Telnyx CLI

Telnyx CLI

Telnyx API integration for Clawdbot: messaging, phone numbers, webhooks, and account management.

Setup

1. Install CLI

npm install -g @telnyx/api-cli

2. Configure API Key

telnyx auth setup

Paste your API key from: https://portal.telnyx.com/#/app/api-keys

Saves to ~/.config/telnyx/config.json (persistent).

3. Verify

telnyx number list

Commands

Usage

Messaging

# Send SMS
telnyx message send --from +15551234567 --to +15559876543 --text "Hello!"

# List messages
telnyx message list

# Get status
telnyx message get MESSAGE_ID

Phone Numbers

# List
telnyx number list

# Search
telnyx number search --country US --npa 415

# Buy
telnyx number buy --number "+15551234567"

# Release
telnyx number release "+15551234567"

Webhooks & Debugging

# List webhooks
telnyx webhook list

# View failed deliveries
telnyx debugger list --status failed

# Retry failed
telnyx debugger retry EVENT_ID

Account

# Account info
telnyx account get

# Check balance
telnyx account get --output json | jq '.balance'

Output Formats

# Table (default)
telnyx number list

# JSON
telnyx number list --output json

# CSV
telnyx number list --output csv

Examples

Bulk Messaging

#!/bin/bash
while read phone; do
  telnyx message send --from +15551234567 --to "$phone" --text "Hello!"
  sleep 1  # Rate limiting
done < recipients.txt

Monitor Webhooks

#!/bin/bash
while true; do
  FAILED=$(telnyx debugger list --status failed --output json | jq '.data | length')
  [ "$FAILED" -gt 0 ] && echo "⚠️  $FAILED failed webhooks"
  sleep 300
done

Export Data

# CSV export
telnyx call list --limit 1000 --output csv > calls.csv

# JSON export
telnyx number list --output json > numbers.json

Tips

• Rate limit: 100 req/s — add sleep 1 for bulk operations
• Use --output json or --output csv to change format
• Get help: telnyx COMMAND --help (e.g., telnyx message --help)
• API Key location: ~/.config/telnyx/config.json

Integration with Clawdbot

# In cron jobs
0 9 * * * telnyx call list --limit 10 > /tmp/daily-calls.txt

# In heartbeat
telnyx debugger list --status failed

# In scripts
BALANCE=$(telnyx account get --output json | jq '.balance')
echo "Balance: $BALANCE"

Companion Skills

This skill is the primary Telnyx interface. Two companion skills handle account lifecycle steps that this skill cannot:

Note: telnyx-bot-signup handles both signup and signin. The bot_signup endpoint accepts both new and existing emails — it sends a magic sign-in link either way. The flow is identical: PoW challenge → email → magic link → session token → API key.

Pre-flight: Before Any Telnyx Operation

Before executing a Telnyx CLI command, run through this checklist:

1. Is `telnyx` CLI installed?
   NO  → npm install -g @telnyx/api-cli

2. Does ~/.config/telnyx/config.json exist with an api_key?
   NO  → Hand off to **telnyx-bot-signup** (see below)
         Works for both new AND existing accounts.

3. Does `telnyx account get` succeed?
   NO (401 auth error)  → API key is invalid/expired.
                           Hand off to **telnyx-bot-signup** to generate a fresh key.
   NO (network error)   → Check connectivity.
   YES                  → Proceed with the requested operation.

When to Hand Off to telnyx-bot-signup

Hand off to the telnyx-bot-signup skill when ANY of these are true:

• No API key exists (~/.config/telnyx/config.json missing or empty, no TELNYX_API_KEY env var)
• API key exists but telnyx account get returns 401 (key invalid/expired/revoked)
• User says they lost their API key or can't access the portal
• User wants to create a new Telnyx account

Do NOT ask whether the user has an account or not. The bot_signup endpoint handles both cases transparently — just ask for their email and proceed.

What telnyx-bot-signup does: PoW challenge → submit email → magic sign-in link sent to email → session token → POST /v2/api_keys → fresh API key. Works identically for new and existing accounts.

After signup/signin completes:

1. Store the returned API key:

   mkdir -p ~/.config/telnyx
   echo '{"api_key":"<KEY_FROM_SIGNUP>"}' > ~/.config/telnyx/config.json
   

2. Also export it for the current session:

   export TELNYX_API_KEY="<KEY_FROM_SIGNUP>"
   

3. If the account is new, it starts on freemium tier. Return here and proceed with the original operation. If it hits a freemium wall, the upgrade flow below will trigger automatically.

When to Hand Off to telnyx-freemium-upgrade

Hand off to the telnyx-freemium-upgrade skill when a CLI command fails with a freemium restriction. Detect these scenarios:

Also trigger proactively when the user's intent clearly requires professional tier before even making the API call:

Before handing off, check if the upgrade was already attempted:

1. Read ~/.telnyx/upgrade.json (cache from the upgrade skill)

2. If decision == "APPROVED"
   → Account is already upgraded. Do NOT hand off.
     Retry the operation directly. If it still fails, the API key
     may need to be refreshed: telnyx auth setup

3. If decision == "REJECTED" and used_methods includes "github_oauth"
   → GitHub method exhausted. Do NOT hand off.
     Tell the user: "Your upgrade was not approved. Contact
     support at https://support.telnyx.com or try LinkedIn
     verification when available."

4. If decision == "PASS_TO_HUMAN"
   → Under manual review. Do NOT hand off.
     Tell the user: "Your upgrade is under review. I'll check
     back periodically." (The upgrade skill's cron job handles this.)

5. If no cache or status is "failed" / "polling_timeout"
   → Hand off to **telnyx-freemium-upgrade**.

After upgrade completes (APPROVED):

1. Retry the original operation that triggered the upgrade.

2. If the retry still fails with the same error, the API key needs to be refreshed to pick up professional-tier permissions. Use telnyx-bot-signup to generate a fresh key (same email, sign-in flow) — this is easier than asking the user to visit the portal.

Full Lifecycle Flow

User: "Send SMS to +393406879636"
│
├── telnyx CLI installed? ──NO──→ npm install -g @telnyx/api-cli
│
├── API key configured? ──NO──→ **telnyx-bot-signup** (ask for email)
│                                 → PoW → magic link → API key
│                                 → Store key → continue
│
├── API key valid? (`telnyx account get`)
│   └── NO (401) → **telnyx-bot-signup** (ask for email)
│                   → PoW → magic link → fresh API key
│                   → Store key → continue
│
├── telnyx message send --from ... --to +39... --text "..."
│   │
│   ├── Success → Done
│   │
│   └── Error 10039 (destination not verified)
│       │
│       ├── Check upgrade cache (~/.telnyx/upgrade.json)
│       │   ├── APPROVED → Retry (key may need refresh)
│       │   ├── REJECTED → Inform user, suggest support
│       │   ├── PASS_TO_HUMAN → Inform user, wait for review
│       │   └── No cache / failed → Continue to upgrade
│       │
│       └── **telnyx-freemium-upgrade** → GitHub verification → poll
│           │
│           ├── APPROVED → retry SMS (key may need refresh via bot-signup)
│           ├── REJECTED → Inform user
│           └── PASS_TO_HUMAN → Cron job polls, notify on resolution

Companion Skill Not Installed

If you need to hand off but the companion skill is not installed:

telnyx-bot-signup missing:

I need to set up your Telnyx API key. Install the signup/signin skill:

clawhub install telnyx-bot-signup

Or get your API key manually from https://portal.telnyx.com/#/app/api-keys and run telnyx auth setup

telnyx-freemium-upgrade missing:

Your account is on the freemium tier, which doesn't support this operation. Install the upgrade skill:

clawhub install telnyx-freemium-upgrade

Or upgrade manually via https://portal.telnyx.com/#/account/account-levels/upgrade

Troubleshooting

CLI not found

npm install -g @telnyx/api-cli

API key not configured

# Reconfigure
telnyx auth setup

# Or check existing config
cat ~/.config/telnyx/config.json

Connection issues

# Test connection
telnyx account get

Resources

• Telnyx Docs: https://developers.telnyx.com
• API Portal: https://portal.telnyx.com
• Telnyx CLI: https://github.com/team-telnyx/telnyx-api-cli