Getting Started

In this step-by-step guide we will be covering the following:

1. Setting up a custom Twilio phone number
2. Connecting your Twilio / Github / Netlify accounts via Pipedream
3. Creating a new Github issue whenever an SMS is sent to your custom number
4. Building out a Github Action that generates a new blog post from new issues
5. Setting up auto-deploys to Netlify when new posts are created

Prerequisites

• a cup of hot coffee (or tea)
• a Twilio account (free)
• a Pipedream account (free)
• a Github account (free)
• a Netlify account (free)
• some curiosity and patience

Ready? Good - let's get into it!

Twilio Setup

1. Go create a new account on Twilio (this link will get you a $10 credit!)
2. From your Dashboard, head over to Phone Numbers > Buy a Number
3. Purchase a new number (with SMS & MMS active)
   • Important! Keep this number secret. Only you should keep record of it.

That's all we need to do with Twilio for now.

Github & Netlify

• Fork the custom Jekyll theme: Writxt Jekyll Theme
• Login to Netlify and setup a new site pointing to this repo
  • Need help? Check out this step-by-step blog on how to deploy on Netlify

That's it for this part!

Pipedream Setup

Twilio Trigger

1. Create a new account on Pipedream
2. Under Workflows select "New +" in the top menu
3. Under Select a trigger search for (or click) Twilio > New Incoming SMS
4. Click Connect to Twilio and follow the instructions to allow access
5. Now select your Twilio number from the dropdown and add your Twilio Auth Token
6. Give your trigger a name (ie "Incoming SMS") and then Create Source

Github Trigger

1. Add a new trigger to the "Incoming SMS" Twilio action (click the "+" icon)
2. Click or search for Github > Create Repo Issue
3. Connect to your Github account and add the following to the fields provided:
   • Title: {{event.MessageSid}}
   • Owner: your Github username
   • Repo: your blog's repo
4. Under the "optional" tag, select Body and enter:

   <img data-type="{{event.MediaContentType0}}" src="{{event.MediaUrl0}}">{{event.Body}}

Netlify Trigger

• Add a new trigger (click the "+" icon)
• Click or select Netlify > POST /sites/{site_id}/deploys
• Authorize / link Netlify and select your site for auto-deploying

How is that coffee (or tea!) treating you right now? Don't worry - we're done!

Congrats! Everything should be setup. It's time to do a test SMS!

📱 Testing our SMS blog

Simply fire over a text message to your custom Twilio number (remember: keep this secret!) and give everything a little bit of time to run. Pretty quickly (within 30 seconds or so) you should see the SMS post live on your website.

Not seeing the post?

Take a look at the Pipedream logs and try to figure out any problems you might see. They give pretty good error codes FYI.