SMS Skill

Send SMS/MMS, read inboxes, auto-reply as Claudius, and view conversation threads via Telnyx (2 numbers) and Twilio (6 numbers).

When to Use This Skill

• Sending a text message to any phone number
• Reading recent SMS messages (inbox)
• Listening for real-time inbound messages (two-way SMS)
• Auto-replying to inbound SMS as Claudius (soul-aware responses)
• Viewing a conversation thread with a specific number
• Listing available phone numbers across providers
• Sending MMS with image attachments

Prerequisites

Requires requests (uv pip install --system requests).

Credentials are loaded automatically:

• Telnyx: TELNYX_API_KEY env var, or falls back to ~/.claude.json (already configured)
• Twilio: TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID + TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN env vars, or falls back to hardcoded defaults

Quick Start

# Send a text
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_send.py "+19175551234" "Hello from Claude"

# Read recent messages
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_read.py -n 10

# View conversation with someone
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_conversation.py "+19175551234"

# List all available numbers
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_numbers.py

# Start real-time listener (background)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_listen.py --bg

# Check inbound messages
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_inbox.py

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Available Scripts

1. sms_send.py — Send SMS/MMS

python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_send.py TO "MESSAGE" [OPTIONS]

Flag	Description
--from NUMBER	Send from a specific number (auto-detects provider)
--provider telnyx|twilio	Force a specific provider
--media URL	Attach media for MMS

Examples:

# Send via Telnyx (default)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_send.py "+19175551234" "Meeting at 3pm"

# Send from a Twilio number
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_send.py "+19175551234" "Hello" --from "+18508058037"

# Send MMS with image
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_send.py "+19175551234" "Check this" --media "https://example.com/photo.jpg"

2. sms_read.py — Read Inbox

python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_read.py [OPTIONS]

Flag	Description
--to NUMBER	Messages to a specific number
--from-number NUMBER	Messages from a specific sender
--direction inbound|outbound	Filter by direction
-n/--limit NUM	Number of messages (default: 10)
--provider telnyx|twilio	Query specific provider
--all-providers	Query both providers

Examples:

# Read last 10 messages (Twilio recommended for reads)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_read.py -n 10 --provider twilio

# Messages to a specific number
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_read.py --to "+18508058037" --provider twilio

# Only inbound messages
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_read.py --direction inbound --provider twilio

# Query both providers
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_read.py --all-providers -n 20

3. sms_conversation.py — View Conversation Thread

python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_conversation.py NUMBER [OPTIONS]

Flag	Description
-n/--limit NUM	Max messages per direction (default: 20)
--our-number NUMBER	Filter to a specific one of our numbers
--provider telnyx|twilio	Query specific provider
--all-providers	Query both providers

Examples:

# View conversation with a number
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_conversation.py "+19175551234" --provider twilio

# Limit to last 10 messages per direction
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_conversation.py "+19175551234" -n 10 --provider twilio

# Filter to a specific one of our numbers
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_conversation.py "+19175551234" --our-number "+18508058037"

4. sms_numbers.py — List Available Numbers

python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_numbers.py [OPTIONS]

Flag	Description
--provider telnyx|twilio	Filter by provider
--live	Query APIs for live status (slower)

Examples:

# List all 8 numbers
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_numbers.py

# Twilio numbers only
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_numbers.py --provider twilio

# Live API status check
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_numbers.py --live

5. sms_listen.py — Real-Time Inbound Listener

Background daemon that polls Twilio for new inbound messages and runs a webhook server for Telnyx inbound. Messages are written to data/inbox.jsonl.

python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_listen.py [OPTIONS]

Flag	Description
--bg	Run in background (daemonize)
--stop	Stop running listener
--status	Check if listener is running
--interval N	Twilio poll interval in seconds (default: 10)
--numbers +1... +1...	Twilio numbers to monitor (default: all 6)
--webhook-port N	Telnyx webhook port (default: 9147)
--no-telnyx	Disable Telnyx webhook server
--no-twilio	Disable Twilio polling

Examples:

# Start listener in background
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_listen.py --bg

# Check status
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_listen.py --status

# Stop listener
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_listen.py --stop

# Monitor only the Aldea production number, poll every 5s
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_listen.py --bg --numbers +18557066006 --interval 5

# Telnyx webhook only (no Twilio polling)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_listen.py --bg --no-twilio

Telnyx webhook setup: Point your Telnyx Messaging Profile webhook URL to http://localhost:9147/telnyx. For remote access, use ngrok or similar tunnel.

6. Auto-Reply — Two Modes

Mode A: /sms-respond Slash Command (Interactive)

Process unhandled SMS using the current Claude Code session as the LLM. No subprocess needed—follows the same pattern as /slack-respond.

/sms-respond        # Process all unhandled messages
/sms-respond 2      # Process only message #2 from inbox

The slash command loads inbox, soul.md, and memory context dynamically, then walks through a 6-step cognitive pipeline (internal monologue → external dialogue → user model check → user model update → soul state check → soul state update). Replies are sent via sms_send.py and all memory layers are updated.

Use this when: You're in an active Claude Code session and want to reply to SMS.

Mode B: sms_respond.py Daemon (Standalone)

Standalone daemon for Mac Mini or headless deployment. Uses claude -p subprocess to generate responses. Does not work from within a running Claude Code session (subprocess nesting conflict).

python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_respond.py [OPTIONS]

Flag	Description
--daemon	Loop continuously, polling inbox
--bg	Run daemon in background (requires --daemon)
--status	Check if responder daemon is running
--stop	Stop running responder daemon
--interval N	Poll interval in seconds (default: 5)
--model MODEL	Override LLM model (default: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250514)
--no-soul	Disable soul context (plain responses)
--dry-run	Process messages without sending replies

Examples:

# Start auto-reply daemon in background (Mac Mini)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_respond.py --daemon --bg

# Check daemon status
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_respond.py --status

# Stop daemon
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_respond.py --stop

Use this when: Running headless on Mac Mini or outside Claude Code.

Shared Infrastructure

Both modes require sms_listen.py running to feed inbox.jsonl.

Memory: 3-tier SQLite at data/sms_memory.db:

• Working memory — per-conversation message history + cognitive outputs
• User models — per-phone-number personality profiles
• Soul memory — cross-conversation soul state

7. sms_inbox.py — Read Inbound Inbox

Read messages collected by sms_listen.py.

python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_inbox.py [OPTIONS]

Flag	Description
--all	Show all messages (including handled)
-n/--limit NUM	Number of messages to show
--from NUMBER	Filter by sender number
--provider telnyx|twilio	Filter by provider
--mark-read ID	Mark a specific message as handled
--mark-all-read	Mark all messages as handled

Examples:

# Show unhandled messages
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_inbox.py

# Show last 5 messages from a specific sender
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_inbox.py --from "+17327595647" -n 5

# Mark all as read
python3 ~/.claude/skills/sms/scripts/sms_inbox.py --mark-all-read

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Configuration

Provider Auto-Detection

When you use --from, the skill detects the provider by matching against known numbers:

• Telnyx numbers: +18628026208, +18334843851
• Twilio numbers: +13205950420, +18557066006, +18559149834, +18776882519, +18665517616, +18778377603, +18665650327, +18667056747, +18445491928

Defaults

Setting	Value
Default provider	Telnyx
Default Telnyx from	+18628026208
Default Twilio from	+18557066006 (Claudius 855)

Edit _sms_utils.py to change defaults.

Local Message Log

All sent messages are automatically logged to ~/.claude/skills/sms/data/messages.jsonl (JSONL format). This enables:

• Telnyx conversation history: Since Telnyx is send-only (no REST API for reading messages), the local log provides the only record of Telnyx messages.
• Offline message browsing: Read/conversation scripts automatically fall back to the local log when Telnyx API returns 404.
• Per-number history: Filter by any phone number to see all correspondences.

The log grows with each sent message. To reset, delete data/messages.jsonl.

Known Limitations

• Telnyx is send-only: Telnyx has no GET /v2/messages endpoint — message receiving is webhook-based only. Sent messages are tracked via the local log. For full read/conversation capability, use --provider twilio or --all-providers.

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Phone Number Reference

Telnyx

Number	Type	Label	Reserved
+18628026208	Longcode	Primary (default)	Aldea / Dr. Shefali
+18334843851	Toll-free	Secondary	Aldea (dev/backup)

Twilio (9 numbers — verified live 2026-03-03)

Number	Type	Label	Reserved
+13205950420	Local	Claudius 320	Claudius (broken—needs 10DLC registration)
+18557066006	Toll-free	Claudius 855	Claudius (2-way)
+18559149834	Toll-free	855 number	Available
+18776882519	Local	877 number	Available
+18665517616	Local	866 number	Available
+18778377603	Local	877-837 number	Available
+18665650327	Local	866-565 number	Available
+18667056747	Local	866-705 number	Available
+18445491928	Local	844 number	Available