Add SMS to a v0 app: Next.js route handlers that text from your own phone

What you need

• A v0 project. Environment variables and API routes work on every v0 plan.
• A textbee account with the Android app installed on the phone that holds the SIM, and an API key from the dashboard.
• A published deployment for replies: textbee needs a stable public URL.
• The textbee app on the phone. Download the app, then create an API key in the dashboard.

Send SMS from v0

Only variables that start with NEXT_PUBLIC_ reach the browser in Next.js. TEXTBEE_API_KEY without that prefix stays on the server, which is where the route handler runs.

1. 1

   Add the environment variable

   Open the project menu, Settings, then Environment Variables. Add the key for Development as well as Production: the v0 preview only sees variables available to the Development environment. v0 also prompts for missing keys after it generates code that needs them.

   Field	Value
   Key	TEXTBEE_API_KEY
   Environments	Development, Preview, Production

2. 2

   Prompt for the route handler

   Paste the prompt from this page. v0 writes a route like this one and a form or button that calls it.

   app/api/sms/route.ts

   Copy

   export async function POST(req: Request) {
     const { to, message } = await req.json()
     const res = await fetch('https://api.textbee.dev/api/v1/gateway/send-sms', {
       method: 'POST',
       headers: {
         'x-api-key': process.env.TEXTBEE_API_KEY ?? '',
         'Content-Type': 'application/json',
       },
       body: JSON.stringify({ recipients: [to], message }),
     })
     return Response.json(await res.json(), { status: res.status })
   }

3. 3

   Limit who can call it

   Ask v0 to check the session in the route, or to take a record id and build the message on the server. An open route that texts any number with any message is an open relay for your phone.

4. 4

   Test in the preview

   Send to your own number from the preview. The route returns data.success true and an smsBatchId, and the dashboard shows the message as sent, then delivered.

Receive SMS in v0

Replies go to a second route handler. Read the raw body with req.text() before parsing it, because the signature covers the exact bytes textbee sent.

1. 1

   Prompt for the webhook route

   Ask v0 for app/api/textbee/webhook/route.ts that verifies X-Signature with TEXTBEE_WEBHOOK_SECRET and handles MESSAGE_RECEIVED.

   app/api/textbee/webhook/route.ts

   Copy

   import { createHmac, timingSafeEqual } from 'node:crypto'
   
   export async function POST(req: Request) {
     const raw = await req.text()
     const expected = createHmac('sha256', process.env.TEXTBEE_WEBHOOK_SECRET ?? '').update(raw).digest('hex')
     const given = req.headers.get('x-signature') ?? ''
     if (given.length !== expected.length || !timingSafeEqual(Buffer.from(given), Buffer.from(expected))) {
       return new Response('invalid signature', { status: 401 })
     }
     const event = JSON.parse(raw)
     if (event.webhookEvent === 'MESSAGE_RECEIVED') {
       // store event.sender, event.message, event.receivedAt
     }
     return new Response('ok')
   }

2. 2

   Publish for a stable URL

   Click Publish in the chat header and confirm the vercel.app domain. Later changes go out with Publish Changes and keep the same production URL.

3. 3

   Register the webhook

   Add https://<your-project>.vercel.app/api/textbee/webhook in the textbee dashboard under Webhooks with the MESSAGE_RECEIVED event and the same signing secret.

Paste this prompt into v0

The prompt below carries the endpoints, the payloads, where the key may live and the v0 details from this page. Change the line that starts with What I want, and v0 builds the feature without guessing an endpoint.

Add SMS to the app I am building in v0. Use textbee, an SMS gateway that sends and receives SMS through my own Android phone.

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 E.164 numbers, even for one number. 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-Signature holds an HMAC-SHA256 hex digest of the raw body, keyed with the signing secret I set on the webhook. Retries reuse the same idempotencyKey.
- Limits: One Android phone sends roughly 10 to 15 messages a minute. Text only, no MMS. Messages over 160 characters are split into segments.

Rules:
- Store the API key as a secret named TEXTBEE_API_KEY. Call textbee only from server-side code, never from code that runs in the browser.
- Do not ask me to paste the real key into this chat. Tell me where to add the secret instead.
- For incoming texts, create a public server endpoint, check the X-Signature header against a secret named TEXTBEE_WEBHOOK_SECRET, and ignore a repeated idempotencyKey.

What I want: Add a contact form that texts me each new message, and show replies from customers on an admin page.

v0 specifics you should know:
- This is a Next.js App Router app on Vercel. Put textbee calls in route handlers under app/api or in server actions.
- Read TEXTBEE_API_KEY and TEXTBEE_WEBHOOK_SECRET from process.env. Never use the NEXT_PUBLIC_ prefix for them.
- Environment variables are added under the project menu, Settings, Environment Variables. The preview only sees Development variables.
- The webhook route must read the raw body with req.text() before JSON.parse, so the signature check works.

Build it, tell me where to add each secret in v0, and add a way to send one test message to my own number.

Features to build

Contact form to text

A server action posts the form to your database and texts you the name and the first line. You answer from your phone, and the reply comes back through the webhook route.

Status page alerts

A Vercel cron job hits a route that checks your service and texts you when a check fails twice in a row.

Appointment confirmations

The booking server action texts a confirmation with a reply prompt. YES or NO arrives at the webhook and updates the booking.

Admin inbox

An admin page lists stored replies and posts answers through the send route, so the whole conversation stays in your app.

Why v0 builders text from their own phone

Works in the preview

There is no trial mode that limits who you can text. The same key texts your own number in the preview and real customers in production.

Nothing to install

No SDK, no marketplace integration, no number to buy. One environment variable and one fetch call in a route handler.

A number people answer

A text from a mobile number gets a reply. The reply reaches your route as JSON, so a contact form becomes a two-way conversation.

A cloud SMS provider in v0 vs textbee in v0

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

What works and what does not

What v0 charges

v0 Free is $0 with a daily message limit and a $5 one-time credit for new users. Plus is $30 per user a month and Business $100 per user a month. Environment variables and API routes are not gated by plan. v0.app, checked on October 22, 2026. textbee itself charges a flat monthly plan with messages included; see pricing.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. v0.app, checked on October 22, 2026
2. v0.app: External APIs and environment variables, checked on October 22, 2026
3. v0.app: Deployments, checked on October 22, 2026
4. v0.app: MCP, checked on October 22, 2026

Read next

• Server and uptime alerts with SMS from your own Android number
• Receiving SMS into your app with a webhook from your own Android number
• Build with AI: one prompt for every builder
• SMS API in JavaScript
• Add SMS to a Replit app: Secrets, a server route and a published webhook URL
• Add SMS to a Base44 app: backend functions that text from your own phone
• All integrations