Skip to main content
The Sling SMS API lets you send text messages to any Nigerian phone number using a registered sender ID. You can target a single recipient, a saved contact from your contact list, or an entire contact group — all through the same POST /send-sms endpoint.

​
Send to a single recipient

To send a message to one phone number, include the to, message, and sender fields in your request body. 
curl --request POST \
  --url https://app.sling.com.ng/api/v1/send-sms \
  --header 'Accept: application/json' \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer {API_TOKEN}' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{
    "to": "2349012345678",
    "message": "Hello, from Sling!",
    "sender": "YourBrand",
    "type": "transactional"
  }'

​
Send to a contact group

Pass the group parameter with a group ID from your dashboard to send the same message to every contact in that group. You can find group IDs at https://app.sling.com.ng/panel/contact. 
curl --request POST \
  --url https://app.sling.com.ng/api/v1/send-sms \
  --header 'Accept: application/json' \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer {API_TOKEN}' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{
    "message": "Hello team!",
    "sender": "YourBrand",
    "group": "42"
  }'

​
Send to a contact list entry

Pass the contact parameter with a contact ID to send to a specific saved contact. Contact IDs are available in your contact list at https://app.sling.com.ng/panel/contact. 
curl --request POST \
  --url https://app.sling.com.ng/api/v1/send-sms \
  --header 'Accept: application/json' \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer {API_TOKEN}' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{
    "message": "Hi there!",
    "sender": "YourBrand",
    "contact": "7"
  }'

​
Parameters

​
to
string
required
Recipient phone number. Accepts 11-digit local format (08012345678), country code format (2348012345678), or plus-prefix format (+2348012345678). Required unless contact or group is provided.
​
message
string
required
The message text to deliver. Maximum of 3 SMS pages (approximately 480 characters).
​
sender
string
required
Your registered sender ID. Register a sender ID on your dashboard before use.
​
type
string
Routing type for the sender ID. Accepted values: transactional or promotional. Defaults to your sender ID’s default route when omitted.
​
callback
string
A publicly accessible URL on your server. Sling will send a POST request to this URL when delivery status changes. See the callbacks guide for payload details.
​
contact
string
The ID of a contact from your Sling contact list. Use instead of to to target a saved contact.
​
group
string
The ID of a contact group. Use instead of to to send the message to every contact in the group.

​
Responses

​
Success

{
  "status": "success",
  "status_delivery": "delivered",
  "message_id": "2bajqzt5tw",
  "sender": "Sling",
  "message": "Hello, from Sling",
  "recipient": "2349123772222",
  "message_history": [],
  "credit_used": 1
}

​
Errors

{
  "status": "fail",
  "credit_used": "0",
  "details": "insufficient credit"
}

{
  "status": "fail",
  "credit_used": "0",
  "details": "The given data was invalid"
}

​
Tips

Phone number format — Sling accepts three formats for the to field:
  • 11-digit local format: 08012345678
  • Country code without plus: 2348012345678
  • Country code with plus: +2348012345678
All three formats resolve to the same recipient.
Store the message_id from the success response if you need to check delivery status later using the GET /status/{message_id} endpoint.