Server-side quickstart for Programmable Voice

This quickstart shows you how to build your first server-side application that makes and receives phone calls. For other voice quickstarts, such as no-code or SDK quickstarts, see Programmable Voice quickstarts.

Complete the prerequisites

Complete the Twilio prerequisites

Create a Twilio account.
Buy a voice-enabled phone number in the Twilio Console or legacy Console.

Complete the language prerequisites

Select your programming language and complete the prerequisites:

PythonNode.jsPHPC# or .NETJavaGoRuby

Install Python 3.3 or later.
Install Flask and the Twilio Python Helper Library. Using pip, run the following command:
pip install flask twilio
Install and set up ngrok.

Install Node.js 20 or later.
Install Express and the Twilio Node.js helper library:
npm install twilio express
Install and set up ngrok.

Install PHP 7.2 or later.
Install the Composer dependency manager globally.
Install the Twilio PHP Helper Library:
composer require twilio/sdk
Install and set up ngrok.

Install Go 1.18 or later.
Install the Twilio Go Helper Library.
go mod init twilio-example && go get github.com/twilio/twilio-go
Install and set up ngrok.

Install Ruby 2.6 or later.
Install Sinatra and the Twilio Ruby Helper Library:
gem install sinatra rackup puma twilio-ruby
Install and set up ngrok.

Get credentials and set as environment variables

Follow these steps to get your Twilio account credentials and set them as environment variables.

macOS TerminalWindows command linePowerShell

Go to the Twilio Console.
Copy your Account SID and set it as an environment variable using the following command. Replace YOUR_ACCOUNT_SID with your actual Account SID.
export TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID=YOUR_ACCOUNT_SID
Create an API key, then set the key SID and secret as environment variables using the following commands. Replace YOUR_API_KEY and YOUR_API_SECRET with your actual values.
1
export TWILIO_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY
2
export TWILIO_API_SECRET=YOUR_API_SECRET

Go to the Twilio Console.
Copy your Account SID and set it as an environment variable using the following command. Replace YOUR_ACCOUNT_SID with your actual Account SID.
set TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID=YOUR_ACCOUNT_SID
Create an API key, then set the key SID and secret as environment variables using the following commands. Replace YOUR_API_KEY and YOUR_API_SECRET with your actual values.
1
set TWILIO_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY
2
set TWILIO_API_SECRET=YOUR_API_SECRET

Go to the Twilio Console.
Copy your Account SID and set it as an environment variable using the following command. Replace YOUR_ACCOUNT_SID with your actual Account SID.
$Env:TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID="YOUR_ACCOUNT_SID"
Create an API key, then set the key SID and secret as environment variables using the following commands. Replace YOUR_API_KEY and YOUR_API_SECRET with your actual values.
1
$Env:TWILIO_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"
2
$Env:TWILIO_API_SECRET="YOUR_API_SECRET"

Make an outgoing phone call

To make a phone call from your Twilio number, follow these steps:

PythonNode.jsPHPC# or .NETJavaGoRuby

Create a file named make_call.py and add the following code:
Make a phone call using Twilio