngrok URL

ngrok will display something like:

Forwarding    https://abc123.ngrok.io -> http://localhost:3000
Copy that https://abc123.ngrok.io URL - this is your public webhook URL.

Example: https://81dbae920588.ngrok-free.app

Step 6: Configure CCAI with your Ngrok URL

  1. Log in to your CCAI account
  2. Navigate to the Settings\Integration tab
  3. Specify your ngrok url + '/webhook'

Step 7: Send a test SMS to trigger the webhook

cd /Users/../CCAI.NET/examples
dotnet run

Step 8: The Web server should receive the notification

Press Ctrl+C to stop the server

🔔 Received webhook event at root path! ⏰ Time: 2025-09-03 00:51:19 UTC 📋 Headers: Accept: application/json, application/*+json Host: 13c29ec4a161.ngrok-free.app User-Agent: Java/14-ea Accept-Encoding: gzip Content-Type: application/json Content-Length: 304 X-Forwarded-For: 159.65.99.19 X-Forwarded-Host: 13c29ec4a161.ngrok-free.app X-Forwarded-Proto: https 📄 Raw Body: {"eventType":"message.sent","data":{"id":142065,"MessageStatus":"SENT","To":"+14155551212","Message":"Hello John Doe, this is a test message!","CustomData":"","ClientExternalId":"a43c42c6-b0c1-45c5-b2fb-290ee7e6f113","CampaignId":141293,"CampaignTitle":"Default Campaign","Segments":1,"TotalPrice":0.03}}
🎯 Parsed CloudContact Event: Event Type: message.sent Message Status: SENT To: +14155551212 Message: Hello John Doe, this is a test message! ✅ Message delivered successfully! 💰 Cost: $0.0300 📊 Segments: 1 📢 Campaign: Default Campaign (ID: 141293) 🆔 External ID: a43c42c6-b0c1-45c5-b2fb-290ee7e6f113application/json;+charset=utf-8 137.6141ms

Step 9: From your phone, respond to the message

On your mobile phone, respond to the message that was sent to you by CCAI

Step 10: Web Server should receive the response notification

🎯 Parsed CloudContact Event: Event Type: message.sent Message Status: SENT To: +14155551212 Message: Hello John Doe, this is a test message! ✅ Message delivered successfully! 💰 Cost: $0.0300 📊 Segments: 1 📢 Campaign: Default Campaign (ID: 141293) 🆔 External ID: a43c42c6-b0c1-45c5-b2fb-290ee7e6f113application/json;+charset=utf-8 137.6141ms

Try it yourself

See the full source code here.