5-minute quickstartHow to start sending messages with Attentive
Attentive is a privately held communications platform based in New York, USA. This guide takes you from zero to a delivered SMSin about five minutes — no sales call required (contact their team to activate an account).
- A Attentive account — sign up here.
- Your API credentials from the dashboard.
- A phone number capable of receiving SMSs for testing.
Step 1 — Create your account
- Sign up. Head to www.attentive.com and create an account. Activation may require a short call with their team.
- Grab your keys. Open the dashboard and copy your credentials. Attentive uses Bearer API key in the Authorization header for private apps; OAuth 2.0 (authorization code) with scopes such as events:write for public apps. No direct send-SMS endpoint — messages are triggered via journeys from API events..
- (Optional) Use the sandbox. Attentive offers a test environment, so you can validate your integration before sending live traffic.
Step 2 — Send your first SMS
The fastest path is a single API call. Drop in your credentials and a destination number, then run this from your terminal:
curl -X POST 'https://api.attentivemobile.com/v1/events/custom' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer <API_KEY>' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
"type": "Order Shipped",
"user": { "phone": "+13115552368" },
"properties": { "Order Id": "54321" }
}'The request hits https://api.attentivemobile.com/v1. A 2xx response means Attentivehas accepted your message for delivery — you should see it arrive within seconds.
Step 3 — Go native with an SDK
Once the raw call works, switch to an official SDK for retries, typing and error handling.Attentive ships SDKs for iOS (Swift), Android (Kotlin), React Native.Full reference lives in the Attentive documentation.
What's next
- Add more channels. Attentive also supports RCS, Email — reuse the same account and credentials.
- Mind compliance. Attentive is GDPR, SOC 2 aligned, with no EU and US data residency options.
- Compare before you commit. See how Attentive stacks up on the provider table or in a head-to-head comparison.
Values in this guide come from Attentive's public documentation. Always check the official docs for the latest details.