Skill v1.0.0
Trusted Publisher100/100version: "1.0.0" name: twilio-cli-reference description: > Twilio CLI reference for managing Twilio resources from the terminal. Covers installation, credential profiles, phone number provisioning, sending SMS and email, webhook configuration, local development with a tunneling service, debugging with watch and logs, serverless deployment, and plugin ecosystem. Use when the developer asks to "just do it", "set this up", "run a command", mentions "CLI", "command line", or "terminal", or when an AI agent can execute a task directly instead of writing application code.
Overview
The Twilio CLI lets you manage Twilio resources, send messages, configure webhooks, and deploy serverless functions directly from the terminal. AI coding agents can use CLI commands to provision resources and test integrations without writing application code.
Install:
| Platform | Command | |
|---|---|---|
| macOS | brew tap twilio/brew && brew install twilio | |
| Windows | scoop bucket add twilio-scoop https://github.com/twilio/scoop-twilio-cli && scoop install twilio-cli | |
| Linux (apt) | See twilio-cli/getting-started/install for repo setup, then apt install twilio | |
| npm | npm install -g twilio-cli |
Update: brew upgrade twilio / scoop update twilio-cli / npm install -g twilio-cli@latest
Authentication & Profiles
# First-time login — creates a local API key stored as a profiletwilio login# Named profiles for multiple accountstwilio profiles:create --account-sid ACxxx --auth-token xxx --profile staging# Avoid --auth-token as a plain argument — it will be stored in shell history. Use TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN env var instead.twilio profiles:listtwilio profiles:use staging# Run a single command against a different profiletwilio api:core:messages:list -p production# Subaccount accesstwilio api:core:messages:list --account-sid ACxxx_SUBACCOUNT
Credential priority: explicit -p/--account-sid flag > env vars (TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID, TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN) > active profile.
Phone Numbers
# Search available numbers (US local, area code 415)twilio api:core:available-phone-numbers:local:list --country-code US --area-code 415# Purchase a numbertwilio api:core:incoming-phone-numbers:create --phone-number "+14155551234"# List owned numberstwilio phone-numbers:list# Set webhooks on a numbertwilio phone-numbers:update +14155551234 \--sms-url "https://example.com/sms" \--voice-url "https://example.com/voice"
Send SMS
twilio api:core:messages:create \--from "+14155551234" \--to "+14155556789" \--body "Your order has shipped."# List recent messagestwilio api:core:messages:list --to "+14155556789" --limit 10
Send Email (SendGrid)
Requires SENDGRID_API_KEY environment variable.
# Configure defaultstwilio email:set --from "noreply@example.com" --subject "Default Subject"# Send emailtwilio email:send \--to "user@example.com" \--subject "Invoice attached" \--text "Please find your invoice." \--attachment ./invoice.pdf# Pipe output as email bodyps aux | twilio email:send --to "ops@example.com" --subject "Process list"
Webhook Development
# Set webhook URLs on a numbertwilio phone-numbers:update +14155551234 --sms-url "https://your-tunnel-url.example.com/sms"# Emulate webhook events locally (requires plugin)twilio plugins:install @twilio-labs/plugin-webhooktwilio webhook:invoke http://localhost:3000/sms --type sms
Local development: The CLI rejects localhost URLs directly. Tunneling services such as ngrok are not bundled with twilio-cli. install one separately, then set the public tunnel URL as your webhook.
** ngrok is NOT included in the CLI — install separately: npm install -g ngrok or via https://ngrok.com
- Start tunnel: ngrok http 3000, then use the provided URL for webhook
configuration
Debugging & Monitoring
# Debug logging on any command (logs to stderr)twilio api:core:messages:create --from +14155551234 --to +14155556789 --body "test" -l debug# Real-time monitoring (requires plugin)twilio plugins:install @twilio-labs/plugin-watchtwilio watch # stream debugger alerts, calls, messages in real time# Output formattingtwilio api:core:messages:list -o json # JSON outputtwilio api:core:messages:list -o tsv # tab-separatedtwilio api:core:messages:list --properties sid,status,direction # select columnstwilio api:core:messages:list --limit 200 # override default 50-record cap
Serverless Deployment
twilio plugins:install @twilio-labs/plugin-serverless# Create a new Functions projecttwilio serverless:init my-project --template blankcd my-project# Local developmenttwilio serverless:start # serves functions at localhost:3000# Deploy to Twiliotwilio serverless:deploy
Plugins
twilio plugins:install <package>twilio plugins:listtwilio plugins:remove <package>
| Plugin | What it does | |
|---|---|---|
@twilio-labs/plugin-serverless | Develop and deploy Twilio Functions and Assets | |
@twilio-labs/plugin-dev-phone | Test SMS/Voice without a real phone | |
@twilio-labs/plugin-watch | Real-time monitoring of debugger alerts, calls, messages | |
@twilio-labs/plugin-token | Generate client-side SDK tokens (Voice, Chat, Video) | |
@twilio-labs/plugin-assets | Upload static resources | |
@twilio-labs/plugin-webhook | Emulate webhook events for local testing | |
@twilio-labs/plugin-flex | Create, build, deploy Flex plugins |
Regional & Edge Routing
# Login to a specific regiontwilio login --region au1 --edge sydney# Set edge globallytwilio config:set --edge=sydney# Or via env varsexport TWILIO_REGION=au1export TWILIO_EDGE=sydney
Supported: au1/sydney, ie1/dublin, jp1/tokyo. Each region uses a different Auth Token from your US1 credentials. Find yours in the Twilio Console under API keys & tokens, selecting your target region.
Configuration
twilio config:list # show all settingstwilio config:set --edge=sydney # set default edgetwilio config:set --require-profile-input # prompt before using active profile
Config stored at ~/.twilio-cli/config.json.
Syntax notes:
- Commands use spaces by default, using colon also works:
twilio api core messages create=twilio api:core:messages:create twilio [COMMAND] --helpfor any command's options- Multi-line: use
\for line continuation
CANNOT
- Default list limit is 50 records — always pass
--limitfor larger result sets. - API timeout is 30 seconds — long-running operations may fail silently.
- Cannot use localhost URLs for webhooks — use a tunneling service, such as ngrok, installed separately.
- No autocomplete on Windows — only bash/zsh supported.
- ngrok is not bundled with twilio-cli, install separately
- Cannot send Twilio Email (comms API) via CLI —
twilio email:senduses SendGrid only. For Twilio Email, use the REST API directly.
Next Steps
- Account setup and API keys:
twilio-account-setup,twilio-iam-auth-setup - Webhook architecture and signature validation:
twilio-webhook-architecture - Debugging and observability:
twilio-debugging-observability - Send SMS via API/SDK:
twilio-send-message - SendGrid email setup:
twilio-sendgrid-account-setup