RCS (Rich Communication Services) is the modern successor to SMS, enabling branded messages with images, interactive buttons, cards, and carousels. The Sling RCS API lets you send these rich messages to RCS-enabled phone numbers in Nigeria. If a recipient’s device or carrier does not support RCS, you can automatically fall back to a standard SMS by setting fallback_sms to true.
All RCS requests are POST to https://app.sling.com.ng/api/v1/send-rcs with the Authorization: Bearer {API_TOKEN} header.
Message types
Choose the template_type that matches the experience you want to deliver. Each tab below shows a complete request body.
Send a plain text message over the RCS channel.{
"sender": "RCS",
"to": "08140363541",
"message": "Hello RCS 333",
"type": "transactional",
"template_type": "text",
"fallback_sms": false,
"fallback_sms_sender": "Sling"
}
Attach quick-reply chips to a text message. Each suggestion has a visible text label and a postback value sent when the user taps it.{
"sender": "RCS",
"to": "08140363541",
"message": "Hello RCS",
"type": "transactional",
"template_type": "text",
"fallback_sms": false,
"fallback_sms_sender": "Sling",
"suggestions": [
{
"type": "reply",
"text": "How are you will show",
"postback": "How are you will be sent"
},
{
"type": "reply",
"text": "Leave me will show",
"postback": "Leave me will be sent"
}
]
}
Send a rich card with a title, description, and image. Use orientation to control the card layout and alignment to position text when the card is horizontal.{
"sender": "RCS",
"to": "08140363523",
"type": "transactional",
"template_type": "standalone",
"fallback_sms": false,
"fallback_sms_sender": "Sling",
"standalone": {
"title": "Card Title",
"description": "Card Description",
"image": "https://sling.com.ng/assets/sling.png",
"orientation": "VERTICAL",
"alignment": "LEFT"
}
}
orientation accepts VERTICAL or HORIZONTAL. alignment accepts LEFT or RIGHT, and is only applied when orientation is HORIZONTAL.
Combine a standalone card with interactive suggestion chips.{
"sender": "RCS",
"to": "08140363523",
"type": "transactional",
"template_type": "standalone",
"fallback_sms": false,
"fallback_sms_sender": "Sling",
"standalone": {
"title": "Card Title",
"description": "Card Description",
"image": "https://sling.com.ng/assets/sling.png",
"orientation": "VERTICAL",
"alignment": "LEFT"
},
"suggestions": [
{
"type": "reply",
"text": "How are you will show",
"postback": "How are you will be sent"
},
{
"type": "reply",
"text": "Leave me will show",
"postback": "Leave me will be sent"
}
]
}
Display a horizontally scrollable set of cards. Each item in the carousel array becomes one card.{
"sender": "RCS",
"to": "08140363523",
"type": "transactional",
"template_type": "carousel",
"fallback_sms": false,
"fallback_sms_sender": "Sling",
"carousel": [
{
"title": "Card 1",
"description": "Card 1 desc",
"image": "https://sling.com.ng/assets/sling.png"
},
{
"title": "Card 2",
"description": "Card 2 desc",
"image": "https://sling.com.ng/assets/sling.png"
}
]
}
A scrollable carousel with interactive suggestion chips below the cards.{
"sender": "RCS",
"to": "08140363523",
"type": "transactional",
"template_type": "carousel",
"fallback_sms": false,
"fallback_sms_sender": "Sling",
"carousel": [
{
"title": "Card 1",
"description": "Card 1 desc",
"image": "https://sling.com.ng/assets/sling.png"
},
{
"title": "Card 2",
"description": "Card 2 desc",
"image": "https://sling.com.ng/assets/sling.png"
}
],
"suggestions": [
{
"type": "reply",
"text": "How are you will show",
"postback": "How are you will be sent"
},
{
"type": "reply",
"text": "Leave me will show",
"postback": "Leave me will be sent"
}
]
}
SMS fallback
Set fallback_sms to true in any request body and Sling will automatically re-send the message as a standard SMS if the recipient’s device or network provider does not support RCS. Use fallback_sms_sender to set the SMS Sender ID for that fallback (for example, Sling when your RCS sender is RCS).
{
"sender": "RCS",
"to": "08140363541",
"message": "Hello from Sling",
"type": "transactional",
"template_type": "text",
"fallback_sms": true,
"fallback_sms_sender": "Sling"
}
Responses
Success
{
"status": "success",
"message_id": "2bajqzt5tw",
"sender": "Sling RCS",
"message": "Hello, from Sling",
"recipient": "2349123772222",
"credit_used": 1
}
Errors
{
"status": "fail",
"credit_used": "0",
"details": "insufficient credit"
}
{
"status": "fail",
"credit_used": "0",
"details": "The given data was invalid"
}
Suggestion types
The suggestions array accepts several action types beyond simple replies. See the RCS suggestions reference for the full list of available types including URL links, dialers, location pins, and calendar events. 