User Guide

Flows

How to create and manage your SMS forwarding flows.

A flow is a forwarding rule. Each flow has one phone number (or webhook URL) that receives messages, and one or more destinations where those messages get sent.

Think of it like a mail forwarding service: messages come in at one address and get copied to every destination you set up.

The flows page

Go to Flows in the navigation bar to see all your flows. For each flow, you'll see:

  • The flow name and description
  • The phone number (or "-" if one hasn't been assigned yet)
  • Whether it's active or inactive
  • Any message filter you've set up

Click any flow to see its full details, or click Create Flow to make a new one.

Creating a flow

  1. Go to the Flows page.

  2. Click Create Flow in the top right.

  3. Fill in the form:

    Name (required): Give your flow a short, descriptive name. For example: "Company Login Codes" or "AWS Verification."

    Description (optional): Add a note about what this flow is for. This is just for your reference.

    Trigger type: Choose how messages will arrive:

    • Inbound SMS: Syfon gives you a phone number to receive text messages. This is the most common option.
    • Inbound Webhook: Syfon gives you a URL that other services can send messages to. Use this for services like WhatsApp that send messages through web requests instead of SMS.

  4. Click Continue (for SMS flows) or Create Flow (for webhook flows).

What happens after you create an SMS flow

When you create an SMS flow, Syfon needs to set up a phone number for you. This usually takes about one business day. Your flow will be in "pending" status while you wait.

You don't have to wait around. You can add destinations to your flow right away. Once your number is ready, you'll get an email notification, and your flow will start working automatically (as long as you have an active subscription).

What happens after you create a webhook flow

Webhook flows are ready to use right away. You'll see a unique URL on the flow detail page. Give this URL to the service you want to receive messages from. That service needs to send a POST request with from and body fields.

Note: You need at least one SMS flow before you can create a webhook flow.

The flow detail page

Click on any flow to see its detail page. Here's what you'll find:

Status banners

At the top of the page, you might see a banner telling you the current state of your flow:

  • "Subscription required": You need to subscribe before this flow can start receiving messages. Click "Subscribe Now" to go to checkout. You can still add destinations while you wait.
  • "Number provisioning in progress": Your phone number is being set up. You can add destinations while you wait. You'll get an email when your number is ready.
  • "This flow is ready to use!": Everything is set up. It shows the phone number you can text to test it.

Flow details

Below the banner, you'll see:

  • Name: Click on it to rename your flow.
  • Description: Click on it to add or change a description.
  • Status: Shows "Pending" (waiting for a number), "Provisioned" (number assigned and ready), or "Inactive."
  • Active/Inactive: A toggle to turn the flow on or off. You can only activate a flow that has been provisioned.
  • Phone number: Your Syfon phone number. Click to copy it to your clipboard.
  • Trigger type: Whether this flow receives SMS messages or webhook requests.
  • Regex filter: An advanced option to filter which messages get forwarded. See Message Filters.

Destinations

Below the flow details, you'll see the list of destinations where messages get forwarded. See Destinations for details on adding and managing these.

Message history

At the bottom of the page, you'll see the most recent messages received on this flow. Click "View all messages" to see the full history.

Turning a flow on or off

On the flow detail page, use the Active/Inactive toggle to turn a flow on or off.

  • When a flow is active, incoming messages get forwarded to all its destinations.
  • When a flow is inactive, incoming messages are still stored, but they don't get forwarded anywhere.

You can only activate a flow that has been provisioned (has a phone number assigned).

Deleting a flow

  1. Go to the flow detail page.
  2. Click the Delete button (red, at the top).
  3. Read the confirmation message carefully. Deleting a flow releases the phone number and removes all destinations.
  4. Click Delete to confirm.

This action cannot be undone. If you just want to stop forwarding temporarily, turn the flow off instead.