Sending SMS Messages

Send SMS messages to one or multiple recipients using the LightSMS API.

Quick Start

Endpoint:

GET https://www.lightsms.com/external/get/send.php

Required Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
login	string	Your LightSMS login
signature	string	MD5 hash signature
phone	string	Recipient phone number(s)
text	string	SMS message text
sender	string	Approved sender name
timestamp	integer	UTC timestamp

Optional Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
sendingTime	string	Schedule delivery (format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM)
return	string	Response format: json or xml

---

Single SMS Example

Send an SMS to one recipient:

Request

curl "https://www.lightsms.com/external/get/send.php?login=YourLogin&signature=generated_signature&phone=37061234567&text=Hello!&sender=YourSender&timestamp=1732809600&return=json"

Response (JSON)

{
    "37061234567": {
        "error": "0",
        "id_sms": "4092112510348380960001",
        "cost": "0.0144",
        "count_sms": "1"
    }
}

Response (XML)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<response>
    <phones>
        <phone phone="37061234567" error="0" id_sms="4092112510348380960001" cost="0.0144" count_sms="1" />
    </phones>
</response>

---

Multiple Recipients

Send SMS to multiple recipients by separating phone numbers with commas.

Recipient Limit

Maximum 100 phone numbers per request.

Example

curl "https://www.lightsms.com/external/get/send.php?login=YourLogin&signature=generated_signature&phone=37061234567,37062345678,37063456789&text=Hello%20everyone!&sender=YourSender&timestamp=1732809600&return=json"

Response

{
    "37061234567": {
        "error": "0",
        "id_sms": "4092112510348380960001",
        "cost": "0.0144",
        "count_sms": "1"
    },
    "37062345678": {
        "error": "0",
        "id_sms": "4092112510348380960002",
        "cost": "0.0144",
        "count_sms": "1"
    },
    "37063456789": {
        "error": "0",
        "id_sms": "4092112510348380960003",
        "cost": "0.0144",
        "count_sms": "1"
    }
}

---

Scheduled SMS

Schedule SMS delivery for a future date and time.

Example

curl "https://www.lightsms.com/external/get/send.php?login=YourLogin&signature=generated_signature&phone=37061234567&text=Reminder&sender=YourSender&timestamp=1732809600&sendingTime=2024-05-30%2014:06&return=json"

Format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM

Example: 2024-05-30 14:06

Timezone

The time is in your account's configured timezone (usually local time).

---

Character Limits

Standard SMS (GSM-7 encoding)

• Single SMS: 160 characters
• Multi-part SMS: 153 characters per part

Supported characters:

A-Z a-z 0-9 @ £ $ ¥ è é ù ì ò Ç Ø ø Å å Δ _ Φ Γ Λ Ω Π Ψ Σ Θ Ξ
Æ æ ß É ! " # ¤ % & ' ( ) * + , - . / : ; < = > ? ¡ Ä Ö Ñ Ü § ¿ ä ö ñ ü à

Unicode SMS (Special characters/emojis)

• Single SMS: 70 characters
• Multi-part SMS: 67 characters per part

Examples: Cyrillic, Arabic, Chinese, emojis (😊 🎉 ❤️)

Character Count

The system automatically detects if your message requires Unicode encoding based on the characters used.

---

PHP Example

<?php
function sendSMS($login, $apiKey, $phone, $text, $sender) {
    // Get timestamp
    $timestamp = file_get_contents('https://www.lightsms.com/external/get/timestamp.php');
    $timestamp = trim($timestamp);

    // Prepare parameters
    $params = [
        'login' => $login,
        'phone' => $phone,
        'text' => $text,
        'sender' => $sender,
        'timestamp' => $timestamp,
        'return' => 'json'
    ];

    // Create signature
    ksort($params);
    $signature = md5(implode($params) . $apiKey);
    $params['signature'] = $signature;

    // Make request
    $url = 'https://www.lightsms.com/external/get/send.php?' . http_build_query($params);
    $response = file_get_contents($url);

    return json_decode($response, true);
}

// Usage
$result = sendSMS(
    'YourLogin',
    'your_api_key',
    '37061234567',
    'Hello from LightSMS!',
    'YourSender'
);

print_r($result);
?>

---

Python Example

import requests
import hashlib
from urllib.parse import urlencode

def send_sms(login, api_key, phone, text, sender):
    # Get timestamp
    timestamp_response = requests.get('https://www.lightsms.com/external/get/timestamp.php')
    timestamp = timestamp_response.text.strip()

    # Prepare parameters
    params = {
        'login': login,
        'phone': phone,
        'text': text,
        'sender': sender,
        'timestamp': timestamp,
        'return': 'json'
    }

    # Create signature
    sorted_params = sorted(params.items())
    param_string = ''.join([str(value) for key, value in sorted_params])
    signature = hashlib.md5((param_string + api_key).encode()).hexdigest()
    params['signature'] = signature

    # Make request
    url = f'https://www.lightsms.com/external/get/send.php?{urlencode(params)}'
    response = requests.get(url)

    return response.json()

# Usage
result = send_sms(
    'YourLogin',
    'your_api_key',
    '37061234567',
    'Hello from LightSMS!',
    'YourSender'
)

print(result)

---

JavaScript Example

const crypto = require('crypto');
const axios = require('axios');

async function sendSMS(login, apiKey, phone, text, sender) {
    // Get timestamp
    const timestampResponse = await axios.get('https://www.lightsms.com/external/get/timestamp.php');
    const timestamp = timestampResponse.data.trim();

    // Prepare parameters
    const params = {
        login,
        phone,
        text,
        sender,
        timestamp,
        return: 'json'
    };

    // Create signature
    const sortedKeys = Object.keys(params).sort();
    const paramString = sortedKeys.map(key => params[key]).join('');
    const signature = crypto.createHash('md5').update(paramString + apiKey).digest('hex');
    params.signature = signature;

    // Make request
    const queryString = new URLSearchParams(params).toString();
    const url = `https://www.lightsms.com/external/get/send.php?${queryString}`;
    const response = await axios.get(url);

    return response.data;
}

// Usage
sendSMS(
    'YourLogin',
    'your_api_key',
    '37061234567',
    'Hello from LightSMS!',
    'YourSender'
).then(result => {
    console.log(result);
});

---

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
error	string	Error code (0 = success)
id_sms	string	Unique SMS identifier for tracking
cost	string	Cost in your account currency
count_sms	string	Number of SMS parts sent

---

Common Errors

Error Code 8: Invalid sender name

Problem: The sender name is not valid

Solutions:

• Use only approved sender names
• Register sender names through Lists > Senders in LightSMS platform
• Wait for administration approval

Error Code 9: Sender name not registered

Problem: The sender name hasn't been registered

Solutions:

• Register the sender name first
• Use an already approved sender

Error Code 11: Forbidden words in text

Problem: Message contains prohibited content

Solutions:

• Remove inappropriate words or abbreviations
• Contact support if you believe this is an error

Error Code 13: Phone in blacklist

Problem: Recipient's number is blacklisted

Solutions:

• Check if recipient opted out
• Remove from blacklist if added by mistake
• Use blacklist search endpoint

Error Code 32: Not enough money

Problem: Insufficient account balance

Solutions:

• Add funds to your Paysera account
• Check balance using the balance endpoint

---

Next Steps

• Check delivery status
• Use templates for repeated messages
• Manage recipient lists

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Related Documentation

• Authentication
• Error Codes
• Examples