Send and verify a one-time passcode via Twilio Verify SMS
domain: twilio.com/docs/verify · 6 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
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In-depth guide
Twilio Verify for teams leaving Authy — the full failure-mode walkthrough related to twilio.com/docs/verify, checked against official docs, with linked verified routes.
Steps
Install the Twilio helper library for your language and initialize the client with your Account SID and Auth Token via environment variables TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID and TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN.
Create a Verify Service in the Twilio console (or via API) and note the Service SID (VA...).
Start verification by calling client.verify.v2.services(SERVICE_SID).verifications.create with the user's E.164-formatted phone number and channel set to 'sms'; Twilio sends a six-digit OTP to the user.
Collect the OTP from the user in your UI and submit it server-side by calling client.verify.v2.services(SERVICE_SID).verificationChecks.create with the phone number and the user-supplied code.
Inspect the returned status field: 'approved' means the OTP matched and is valid; 'pending' means it was wrong; a check cannot be retried after the code expires.
Implement rate limiting and lockout logic on your side to prevent brute-force OTP guessing, and log verification SIDs for audit.
Known gotchas
Verification checks are consumed on each attempt; after a code is used (approved or max attempts reached), you must start a new verification rather than retrying the check.
Phone numbers must be in E.164 format (e.g., +14155552671); ensure you normalize user input before calling the API.
Twilio Verify handles carrier-level OTP delivery and retry logic; do not implement your own SMS delivery on top of Verify for OTP use cases.
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