n8n SMS integration: send and receive texts with the official textbee node or the HTTP Request node

What you need

• An n8n instance: n8n Cloud, or a self-hosted install. Receiving texts needs a public HTTPS address for the Webhook node.
• A textbee account with the Android app installed on the phone that holds the SIM, and an API key from the dashboard.
• A trigger for the send workflow: a form, a schedule, a database row, a chat message, or any other n8n trigger.
• The textbee app on the phone. Download the app, then create an API key in the dashboard.

Send SMS from n8n

These steps use the built-in HTTP Request node. With the textbee node installed, add its API credential and a textbee node with Message > Send instead. Either way the API key stays in a credential, and an exported workflow never contains it.

1. 1

   Create a Header Auth credential

   Open Credentials, add Header Auth, set Name to x-api-key and Value to your textbee API key.

2. 2

   Add an HTTP Request node

   Switch the JSON field to expression mode so the {{ }} values resolve from the previous node.

   Field	Value
   Method	POST
   URL	https://api.textbee.dev/api/v1/gateway/send-sms
   Authentication	Generic Credential Type, Header Auth, your credential
   Send Body	on
   Body Content Type	JSON
   Specify Body	Using JSON

   JSON

   Copy

   {
     "recipients": ["{{ $json.phone }}"],
     "message": "Hi {{ $json.name }}, your table is ready."
   }

3. 3

   Execute the node

   Click Execute step with a test item. The output has data.success true and data.smsBatchId. The text arrives within a minute.

4. 4

   Activate the workflow

   Save and activate. Every run of the trigger now sends a text through the phone.

Receive SMS in n8n

The Webhook node gives you a test URL while you listen and a production URL once the workflow is active. Register the production URL in textbee. With the textbee node installed, the textbee Trigger registers the webhook and checks the signature for you.

1. 1

   Add a Webhook node

   Start a workflow with the Webhook node, HTTP Method POST, Path textbee. Copy the Production URL.

2. 2

   Register it in textbee

   In the textbee dashboard open Webhooks, create one with that URL, select MESSAGE_RECEIVED and set a signing secret.

3. 3

   Listen for a test event

   Click Listen for test event and text the phone from another number. The item shows body.sender, body.message and body.receivedAt.

4. 4

   Verify the signature

   Add a Crypto node with Action Hmac, Type SHA256, Value {{ $json.headers["x-textbee-signature"].split(",")[0].slice(2) }}.{{ JSON.stringify($json.body) }} and your signing secret. Then add an If node with two conditions: the result equals {{ $json.headers["x-textbee-signature"].split(",")[1].slice(3) }}, and {{ Math.abs(Date.now() / 1000 - Number($json.headers["x-textbee-signature"].split(",")[0].slice(2))) }} is at most 300. textbee signs the timestamp, a dot and the compact JSON, so the re-serialized body matches.

Ask your AI agent to set it up

The prompt below carries the endpoints, the payloads and the n8n details from this page. Change the line that starts with What I want, paste the prompt into your agent, and it walks you through the setup with your own field names and numbers.

I want to connect textbee to n8n. textbee is an SMS gateway that sends and receives SMS through my own Android phone. Help me set it up step by step.

Facts about the textbee API. Use only these. Do not invent endpoints or fields.
- Send an SMS: POST https://api.textbee.dev/api/v1/gateway/send-sms with the header x-api-key: <TEXTBEE_API_KEY> and a JSON body like {"recipients": ["+12015550123"], "message": "Hello"}. recipients must be a JSON array of phone numbers, even for one number. Use international format, for example +12015550123. Optional fields: deviceId, simSubscriptionId, scheduledAt (ISO 8601, in the future). The response is {"data": {"success": true, "smsBatchId": "..."}}.
- Check delivery or read replies: GET https://api.textbee.dev/api/v1/gateway/messages with the same header. Filters: direction=received, smsBatchId=<id from the send>, from and to as ISO timestamps. Each row has a status such as sent, delivered, failed or received.
- Receive an SMS: textbee posts JSON to a webhook URL I register in the dashboard. A MESSAGE_RECEIVED delivery has these top-level fields: smsId, message, deviceId, webhookSubscriptionId, webhookEvent, idempotencyKey, sender, receivedAt. The header X-Textbee-Signature has the form t=<unix seconds>,v1=<signature>, where the signature is the HMAC-SHA256 hex digest of "<t>.<raw body>", keyed with the signing secret I set on the webhook. Compare v1 in constant time and reject the request when t is more than 300 seconds from the current time. Retries reuse the same idempotencyKey and get a fresh t.
- Limits: One Android phone sends roughly 10 to 15 messages a minute. Text only, no MMS. Messages over 160 characters are split into segments.

What I want: Send SMS from an n8n workflow, and start a workflow from every text my phone receives, with the signature verified.

n8n specifics you should know:
- HTTP Request node: Authentication Generic Credential Type with Header Auth; Send Body with Body Content Type JSON; expressions use {{ $json.field }} in expression mode.
- Webhook node: the Production URL only answers when the workflow is active; the Test URL works while listening.
- The Crypto node computes HMAC SHA256 to verify the X-Textbee-Signature header (t=<unix seconds>,v1=<hex>); textbee signs t, a dot and JSON.stringify of the payload with no extra whitespace, and t must be less than 300 seconds old.
- Self-hosted n8n needs a public HTTPS address for the Webhook node; without one, poll the messages endpoint with a Schedule Trigger instead.

Give me:
1. The exact clicks and field values in n8n, using its real field labels.
2. The request body or field mapping, with placeholders for my API key and phone numbers. Never ask me to paste the real key into this chat.
3. A test with one number and what a correct result looks like.
4. The three most likely failure causes and how to check each one.

Automations that work well

Form to text

n8n Form Trigger, then an HTTP Request that texts the submitter. Add a Set node to build the message from the form fields.

Reminders on a schedule

Schedule Trigger, a database or Google Sheets node that reads tomorrow, a Loop Over Items node, then one HTTP Request per row.

AI autoresponder

Webhook trigger, an LLM node that drafts a reply from message, then an HTTP Request that sends it to sender. The blog has the full build.

Alerts from anything

An Error Trigger workflow that texts the on-call phone when any other workflow fails. SMS gets through when email and chat do not.

Why teams move n8n SMS to their own phone

The bill

n8n itself can be free to self-host, so a provider fee per text is often the only SMS cost left. A phone on a flat plan removes it.

The reply rate

Alerts and reminders from a number people already have saved get read. Texts from a rented number get ignored or filtered.

Everything self-hosted

n8n on your server, the phone on your desk, the message history in your account. No provider console and no number to port if you move.

A cloud SMS provider in n8n vs textbee in n8n

Per-message prices by provider and country, with sources and dates, are on the provider comparison pages.

What works and what does not

What n8n charges

The Community Edition is free to self-host. n8n Cloud plans are priced per workflow execution, and one execution can send many texts. n8n.io, checked on September 25, 2026. textbee itself charges a flat monthly plan with messages included; see pricing.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. n8n.io, checked on September 25, 2026
2. docs.n8n.io: HTTP Request node, checked on September 25, 2026
3. docs.n8n.io: Webhook node, checked on September 25, 2026
4. docs.n8n.io: install community nodes, checked on November 5, 2026

Read next

• AI agent notifications with SMS from your own Android number
• Receiving SMS into your app with a webhook from your own Android number
• n8n docs page
• textbee n8n node on npm
• textbee n8n node on GitHub
• n8n SMS automation tutorial
• Build an AI SMS autoresponder with n8n
• Send SMS from Google Sheets with Apps Script and your own phone
• Home Assistant SMS notifications: send and receive texts through your own phone
• All integrations