What format does the SMS API use?

The API accepts parameters as an HTTP GET query string and can return the response in JSON or PHP array format using the format parameter (JSON is the default).

Is DLT registration required to use the SMS API?

Yes. Every sender ID and message template must be registered on the DLT platform before you can send SMS through the API. You can optionally pass a templateid parameter to reference a specific registered template; otherwise the system matches your sender ID and message content against your registered templates automatically.

How do I track delivery status for a sent message?

Use the Delivery Report (DLR) API with the message ID returned from your Send SMS request to check per-recipient delivery status (delivered, submitted, failed).

How do I send a different message to each recipient in one request?

Use the customized SMS endpoint with a caret (^) separated list of messages matching your comma-separated number list — each recipient receives their own message in a single API call.

How do I send Unicode (regional language) SMS?

Pass unicode=2 as an optional parameter. Unicode messages have a lower per-message character limit (500 characters) than standard SMS (1000 characters).

SMS API Documentation | Send SMS, DLR & Balance API

Send Your First SMS in One Request

Every endpoint below is a plain HTTP GET request over HTTPS — no SDK install required. Call it directly from any language, a browser, or a tool like cURL or Postman.

curl "https://sms.metareach.in/vb/apikey.php?apikey=YOUR_API_KEY&senderid=YOURID&number=91XXXXXXXXXX&message=Hello%20there"

Replace YOUR_API_KEY and YOURID (your 6-character DLT-approved sender ID) with your own credentials, available from your MetaReach dashboard.

Authentication

API Key Authentication

Every request is authenticated with an apikey query parameter, issued from your MetaReach account. Keep it server-side — never expose it in client-side (browser/app) code.

Parameter	Description
`apikey`	Your API key, generated from your MetaReach account. Required on every request.
`senderid`	Your DLT-approved sender ID (exactly 6 characters).

Send SMS API

Send a Single or Bulk SMS

GEThttps://sms.metareach.in/vb/apikey.php

Mandatory Parameters

Parameter	Description	Example
`apikey`	Your API key	YOUR_API_KEY
`senderid`	DLT-approved sender ID, 6 characters	YOURID
`number`	Destination mobile number(s), with or without the 91 prefix. Comma-separate for multiple numbers.	91XXXXXXXXXX,91XXXXXXXXXX
`message`	URL-encoded message text. Max 1000 characters (500 for Unicode).	Hello%20there

Optional Parameters

Parameter	Description	Example
`route`	Routing type for transactional/promotional/scrubbed SMS. Defaults to transactional (route 1) if omitted.	1
`unicode`	Send in Unicode for regional-language text.	2
`time`	Schedule a message for a future date/time.	2026-09-20 04:00pm
`short_url`	Wrap a link with a trackable short URL for click/conversation tracking.	short_url=yourdomain.com/x
`templateid`	Your DLT-registered template ID. If omitted, your sender ID and message are matched against your registered templates automatically.	170717XXXXXXXXXXX
`format`	Response format — `json` or `php`. Defaults to JSON.	json

DLT compliance: Every sender ID and message template must be registered on the DLT platform before sending. This applies to SMS/OTP only — WhatsApp templates go through Meta's separate approval process instead (see WhatsApp Business API).

API Error Codes

Code	Status	Description
001	false	Kindly provide apikey
002	false	Invalid route ID
004	false	No message found
005	false	Schedule date/time cannot be earlier than the current time
006	false	Invalid date/time format
007	false	No numbers found
008	false	Insufficient credit
009	false	Parent account has insufficient balance
010	false	Message campaign failed
011	Success	Message submitted successfully

Example — Success Response

{
  "status": "Success",
  "code": "011",
  "description": "Message submitted successfully",
  "data": {
    "messageid": "MzQz",
    "totnumber": "3",
    "totalcredit": "3"
  }
}

Array
(
    [status] => Success
    [code] => 011
    [description] => Message submitted successfully
    [data] => Array
        (
            [messageid] => MzQz
            [totnumber] => 3
            [totalcredit] => 3
        )
)

{
  "status": "false",
  "code": "001",
  "description": "Kindly provide apikey"
}

Personalized SMS

Send a Different Message to Each Recipient

Use the customized endpoint to send a personalized message to each recipient in a single request — messages are separated by a caret (^) and matched in order against your comma-separated number list.

GEThttps://sms.metareach.in/vb/http-customize.php

https://sms.metareach.in/vb/http-customize.php?apikey=YOUR_API_KEY&senderid=YOURID&number=91XXXXXXXXXX,91XXXXXXXXXX,91XXXXXXXXXX&message=Hi%20Rahul%2C%20your%20order%20shipped^Hi%20Priya%2C%20your%20order%20shipped^Hi%20Amit%2C%20your%20order%20shipped

Same mandatory/optional parameters and error codes as the Send SMS API above apply here.

Delivery Report API

Check Delivery Status (DLR)

Poll this endpoint with the message ID returned from your Send SMS request to get per-recipient delivery status.

GEThttps://sms.metareach.in/vb/http-dlr.php

Parameter	Description
`apikey`	Your API key
`msgid`	Message ID returned by the Send SMS API
`format`	json or php — defaults to JSON

Error Codes

Code	Status	Description
001	false	Kindly provide a valid API key
002	false	Invalid user, or user is deactivated
003	false	Kindly provide a valid message ID

Example — DLR Response

{
  "status": "Success",
  "code": "004",
  "totRecord": "3",
  "data": [
    { "id": "MzQz", "mobile": "XXXXXXXXXX", "status": "delivered", "delvd_time": "01-01-2026 23:58:59" },
    { "id": "MzQz", "mobile": "XXXXXXXXXX", "status": "delivered", "delvd_time": "01-01-2026 23:59:59" },
    { "id": "MzQz", "mobile": "XXXXXXXXXX", "status": "submitted", "delvd_time": "---" }
  ]
}

Array
(
    [status] => Success
    [code] => 004
    [totRecord] => 3
    [data] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array ( [id] => MzQz [mobile] => XXXXXXXXXX [status] => delivered [delvd_time] => 01-01-2026 23:58:59 )
            [1] => Array ( [id] => MzQz [mobile] => XXXXXXXXXX [status] => delivered [delvd_time] => 01-01-2026 23:59:59 )
            [2] => Array ( [id] => MzQz [mobile] => XXXXXXXXXX [status] => submitted [delvd_time] => --- )
        )
)

{
  "status": "false",
  "code": "003",
  "description": "Kindly provide a valid message id"
}

Balance API

Check Account Balance

GEThttps://sms.metareach.in/vb/http-credit.php

Parameter	Description
`apikey`	Your API key
`route_id`	Route ID to check balance for
`format`	json or php — defaults to JSON

Error Codes

Code	Status	Description
001	false	Kindly provide a valid API key
002	false	Kindly provide a valid route ID

Example — Balance Response

{
  "status": "Success",
  "code": "003",
  "balance": "500000"
}

Array
(
    [status] => Success
    [code] => 003
    [balance] => 500000
)

{
  "status": "false",
  "code": "001",
  "description": "Invalid Api Key"
}

Code Samples

Send SMS — In Your Language

All samples call the same real endpoint shown above. Swap in your own apikey, senderid, and recipient number.

cURL

curl "https://sms.metareach.in/vb/apikey.php?apikey=YOUR_API_KEY&senderid=YOURID&number=91XXXXXXXXXX&message=Hello%20there"

PHP

<?php
$apikey   = "YOUR_API_KEY";
$senderid = "YOURID";
$number   = "91XXXXXXXXXX"; // or "91XXXXXXXXXX,91XXXXXXXXXX"
$message  = urlencode("Hello there");

$url = "https://sms.metareach.in/vb/apikey.php?apikey=$apikey&senderid=$senderid&number=$number&message=$message";
$response = file_get_contents($url);
echo $response;

Python

import requests

params = {
    "apikey": "YOUR_API_KEY",
    "senderid": "YOURID",
    "number": "91XXXXXXXXXX",
    "message": "Hello there",
}
resp = requests.get("https://sms.metareach.in/vb/apikey.php", params=params)
print(resp.json())

Node.js

const axios = require("axios");

const params = {
  apikey: "YOUR_API_KEY",
  senderid: "YOURID",
  number: "91XXXXXXXXXX",
  message: "Hello there",
};

axios.get("https://sms.metareach.in/vb/apikey.php", { params })
  .then(res => console.log(res.data))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));

Java

String apikey = "YOUR_API_KEY";
String senderid = "YOURID";
String number = "91XXXXXXXXXX";
String message = URLEncoder.encode("Hello there", "UTF-8");

String urlStr = "https://sms.metareach.in/vb/apikey.php?apikey=" + apikey
    + "&senderid=" + senderid + "&number=" + number + "&message=" + message;

HttpURLConnection conn = (HttpURLConnection) new URL(urlStr).openConnection();
conn.setRequestMethod("GET");
BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(conn.getInputStream()));
String line, response = "";
while ((line = in.readLine()) != null) response += line;
in.close();
System.out.println(response);

.NET (C#)

string apikey = "YOUR_API_KEY";
string senderid = "YOURID";
string number = "91XXXXXXXXXX";
string message = Uri.EscapeDataString("Hello there");

string url = $"https://sms.metareach.in/vb/apikey.php?apikey={apikey}&senderid={senderid}&number={number}&message={message}";

using (var client = new HttpClient())
{
    var response = await client.GetStringAsync(url);
    Console.WriteLine(response);
}

Looking for full working scripts per language, including ASP.NET and VB.NET? See SMS API code examples.

Rate Limits & Sandbox

Before You Go to Production

Rate limits vary by plan — check your account dashboard or ask your account manager for your account's specific limits. New integrations get test credentials during onboarding, so you can validate your integration before sending to real numbers.

Need production credentials, a higher-volume plan, or help debugging a specific error code? Book a free demo and our technical team will walk you through it.

API Overview

The commercial overview of MetaReach's messaging API for developers.

Go to API Integration →

Code Examples

Full working scripts in PHP, Java, Node.js, Python and .NET.

Go to Code Examples →

OTP API

Purpose-built OTP delivery for login, signup, and verification flows.

Go to OTP API →

SMS API Documentation

On This Page

Send Your First SMS in One Request

API Key Authentication

Send a Single or Bulk SMS

Mandatory Parameters

Optional Parameters

API Error Codes

Send a Different Message to Each Recipient

Check Delivery Status (DLR)

Error Codes

Check Account Balance

Error Codes

Send SMS — In Your Language

cURL

PHP

Python

Node.js

Java

.NET (C#)

Before You Go to Production

Continue Building

API Overview

Code Examples

OTP API

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